The traveling habits of Obama and McCain
Dante Chinni
Posted: 06.20.2008 / 9:11 AM PDT
With the general election fight joined between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain some trends are starting to crop up in the campaigns’ travel patterns.
A look at travel since May 22 (the last time we checked on their schedules) shows John McCain running ahead of Democratic rival Barack Obama in the race for the White House, at least by one measure: the number of campaign stops.
In that same time, Senator Obama is beating Senator McCain in the number of different kinds of communities he’s visiting but he is also paying particular attention to visiting the nation’s wealthy suburbs (“Monied ‘Burbs”), according to Patchwork Nation’s candidate tracker.
Throughout the campaign a theme has emerged in candidate travel with Obama spreading his visits across a wider range of types of place and McCain focusing on just a few key community types. This trend is evident when looking at the travel of each man since February 1st and seem to be continuing.
In terms of electoral-vote stretegy, many of Obama’s visits have been to states that both campaigns say will be battlegrounds this fall. Since mid-May, Obama has spent time in Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina. Democrats haven’t contested those last two Southern states in recent presidential elections, but both are considered competitive this year.
McCain, for his part, has spent more time in states that are expected to be in the column of one candidate or the other – California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Tennessee. McCain has hit battleground states, too, but not as many as Obama has. The Arizona senator has stopped in New Mexico, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Colorado, and New Jersey.
Obama’s rush to the competitive states may be a result of his late start in the general election. After all, until June 7, he was in a primary campaign against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and had to visit states hosting those contests.
Herewith a closer look at the Obama and McCain travel habits during the past month:
John McCain: His travel schedule is falling in line with Patchwork Nation’s expectations. We noted earlier that the nation’s rapidly growing and changing locales (“Boom Towns”) held promise for McCain with higher-than-average incomes and Republican-trending votes in 2004. It appears that McCain agrees. Thirteen of his 33 trips were to “Boom Towns.”
“Monied ’Burbs,” which split their presidential votes evenly in 2004, also saw a lot of McCain – eight visits.
The big surprise in McCain’s recent travel itinerary may be his frequent visits to the big cities on the East Coast: New York, Boston, and Philadelphia (“Industrial Metropolis”). McCain held 10 events in these reliably Democratic bastions. Two likely reasons: Media outlets and campaign donors abound there.
Barack Obama: He seemed to be camped out in rich digs for the past month. Of Obama’s 29 events, 11 took place in the “Monied ’Burbs.”
Obama went to big cities (“Industrial Metropolis”) five times; his 13 remaining trips were scattered among six other community types.
And Obama’s trips to the ’burbs were all in states the candidates are expected to fight over, except for Connecticut. This demonstrates his focus on competitive communities within battleground states.
Many in the media have written about how the 2008 presidential campaign is going to be a battle for the center and independents. Obama and his travel staff seem to agree.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
June 20th, 2008 at 10:28 am PDT
Public Financing is a hoax on the american people….Its a scheme set up to increase the influence of the well-off, while deminishing the power of the general public…..Obama should be praised for his decision to forego the public finance, rather than being castigated by McBush and the media….This election cycle may truely turn out to be “Nation-Changing” afterall.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:29 am PDT
There you go again, Rob. “Doesn’t salute the American flag?” “Supported by a terrorist group?” This is the same old slash-and-burn politics that got Washington into the mess it’s been in for the last 8 years. If you want more of that old-style politics, Obama’s not for you.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
June 20th, 2008 at 10:31 am PDT
I am so tired of people saying Obama does not salute the flag!! If he REALLY didn’t there would be footage all over, this is nothing but hearsay, but go ahead and believe it…
June 20th, 2008 at 10:32 am PDT
Way to get those talking points in there, O’Reilly. Scare tactics don’t work anymore.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:32 am PDT
hide the facts that that are not important than are the issues
June 20th, 2008 at 10:33 am PDT
Rob you have any links to back up your last two claims? Not wearing a lapel pin does not mean not saluting our flag. Looking forward to your reply - a
June 20th, 2008 at 10:34 am PDT
For starters, the saluting the American flag is just another smear campaign and should be discredited to begin with. The lack of experience is made up by the mistakes made by those with experience. And have you ever wondered why terrorists attack? It’s because they don’t agree with our policies in foreign nations. If we have someone who can bring peace to foreign nations, terrorists have no reason to hate us, so why wouldn’t they support someone who promotes peace and not war?
June 20th, 2008 at 10:35 am PDT
McCain is also visiting Canada. There are a few absentee voters here but they’re probably not the target. Our free trade agreement might be the focus.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:37 am PDT
George Bush had governement experience. His dad was president, and he was govenor of Texas. Heck of a job Georgie! Seems to me you could take just about anyone with common sense and do better that GB. So exactly what are you worried about? I am a disabled vet and have been screwed by the government since I got a “White Paper Discharge” in 1967. I don’t salute the flag because I feel the government doesn’t belong to the people anymore. One thing I do know is that I would not have gotten us into Iraq. Afghanistan was fine by me, but Iraq was one big lie after another.
How much government experience does it take to become a pathological liar?
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
June 20th, 2008 at 10:43 am PDT
Well said, Steve. This “not saluting the flag” mess is old primary business. If people can’t get past that to look at the real issues at hand, they don’t genuinely care about the welfare of this country, no matter who they’re voting for.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:44 am PDT
I would also like to repent.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
June 20th, 2008 at 10:49 am PDT
Mike Harrington, the US military spends in about 40 minutes the same investment over an entire year on research into sustainable energy sources and climate change. The priorities are wrong, especially when it comes to supporting people like you who have made sacrifices, and the real coming war - climate change. I’m also a vet, Canadian, and I am stunned that most Americans are still focusing upon military missions instead of dealing with climate change. Iowa’s floods were predicted.
Whoever wins your election, I hope that he gets the right focus.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:51 am PDT
My point about not saluting the flag as a smear campaign is not because of him not doing it, but because it’s a minor infraction in comparison to the majors issues of the country. Whether or not a person did or didn’t salute the flag should not be a reason for not voting for that person. Wanting to commit atrocities in foreign nations, enabling the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor, allowing the environment to be harmed in a manner that could ruin the planet for our descendants, those are the real issues. Who has a better grasp of these issues, the important ones.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:53 am PDT
If public finace is wrong and Obama should be applauded for turning it down, why did he say on many occassions that he would accept it if his opponent did? If it is something he doesn’t believe is right why didn’t he believe it was wrong from day one? I am not a fan of either McCain or Obama but I don’t see where this big change is coming from that Obama is always talking about. He like every other politician says whatever he feels is best for him at the time.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
June 20th, 2008 at 10:55 am PDT
Hey I agree with you Alan. Unfortunately, the war is a major issue mainly due to the amount of time and money spent spent making things worse instead of reallocating them into R & D. Remember the days when Miss America contestants used say things like they want to help bring world peace and most people would laugh and write them off? I already know at least their hearts were in the right place even if those of us in this country think we’re smarter and better than them, but where are our hearts? (In our wallets)
June 20th, 2008 at 10:56 am PDT
I suppose that it’s a cultural difference, but in my world, a salute is given only when in uniform. When paying respect otherwise, a gracious nod or hand over heart seems to me to be more sincere.
A salute absent the uniform appears to me to be trying to claim some of the merit, without having earned it.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:04 am PDT
Well Alan, depending on what you mean by your last statement, I may or may not agree with you. First off, a salute shouldn’t be mandatory, and those that don’t shouldn’t be considered unpatriotic. But as far as those that do salute, you may not have had to be in the military to attempt to make the country better. Some of us are better suited to bring people to the realization of what is happening in this and other countries in attempt to make it better.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am PDT
I would like to see Obama. The only other president that I saw in person was Jack Kennedy. Campaign visits stimulate enthusiasm.
I am not so sure that a McCain visit would have the same uplifting effect.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am PDT
No argument, Steve. In the Canadian military, a salute is (usually) mandatory in uniform unless the hat is off (e.g., in an office).
A salute out of uniform is usually regarded as friendly, not something expected or required. But I fear that we’re well off topic.
As I said, a cultural difference.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am PDT
IF anyone is interested, Hillary often didn’t wear a lapel pin…OMG! Now she is a communist! She is teaming up with Obama. I think it was a small issue to begin with, as well as the salute thing, it was said it was NOT the national anthem that was playing, it was America, the Beautful. While this is a beautiful song, it is not the National Anthem.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:12 am PDT
I have been a passionate patriot for all of my life. “American the Beautiful” will always warm me through and bring me to reflect on the stupendous blessing of this fortunate place. My dad left his leg in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. So, the enormity of the burden vets in that great war, and what they had sacrificed, was not lost of me or my childhood community and extended family.
By contrast, today we have wars of choice and order less powerful countries around as a reflection of our toxic culture of entitlement. I am a life-long student of international affairs. And, today I do not salute the flag, but stand silently at a ball game when the national anthem is played. It is an exercise in pain and embarrassment for the U.S; embarrassment principally for this so-called “administration” and its demand that we all sign up for greedy and violent cookie-cutter thinking.
Now the anthem represents not just the constitution, the founding fathers, and the war against slavery for me. No way! It also has come to represent the U.S.’s license to invade foreign soil on the whim of our domestic despot. My now-deceased, amputated father would never salute this political corruption and set of White House predators.
Flag-waving militarists all, would you please give it a rest lest everyone should begin to see the fascistic tone of your demands around the flag and lapel pins. Calling a nation gone wrong on the carpet is far more patriotic than knee-jerk rituals to cover its most heinous international crimes. Similarly, 1930s Germany would have done well with far less knee-jerk support of a corrupt and murderous regime.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:25 am PDT
Whatever you choose, America, you are still a democracy (not the only one).
I look forward to McCain’s comments here in Canada. As a vet, I’m inclined to respect his opinions, most likely less polarized than those of your current president.
I’d like to invite Obama to do the same. Of course, I don’t have the power to do so officially but since our national and global fates are inevitably connected, I hope that he’ll also visit your best friend and ally.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:25 am PDT
I just noticed the comments about public finance. I support Obama but think he was ethically wrong but would have to have been brain dead to have decided otherwise. Obama is not ethically pure and McCain is not ethically impure.
A man’s got to do what he has to do and take the heat for it or he isn’t fit to be president.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:38 am PDT
Rob, do you really believe those things? Having bad judgment doesn’t disqualify you from voting, but it also doesn’t entitle you to spread misinformation.
CSM, thanks for this good analysis.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:01 pm PDT
Obama and McCain travel plans are very interesting. If Obama could force McCain to spend time in traditional Red States then he could spend more time in the swing states. The Carolinas really could be in Play. The Carolinas have a very high percentage of young people and african americans, and the people there are used to african americans, and are more comfortable because they go to school and work together. That’s something they didn’t do together in the past in the deep south. McCain could take advantage of Obama in states like Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and Pennsylvania. I also think New Hampshire will be a win for McCain. This election could go long into the night as we wait for New Mexico,Colorado, and Nevada to come in.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:09 pm PDT
I saw a study years ago that suggested that the US right and left were artificially separated, a binary polarization that’s exaggerated in the press. I suppose that you’d call it the “swing” vote but the unfortunate consequence appears to be that either extreme gets sway beyond what most of you intend.
Your polarization, left versus right, harms you. We’re living now in Canada with a coalition government, one that needs compromise to succeed. I fear that your system leads to unjustified polarization.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:26 pm PDT
Alan our system does lead to compromise. Look at our new GI Bill in Congress, look at our War Spending bill in Congress. We Americans love to fight each other, but we all want whats best for the country. So does fighting a war in Iraq help or hurt America, Well that’s up for debate, so we debate it in a Presidential election. We get along with each other just fine. I work with republicans and democrats at Target, we don’t have arguments when we discuss politics. God Bless America.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:51 pm PDT
Thanks, Derrick.
A single decision about right or wrong, for eight years, is not what I like.
Yes, you all want what’s best for YOUR country. Strategically, you’ll have to decide.
I hope that you’ll be more aware of the rest of the world this time.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:22 pm PDT
“Doesn’t salute the American flag”??? Not patriotic enough… Consider His postion. A black man running for president (I’m not even going to get into his Democratic rival). Do people honestly believe that this man has no idea the risk that is involved with becoming president of the United States? How many racial groups would have him put down for simply being a diffrent color. Barack Obama is willing to take that RISK to help his country. That’s something that any red blooded Republican should be able to respect.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:33 pm PDT
I Think that John McCain is the better choice for president of the USA
the most stronger nation.
If Obama wants to run for president let him go to Kenya there is more to
straiten out than here and his wife feels better in Kenya than in the USA
they both blend in better overthere.
I wish MLK wasstill alive he would be a better men than Obama you can’t
trust Obama all what he says is change and nothing else,does that mean
to make the Whitehouse (Blackhouse).
Thanks Hans
June 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pm PDT
heh you people out there … read Obama’s book….”Audacity of Hope” and refere to the recent Wall Street Journal poll comparing Obama’s & McCain’s stand on vital issues….
Then come back and tell this OLD Georgia gal who is for the common working man (person), be it Black, White, or whatever…in this nation…
June 20th, 2008 at 2:10 pm PDT
I am amazed at the wasted emotional energy that goes into most comments on these posts, especially the ones about who is patriotic and who isn’t, and worse the ones that get into all the conspiratorial stuff. Good Golly Miss Molly, both sides believe intensely in their ability to lead this nation and both want to serve. You and I and every other concerned citizen have the difficult task of deciphering what we think these guys really know, what they really want, what they are committed to, what they are still trying to figure out, what the content of their character might be, what their moral positions are, etc. and then You and I have to think how allthose things line up with our own personal beliefs, what is most important to me in my heart and mind, and then, on a broader scale, which one will do the best for the nation (even If they don’t meet every need or wish of mine.) These are both good guys. Both however have friends and aquaintances and current and past associations that much can be made out of. both have mispoken time and again, both have stumbled around because they are not sure of their position on this or that (and in fact some positions should change and need to change). And both are FULL of RHETORIC. I admire Obama greatly, however when you carefully examine Many of his statements, like his explanation regarding the financing. That was a lot of hoohey and doubletalk. He wrapped himself in the cloak of morality saying the system is bad and the other guys are sold out to special interest money , etc. etc. The fact is he’s getting tons of money without the government and he will be able to spend two or three times as much as was ever spent for any election without the measly 80 million of public money. He is as Full of Political double talk as anyone. There re too many people that are giving him too much the “benefit of the doubt” and “sanctifying” him–but the reality is he is AS DEVIOUS AS any other politician with double talk on NAFTA for example.(There is little or nothing he intends to change or re-negotiate. On Energy, he and everyone else that is negative about solutions like off shore drilling, arctic Drilling, long term tar sands technology, are typifying what has been our problem”Lack of long term policy aimed at energy independence as well as development of Alternatives to Fossil. We need to increase our own production of Fossil Fuels, Build more refineries, develop clean coal, develop exploitation of the “Tar sands” and “shale options”, build Nuclear plants, AND Develop Alternatives and Clean energy; and conserve, etc. Obama does not really believe that a Windfall Profits tax will do or help anyone. He is just saying that because Lot’s of unsophisticated People will think it’s a good thing. Obama is a Political Opportunist like all of the other Politicians. He is also a very decent human being, a good American and wants to do a good Job. Let’s keep it balanced and allow that maybe he doesn’t have all the answers or even a lot of good answers. Hopefully, if he wins he can put together a good team, bring some charismatic leadership to Government (kind of like JFK who was young, ineperienced, and just brazen enough to act like he knew what to do when he really didn’t, but had to learn as he went). I don’t care if Barak wears a US Flag, or even if he got dragged to a mosque by his dad 35 years ago. I believe he is a committed american, Ibelieve he is a reasonably bright guy, has some experience, probably can be an effective leader, but he has FLAWS as well and he is clearly a Politician. I can’t vote for him because of some moral positional differences that are critical to me. BUT if he is elected President, he will have my support as an American, and my love and Repect because of his many admirable qualities as a human being.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:51 pm PDT
So you negatively mark my comments because they disagree with you. That doesn’t sound very fair or willing to check on the facts, does it? America is based on the freedom of expression and tolerance. You can disagree with me, but let’s have a civil discussion.
Discuss with those who disagree with you. Be open to new opinions. Don’t just take what the media spoon feeds you as pure truth.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:58 am PDT
[…] of some real wannabe world leaders, Dante Chinni of the Christian Science Monitor, writes about the traveling habits of Obama and McCain. It seems that McCain is focusing on […]