Back in the beginning of July, Gallup released a poll that showed a majority of Americans feel that if elected, John McCain will follow the policies of the Bush administration, going as far as to say that a McCain administration would in effect be a third Bush administration.

It seems that the McCain campaign is listening because they are making great efforts to point out the differences between the two and not the similarities.

While that poll shows that just 20% of the Republican voters are afraid that he will follow Bush’s lead, 47% of the independents were with the majority and in an election that is as close as this one is so far, the independents are going to be a big deciding factor. He will have a hard time convincing the 76% of the Democrats, but he needs to work to the independents.

Expect to see McCain highlighting the times he has disagreed with Bush over the last 8 years, like when he opposed the troop surge in Iraq. But he has to walk a tight rope with the Republican voters who still support the current administration. And the conservatives who do not want to see him moving more to the middle.

One thing for sure, this is going to make for a very interesting scene at the Republican Convention this year. It is a long standing tradition that the outgoing President appear on the podium with the candidate of his party. And strongly endorse that candidate, while the candidate graciously accepts the support. If McCain stresses the differences so much between now and the convention, what will the scene be like? How can Bush give his full support and McCain accept it ? Who would believe it? The convention is already looking like it is going to be one of the most interesting in many years. Ron Paul’s supporters have vowed to continue their fight to have him speak right on the convention floor and judging from how they have fought in the local state conventions, they will press their case to the very end, as they should. Any of the candidates should have the right to have their say. They have fought for the nomination for many months and deserve to have their voices heard. And the candidate, of course, hopes to have their endorsement.

McCain’s speeches from now to the convention will be closely watched to see just how far he goes in distancing himself from the Bush policies while at the same time not offending those who still believe in the current administration. And he still has to convince the supporters of the other candidates that they should fall in line. And keep the conservative support while he convinces the independents that he is more to the middle of the road.

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