Simmons: McCain offers hope in sea of cynicism

Eighty percent of Americans think the country is on the wrong track, George Bush's approval ratings are near historic lows and Democrats are trying to paint a John McCain presidency as a third term for the incumbent president.

So Sarah Simmons, former political director for the RPW, says no one on McCain's campaign goes into this fall's election thinking naively that it's a good environment for Republicans.

But Simmons sees McCain as the answer for the cynicism and pessimism running rampant through moderate and swing voters.

"Here's a guy who's been through the worst of it and still gets up every day with the idea of serving his country and changing laws and changing Washington so that it's doing the people's work and not working for him," said Simmons, who's working for McCain's campaign as his director of strategy, coordinating work by campaign pollsters with the media team, along with other tasks.

Simmons was laid off by the McCain campaign last year in a shake up as he faced money problems and diving poll numbers. But she was brought back on board just before the Florida primary as McCain's come back gained steam.

Simmons said the campaign is now starting to focus in on the key states for this fall's election, saying it started with about 20 that have gone back and forth between the two parties over the years.

She expects to spend some time in Wisconsin this fall working with Jennifer Hallowell, who was recently hired as McCain's regional director for Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. But she's not counting on being stationed here.

"What I've learned over the last year of watching John McCain is the one thing you should remember in the land of McCain is never say never," she said.

Listen to the interview.

-- By JR Ross