Editing John McCain (section)

== 2000 presidential campaign ==
{{Main|John McCain 2000 presidential campaign}}

McCain announced his candidacy for president on September 27, 1999, in [[Nashua, New Hampshire]], saying he was staging "a fight to take our government back from the power brokers and special interests, and return it to the people and the noble cause of freedom it was created to serve".<ref name="az-2000" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081026225756/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/09/27/president.2000/mccain/ "McCain formally kicks off campaign"], [[CNN]] (September 27, 1999). Retrieved December 27, 2007</ref> The frontrunner for the Republican nomination was [[Governor of Texas|Texas Governor]] [[George W. Bush]], who had the political and financial support of most of the party establishment, whereas McCain was supported by many moderate Republicans and some conservative Republicans.<ref name="nyt092799">Bruni, Frank. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/27/us/quayle-outspent-by-bush-will-quit-race-aide-says.html "Quayle, Outspent by Bush, Will Quit Race, Aide Says"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703065641/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/27/us/quayle-outspent-by-bush-will-quit-race-aide-says.html |date=July 3, 2021 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (September 27, 2000). Retrieved December 27, 2007</ref>

McCain focused on the [[New Hampshire primary]], where his message appealed to independents.<ref name="alex-188">Alexander, ''Man of the People'', pp. 188–89</ref> He traveled on a [[campaign bus]] called the Straight Talk Express.<ref name="az-2000" /> He held many [[town hall meeting]]s, answering every question voters asked, in a successful example of "retail politics", and he used free media to compensate for his lack of funds.<ref name="az-2000" /> One reporter later recounted that, "McCain talked all day long with reporters on his Straight Talk Express bus; he talked so much that sometimes he said things that he shouldn't have, and that's why the media loved him."<ref name="harpaz">Harpaz, Beth. ''The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary'', p. 86 (St. Martin's Press 2001). {{ISBN|0-312-30271-1}}</ref> On February 1, 2000, he won New Hampshire's primary with 49&nbsp;percent of the vote to Bush's 30&nbsp;percent. The Bush campaign and the Republican establishment feared that a McCain victory in the crucial [[South Carolina primary]] might give his campaign unstoppable momentum.<ref name="az-2000" /><ref name="nat021000">[[David Corn|Corn, David]]. [http://www.thenation.com/article/mccain-insurgency "The McCain Insurgency"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526021124/http://www.thenation.com/article/mccain-insurgency |date=May 26, 2012 }}, ''[[The Nation]]'' (February 10, 2000). Retrieved January 1, 2008</ref>

[[File:John McCain Gallup Polling, 1999-2009.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Chart with three data lines|McCain's [[Gallup Poll]] favorable/unfavorable ratings, 1999–2009.<ref name="gallup-chart">Data for table is from [http://www.gallup.com/poll/1618/Favorability-People-News.aspx "Favorability: People in the News: John McCain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830151157/http://www.gallup.com/poll/1618/favorability-people-news.aspx |date=August 30, 2017 }}, [[The Gallup Organization]], 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010</ref> {{Legend-line|#00AA09 solid 5px|Approve}}
 {{Legend-line|#AA0012 solid 5px|Disapprove}}
 {{Legend-line|#FF9400 solid 5px|No opinion}}]]

''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' wrote that the McCain–Bush primary contest in South Carolina "has entered national political lore as a low-water mark in presidential campaigns", while ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a painful symbol of the brutality of American politics".<ref name="az-2000" /><ref name="nyt101907">Steinhauer, Jennifer. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html "Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209070019/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html |date=December 9, 2008 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (October 19, 2007). Retrieved January 7, 2008</ref><ref name="dp2008">[https://www.pbs.org/now/shows/401/index.html "Dirty Politics 2008"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909160739/http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/401/index.html |date=September 9, 2017 }}, ''[[NOW on PBS|NOW]]'', [[PBS]] (January 4, 2008). Retrieved January 6, 2008</ref> A variety of interest groups, which McCain had challenged in the past, ran negative ads.<ref name="az-2000" /><ref>Alexander, ''Man of the People'', pp. 254–55, 262–63</ref> Bush borrowed McCain's earlier language of reform,<ref name="nyt021000">Mitchell, Alison. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/10/us/2000-campaign-gop-front-runners-bush-mccain-exchange-sharp-words-over-fund.html "Bush and McCain Exchange Sharp Words Over Fund-Raising"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826211221/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/10/us/2000-campaign-gop-front-runners-bush-mccain-exchange-sharp-words-over-fund.html |date=August 26, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (February 10, 2000). Retrieved January 7, 2008</ref> and declined to dissociate himself from a veterans activist who accused McCain (in Bush's presence) of having "abandoned the veterans" on POW/MIA and [[Agent Orange]] issues.<ref name="az-2000">Nowicki, Dan and Muller, Bill. [https://archive.today/20121206041000/http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/mccain/articles/2007/03/01/20070301mccainbio-chapter10.html "John McCain Report: The 'maverick' runs"], ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' (March 1, 2007). Archived from [https://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter10.html the original] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123013403/http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter10.html |date=November 23, 2008 }} on December 6, 2012.</ref><ref name="alex-250">Alexander, ''Man of the People'', pp. 250–51</ref>

Incensed,<ref name="alex-250" /> McCain ran ads accusing Bush of lying and comparing the governor to [[Bill Clinton]], which Bush said was "about as low a blow as you can give in a Republican primary".<ref name="az-2000" /> An anonymous smear campaign began against McCain, delivered by [[push poll]]s, faxes, e-mails, flyers, and audience [[plant (person)|plants]].<ref name="az-2000" /><ref>Alexander, ''Man of the People'', pp. 263–66</ref> The smears claimed that McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock (the McCains' dark-skinned daughter was adopted from Bangladesh), that his wife Cindy was a drug addict, that he was a homosexual, and that he was a "[[The Manchurian Candidate|Manchurian Candidate]]" who was either a traitor or mentally unstable from his POW days.<ref name="az-2000" /><ref name="nyt101907" /> The Bush campaign strongly denied any involvement with the attacks.<ref name="nyt101907" /><ref>Gooding, Richard. [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2004/11/mccain200411 "The Trashing of John McCain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302055336/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2004/11/mccain200411 |date=March 2, 2020 }}, ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' (November 2004). Retrieved July 21, 2015</ref>

McCain lost South Carolina on February 19, with 42&nbsp;percent of the vote to Bush's 53&nbsp;percent,<ref name="iht022100">Knowlton, Brian. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/21/news/21iht-carolina.2.t_1.html "McCain Licks Wounds After South Carolina Rejects His Candidacy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826212118/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/21/news/21iht-carolina.2.t_1.html |date=August 26, 2016 }}, ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'' (February 21, 2000). Retrieved January 1, 2008</ref> in part because Bush mobilized the state's evangelical voters<ref name="az-2000" /><ref name="aap-08-p96">[[Michael Barone (pundit)|Barone, Michael]] and [[Richard E. Cohen|Cohen, Richard]]. ''[[The Almanac of American Politics]], 2008'', p. 96 ([[National Journal]] 2008). {{ISBN|0-89234-117-3}}</ref> and outspent McCain.<ref name="nyt021600">Mitchell, Alison. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/16/us/the-2000-campaign-the-arizona-senator-mccain-catches-mud-then-parades-it.html "McCain Catches Mud, Then Parades It"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826211104/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/16/us/the-2000-campaign-the-arizona-senator-mccain-catches-mud-then-parades-it.html |date=August 26, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (February 16, 2000). Retrieved January 1, 2008.</ref> The win allowed Bush to regain lost momentum.<ref name="iht022100" /> McCain said of the rumor spreaders, "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those."<ref name="dad060400" /> According to one acquaintance, the South Carolina experience left him in a "very dark place".<ref name="nyt101907" />

McCain's campaign never completely recovered from his South Carolina defeat, although he did rebound partially by winning in Arizona and Michigan a few days later.<ref name="cnn022200">McCaleb, Ian Christopher. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081211102052/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/02/22/gop.wrap/index.html "McCain recovers from South Carolina disappointment, wins in Arizona, Michigan"], [[CNN]] (February 22, 2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007</ref> He made a speech in [[Virginia Beach]] that criticized Christian leaders, including [[Pat Robertson]] and [[Jerry Falwell]], as divisive conservatives,<ref name="nyt101907" /> declaring "we embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/29/us/the-2000-campaign-excerpt-from-mccain-s-speech-on-religious-conservatives.html "Excerpt From McCain's Speech on Religious Conservatives"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415031602/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/29/us/the-2000-campaign-excerpt-from-mccain-s-speech-on-religious-conservatives.html |date=April 15, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (February 29, 2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.</ref> McCain lost the Virginia primary on February 29,<ref>Rothernberg, Stuart. [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/analysis/rothenberg/2000/03/01/ "Stuart Rothernberg: Bush Roars Back; McCain's Hopes Dim"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311071908/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/analysis/rothenberg/2000/03/01/ |date=March 11, 2008 }}, [[CNN]] (March 1, 2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.</ref> and on March{{nbsp}}7 lost nine of the thirteen primaries on [[Super Tuesday]] to Bush.<ref>McCaleb, Ian Christopher. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130810022900/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/03/08/super.tuesday/index.html "Gore, Bush post impressive Super Tuesday victories"], [[CNN]] (March 8, 2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.</ref> With little hope of overcoming Bush's delegate lead, McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000.<ref>McCaleb, Ian Christopher. [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/03/09/mccain.bradley/ "Bradley, McCain bow out of party races"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125114418/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/03/09/mccain.bradley/ |date=January 25, 2008}}, [[CNN]] (March 9, 2000). Retrieved December 30, 2007.</ref> He endorsed Bush two months later.<ref>Marks, Peter. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/weekinreview/may-7-13-a-ringing-endorsement-for-bush.html "A Ringing Endorsement for Bush"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826214805/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/weekinreview/may-7-13-a-ringing-endorsement-for-bush.html |date=August 26, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (May 14, 2000). Retrieved March 1, 2008.</ref>