Around the CIM: End-of-primary analysis

The main event last night may have been in St. Paul, but Minnesota Monitor wasn’t the only one watching the political theater last night. We cruise the Center for Independent Media’s network of sites for the best of their “end of the primaries” coverage.

Obama may have received most of the attention yesterday, but Sen. John McCain would like to remind you that he gave a speech, too. His turn at the podium, however, received some mixed reviews.

From Matt DeLong at The Washington Independent:

The senator from Arizona went on to give an address that sought to turn Obama’s theme, “Change We Can Believe In,” against him. Flanked by a green background patterned with the slogan “A Leader We Can Believe In,” McCain frequently revisited the phrase throughout the speech.

This is, indeed, a change election. No matter who wins this election, the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward.

It will be interesting to see how far McCain runs with the message of change during this campaign. It’s obviously focus group-approved, and many of the reforms he listed have long been in the sights of conservatives, such as tax reform, government spending and the military. Still, many of the changes McCain outlined will require a somewhat activist government, namely moving toward energy independence and taking action to combat climate change. It will be interesting to see how conservatives react to this strategy. Will it bring them in, or drive them away?

Over at the Iowa Independent, however, Doug Burns finds McCain’s speech to be “his most powerful speech of the 2008 election cycle, both stylistically and substantively.”

Using change 32 times in the speech, McCain challenged Obama’s claim to that dynamic, arguing that the Illinois senator is tethered to a liberal legacy.

“I am surprised that a young man has bought into so many failed policies,” McCain said.

With a broad smile and pitch-perfect timing, McCain said his candidacy is not a “third Bush term” — a narrative the Obama campaign has been pushing with caffeinated persistence.

“He tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it,” McCain said.

However, Burns later goes on to describe Obama’s speech as “a raucous rally that made John McCain’s remarks earlier seem like an after-dinner at a local party fund-raiser. And McCain had one of his better nights.”

And so begins the general election. But what of Clinton? Where does she fit in now that she’s mathematically out of the race? According to Michigan Messenger, a look at the upcoming schedule book might deliver some clues.

Not only will New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama be within miles of each other tomorrow in Washington, D.C., but new scheduling information shows Obama will be heading to New York City for two fund-raisers tomorrow night. Could this close proximity lead to a series of unity appearances?

Campaign sources had no comment other than to say Obama has had many fund-raisers in New York City and that the senator had not yet clinched the primary delegates to declare victory.