In fact it probably helps with GOP voters.
After months of campaigning, and 13 debates, the GOP voters know they still do not have any candidate whom they can get excited about.
Plenty of GOP voters still don't know the candidates' names.
The average, uninformed, GOP voter had decided the black man with the hat was their man.
It is important to note, however, that only 32% of GOP voters nationwide are firmly committed to their current candidate.
That bought McCain a great deal of leeway with GOP voters.
More than 60% of GOP voters have never even heard of him.
The really significant metric here is the high number of "undecided" GOP voters, this near to the actual caucuses and primaries, in so many states.
In this the average GOP voter in Iowa can set the tone for the entire primary campaign.
The turnout was surprisingly small - about 400 GOP voters squeezed into one end of a high school gym.