For the last two weeks, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska has fueled Senator John McCain’s surge so that most national polls show he is now running neck and neck with Senator Barack Obama in the presidential election. But for the next two months, how well Mr. McCain handles his relationship with President Bush may matter more for his election chances.
Modern political history shows that it will not be easy. Since ratification in 1951 of the constitutional amendment barring any candidate from winning more than two presidential elections, five nominees have sought to extend their party’s control of the White House for a third straight term. Four of them failed.
The most recent example, Vice President Al Gore in 2000, illustrates the challenge. His political circumstances diverged from Mr. McCain’s in important ways. Yet Mr. Gore, too, felt compelled to distance himself from a polarizing incumbent and establish a strong independent theme against a newcomer promising change.
“At times it may look like a game of Twister,” said Tad Devine, a Gore 2000 campaign adviser. His candidate fell short by 537 votes in Florida.
Analysts in both parties consider Mr. McCain’s task more difficult — but hardly impossible.
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Linked to Bush, McCain Faces Gore’s Conundrum
By John Harwood
September 14, 2008, 8:19 pm
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