REMEMBERING McCAIN: 2008 presidential run made stop in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Of all the places Sen. John McCain visited during the final month of his 2008 presidential campaign, Wilmington was probably not a city he figured to see.

North Carolina was not supposed to be in play. It was supposed to be solidly red.

But as Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama built momentum, things quickly changed.

In mid-October, McCain’s campaign announced the candidate himself would return to the Tar Heel State. While his wife Cindy and running mate Sarah Palin had made stops in North Carolina during the fall campaign, it was the first time McCain had come back since before the May primary. And of all the places he could go, McCain’s team picked Wilmington.

There are any number of reasons why the Republican nominee came to Wilmington and specifically the Schwartz Center on Cape Fear Community College’s downtown campus 22 days before the election. Reading back on it, there’s a good chance money was probably a factor. It was running out for McCain.

Regardless, McCain’s visit put Wilmington on the map once again that campaign season. Obama (UNCW’s Trask Coliseum) and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton (downtown riverfront) both drew big crowds ahead of the primary months earlier.

The Schwartz Center was right across the street from WWAY’s old home on North Front Street. It made the normally tough logistics of covering a presidential campaign stop a lot easier for us. I remember taking our gear across the street in the morning and leaving it for the Secret Service security sweep, which takes a couple of hours, and just hanging out and watching the crowd build. It was a good crowd, too. The small venue quickly filled up, and many supporters watched the crowd on a big screen outside on the lawn.

McCain spoke that day about being the underdog.

“Let me give you the state of the race today. We have 22 days to go. We’re six points down. The national media has written us off,” McCain said as the crowd exploded in boos. “Sen. Obama is measuring the drapes (in the White House). My friends, we’ve got them just where we want ’em.”

I’d seen McCain eight years earlier on the campaign trail in South Carolina a day before watching George W. Bush as he drove toward a primary victory that essentially knocked the wind out of McCain’s sails in 2000. There was a stark contrast between the men. Bush was awkward on stage, but when it was time to work the room one-on-one, it was simply magical. Conversely, candidate Obama in May 2008 seemed uncomfortable backstage talking in close quarters just minutes after a stage performance that would have impressed Mick Jagger. McCain in 2000 was unlike either man. He was uncomfortable in both settings. Eight years later, he seemed to have found his voice behind the lectern.

In the end McCain’s visit to Wilmington and the rest of his campaign’s efforts in North Carolina were not enough. He lost the state by about 14,000 votes. Out of of more than 4.2 million cast. That’s 0.32 percent.

But that didn’t stop McCain. At the age of 72, he headed back to work in the US Senate and did not stop until cancer stopped him. By contrast, Bob Dole, another distinguished veteran left scarred by war, was 73 when he lost the presidential race in 1996. Having left his seat in the Senate that summer to focus on his campaign, his active political career was over.

McCain’s visit to Wilmington did not last very long. That day I interviewed ABC News correspondent Rob Claiborne, who covered the McCain campaign. I asked him what he thought about our fair city. He said that what he’d seen on the way from the airport looked nice. That’s how campaigns go. Indeed, look at the video of McCain taking the stage, and it’s not hard to believe his glance down at his notes was to confirm to himself where he was.

And maybe his visit did have an impact. After all, McCain beat Obama in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus and Pender counties.