McCain still facing party opposition

UPI ^ | March 1, 2008

[calcowgirl]

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- The presidential bid of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., still faces a mountain of opposition within the Republican Party, experts say.

Officials such as American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene say that while conservatives may have supported McCain during recent unconfirmed intimations of marital infidelity, that support may not be there in the future, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

"This assumption that people who defended him are now on board is naive," Keene said. "If he really wants an enthusiastic base in the fall, he is going to have to do more than sit there and hope that it comes to him."

Republican Party consultant Greg Mueller told the Post that while conservatives would likely still vote for McCain, the clear party front-runner, they would not help him fight his political battles.

"It is so important in the presidential campaigns of our time, which are so close," Mueller said. "I have never heard of an independent activist, have you? I have heard of a conservative activist. We need them, because we need to get the vote out. That's Politics 101."

[Emmett McCarthy]

If you think any election is going to be one because one candidate is NOT the other guy, maybe something are just too simple for you to understand. But you go on ahead and fetch and tote for the “party” if you like.

[hiredhand]

Fear is KILLING us!

[ovrtaxt]

ouch! That will leave a mark!

[SoConPubbie]

My point is that when we talk about Conservative issues, back when that president was around we sure weren't saying "Illegal immigration" in the top three. Those would be defense, abortion and taxes. Now we have a candidate--certainly not my first or even second choice--who we can't much argue with on those three issues (no more than we could with that other president, who backed abortion while governor of a large state, who lead us into a total debacle in Lebanon, and whose second term tax policy wasn't all it could have been), so we talk about "Shamnesty."

Nothing is static my friend.

Priorities change, as well as, the benefits and potential dangers of issues.

Illegal Immigration was not as big of an issue in the past because it had not yest assumed the stature in terms of a problem that we are facing today. So your point about Illegal Immigration is moot point.

Further more, if you think you are going to change his mind about Illegal Aliens I would really like to know what drugs you are taking.

Nothing about John McAmnesty would lead anyone of a rational mind to believe that they could change his mind one little bit, either by common sense or force.

You're dreaming, it ain't going to happen.

With respect to Ronald Reagan, the difference is that his bill actually contained real teeth even though the following administrations chose to ignore them and did not enforce the law. On top of that, according to his son Michael, Reagan felt this was the biggest mistake of his Presidency. John McAmnesty's bill, McCain-Kennedy, did nothing of the sort. There were no real punishments or anything that would reduce Illegal Immigration in the future.

Oh, and one more thing, calling the people you are trying to convince children because they have some principled problems with a candidate, is a stupid approach.

[bill1952]

>he figures we have no place else to go so he doesn’t have to pander to us.

I will never forget Crystal’s recent remark:

“what are they going to do? Vote for hillary?”

No we are not. - But we are not going to crawl over broken glass for you either.
The dramatic drop in fund raising should be ringing bells all over the hallowed halls of the GOP, but it is clearly evident that they really don’t care about an election.

They care about an agenda and we aren’t part of it. - McCain is.

[hiredhand]

Unfortunately many of the McCain voters have made it clear that their fight is over if they don't get their way. Instead of fighting the democrats, they'll sit back pointing fingers and crying about who made them lose as the democrats run with a liberal agenda unopposed.

I believe you have correctly stated this. Time is fairly critical, and the longer this condition exists, and the longer they pout about what people such as myself are doing NOW, and the loss they're going to incur, the longer it's going to take us to get back on our feet as a group.

I suppose if I had to boil it all down very simply, I'd say that we need to STOP WASTING TIME NOW!. But we can't do that until we all agree that the GOP has abandoned us, and that the most likely GOP nominees are completely unacceptable.

Only after we get past these points can we move forward as a group again.

In truth, all we really have to do is wait until November 2008, when the GOP has its head handed to it on a platter. Then we'll only have to wait for all the rank and file GOP supporters to get OVER the fact that we didn't support a candidate such as McCain. Now if they won't do this, then we truly are doomed for some undetermined time. But they aren't stupid, only frightened, and unlike stupidity, fright wears off in time. :-)

[COBOL2Java]

You who say they won’t vote for McCain deserve Obama, but I don’t.
Get a life folks.

You forgot to tell us to "take a deep breath" and "grow up". Oh and don't forget to sneer at us.

[bill1952]

And you deserve the coming destruction of the GOP and this country when McCain grants amnesty to 20-40 million+ Illegal Aliens who will vote 70%+ Democrat as they always have??

Hear hear!

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.

- Theodore Roosevelt

[nyconse]

I heard that when all is said and done, Hillary and Obama have raised 80 million between them in February.

[RinaseaofDs]

I empathize. I generally retort in the following manner, and so far have not received a retort:

With Obama, you get four, maybe eight years of institutionalized coalition-style liberalism.

With McCain, you get 12, maybe 16 years of institutionalized coalition-style liberalism.

Carter only made it through one term. Strategically, Obama paves the way better for an honest-to-goodness conservative.

McCain guarantees at least 12 years of liberalism.

Now, if we were playing jeopardy, and had to answer in the form of a question, the question would be,

“What is the Gang of 14, Alex?”

[COBOL2Java]

Very simple message. If you don’t like it its because you are tone deaf.

I think you McCainiacs ought to REEEALY take a look at this book...

I'll give you a hint: insulting the people who disagree with you isn't listed.

[Luke21]

McCain voted for Bork.

[nyconse]

More name calling...there is not a shred of evidence that McCain will be any better than either Democrat. He will pay back conservatives by reinstating the fairness doctrine in my opinion and then reach across the aisle ; he is a maverick not a Republican and certainly not a conservative. He will advance the only agenda possible, the Dem agenda by strong arming congressional Repubs into supporting him with Democratic support. As for judges, we know all we need to know if we recall McCain was a member of the gang of 14.

[Penny]

I think the following quotation goes to the heart of your post:

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?'

"And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr

Regards . . . Penny

[cripplecreek]

I’m not even saying they shouldn’t support McCain, only that assuming a win is a really bad idea without considering what should be done if they lose.

[bill1952]

>Fortunately, I don’t listen to the prattling of children

Oh dear.
Unfortunately for McCain, your type of bombastic debating style makes it certain that less people will hold their nose and vote for the jerkoff.

Great job.

[Left2Right]

Another DU troll heard from.

[Left2Right]

Great reply, I think most of the so-called “McCaniacs” are really DUmmy Trolls; they seem to about the mental ability & reasoning skills.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

I doubt that McCain will truly learn that he really needs to fully satisfy the conservative voters base prior to November 4, BUT THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE. LOL!

[EternalVigilance]

That’s the best, the most timely, post I’ve seen in a very long time.