Pollster: Character rather than policy will win race

IN AN anxious and angry America crying out for change, it will be the candidate’s character, not their policies, which will win them the leadership of the free world, leading US pollster Frank Luntz said.

A youthful but inexperienced messenger of hope for America is set to take on an old, battle-scarred former prisoner of war for the prize of the White House this November.

If he wins the nomination, Democrat Barack Obama, a 46-year-old Illinois senator often likened to a rock star, will be up against Republican John McCain, a 71-year-old Arizona senator who fought for his country and spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam’s Hanoi Hilton.

“This election is not about policy,” said Luntz.

“It is about change and it is about character. And that also differentiates us from previous elections.

“We are judging people by what kind of person they are and their attributes, rather than where they stand on the individual issues, because if it was where they stand, John McCain would be 15 points behind today and he’s not. In almost every poll, he’s a point or two up.”

He went on: “The challenge for McCain... the single biggest challenge will happen at the first debate, either at the beginning or the end.

“When Senator Obama and Senator McCain come together and shake hands, you will see a young vibrant action-oriented individual and you will see someone who may have wisdom and experience of his years, but the generational difference will be tremendous.

“The way that John McCain overcomes that is to address it at the very beginning with the very first comment, which is, ‘America is so spectacular because we believe in you [Obama], because we encourage young people to do more, encourage them to not let history to pass them by, to make history, but there are times in this country’s life when we need wisdom as much as change.’

“And I would tell McCain, frankly, to focus on that phrase, the American Dream.

“Barack Obama believes in it... [but] for five- and-a-half years John McCain believed it every single day. Because without that American Dream he wouldn’t be alive today.

“There’s a line that John McCain spent five-and-a -half years in prison and then went into politics — most American politicians do it the other way.

“What McCain endured is something that most Americans do not know, and to my knowledge, no one who has ever run for president and been the nominee actually sacrificed himself physically for his country.

“That’s a very powerful statement, and he’s going to need all of that power to convince people in the centre that he should be the nominee.”