McCain hoped for a better week

Instead, a series of fumbles handed opportunities to Barack Obama.
By Cathleen Decker and Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

HUDSON, WIS. -- This was supposed to be the week John McCain unveiled his new campaign, more disciplined and acutely focused on the economy. The goal proved elusive: The presumptive Republican nominee spent the week cleaning up after controversial statements by himself and his surrogates, and trying to counter any impression that he overlooks the pain of struggling Americans.

McCain seemed to call Social Security a "disgrace," was struck wordless on video when asked whether insurance companies should have to pay for birth control and, perhaps most damagingly, had to deny his own advisor's assertion that, when it comes to the economy, America has become "a nation of whiners."

Through the week, that dissonance undercut McCain's effort to showcase his plans for the nation's foundering economy. And it handed Barack Obama an opening to display sympathy for stressed Americans of the very sort who have cast a skeptical eye on the Democrat's candidacy.

All candidates, including Obama, have had worse weeks. But, behind in the polls, the Arizona senator can hardly afford such diversion. His campaign remains frustrated by its central conundrum: Free-wheeling, unscripted events show McCain at his best, but are also most likely to spin off-kilter.

At a time when a candidate -- like a telemarketer -- must relentlessly repeat his theme in order to clinch the deal, McCain's message has been erratic.

"He can still fix it, but it appears that given his temperament and his personality it's hard for him to fix these problems," said Linda Fowler, a Dartmouth College government professor who is closely watching the presidential contest. "The spontaneity of what he says, the fact that he's unscripted -- at some point that begins to work against him in a general election where discipline is important."

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