The Arizona Republic looks at the impact of the Bush administration's unpopularity on the candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination, including hometown Sen. John McCain - who may be trying to distance himself from the Bush record a bit with his promise today to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay if he's elected president.
Republican contenders in general face a challenge in winning over voters alienated by the Bush White House. But for McCain, the predicament is even more daunting. He has served in Congress for 24 years and is running for president as the establishment Republican candidate, with the support of past Bush campaign aides and donors.
McCain also is closely connected to Bush's Iraq war policies - policies that a majority of Americans disagree with. His main GOP rivals both support the war, but they don't have a voting history tied to it or other Bush policies.
And as outsiders, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are better positioned to weather an anti-Washington backlash from the electorate.
"The dirtier it gets in Washington, the better off you are as a governor," said Samuel Popkin, a professor of political science at the University of California-San Diego, who has worked on Democratic presidential campaigns.
Or, perhaps, a big city mayor.
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