John McCain

With John McCain’s hard-fought victory in Florida secure, his campaign operation in Arizona will undergo immediate changes, as the campaign shifts from a focused effort in a single state, to a broader focus in more than 20 primary contests in states from coast to coast on Tuesday.

“It’s a good night for Sen. McCain and now we move onto Super Tuesday,” Republican political strategist Doug Cole said Wednesday night. Cole is a longtime McCain supporter and Arizona campaign volunteer.

As many as 400 volunteers a night stationed at phone banks in Arizona had been dialing voters in Florida during the past several days. Starting tonight, those volunteers instead will reach out to Arizona voters, urging them to vote for McCain to give him an impressive win in his home state on Tuesday, when more than 20 states from coast-to-coast will stage primary contests.

The Arizona senator will blaze across the country on Tuesday, starting somewhere on the East Coast, perhaps in New York, then moving west with the time zones, stopping to campaign in several states before arriving in Arizona during the early afternoon. McCain and his wife Cindy are expected to vote in Phoenix, then head to the Arizona Biltmore resort for what is expected to be a massive victory party.

The campaign has booked 100 guest rooms at the resort to accommodate members of the national media who are expected to follow McCain on what could be the last major day of campaigning during the primary season. Recent polls show that McCain leads the Republican field in three large and important Super Duper Tuesday state – New York, New Jersey and California.

A series of wins in those states,Arizona, and elsewhere could all but assure McCain of the Republican nomination. “The nice thing about him being in Arizona on Tuesday is that we’ll be able to celebrate his victory with him,” said Cole, vice president of High Ground, a Phoenix-based political consulting firm.

McCain’s triumph in Florida, more than his previous wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina, demonstrates that he can carry the Republican Party, Cole said. 
Florida had a closed primary election, meaning only registered Republicans could vote, which prevented independents and even Democrats from voting for the candidate who sometimes is at odds with conservatives in his own party. His victory demonstrated strength among core Republicans, Cole said.

Furthermore, unlike New Hampshire and South Carolina which offer their unique Northeastern and Southern demographics, respectively, Florida is a melting-pot state, he said. “Florida is a major state that demographically represents the country as a whole – and now he has that victory under his belt,” he said.

Another benefit from the Florida primary campaign is that McCain was able to build a solid campaign infrastructure and line up several key endorsements, which will help during a general election campaign against the Democratic nominee.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 4:54 pm and is filed under John McCain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.