McCain is still taking weekends off

By: Carrie Budoff Brown and Amie Parnes
Politico
October 6, 2008

SEDONA, Ariz.— Just a month out from election day, neither Barack Obama nor John McCain has undertaken the sort of grinding public schedule that until now had been the standard for the homestretch of a presidential campaign — and the Republican's routine has been especially lax.

Since the conventions ended, both candidates have often done only one event a day, leaving the stump by early evening, and McCain has spent most of his weekend time off of the trail and out of the public eye.

“Let me put it this way, if I were them, I would be living somewhere between Milwaukee and Philadelphia right now,” said Kevin Madden, former communications director to Mitt Romney and a spokesman for the Bush campaign in 2004.

Campaign aides to both insist that their candidate is as busy as can be, juggling rallies and town hall meetings with media interviews, fundraisers and debate preparation. But even considering those demands, McCain and Obama appear to be covering considerably less ground through public events than previous nominees, Democratic and Republican strategists said.

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