Posted on 02/13/2007 8:37:03 AM PST by meg88
McCain faces fight for the right David Reinhard Portland Oregonian February 12, 2007
When successful Republican presidential candidates talk about their base, they're usually talking about the GOP's social conservatives. When Arizona Sen. John McCain talks about his base, he's referring to the mainstream media.
Which helps explain two things. One, why McCain was not a successful Republican presidential candidate eight years ago. Two, why he's taken steps over the last few years to get right with the religious right.
Will it work? As Democrats cogitate over Barack Obama's challenge to front-runner Hillary Clinton, will the new McCain complicate matters for the old McCain and threaten his front-runner status among Republicans?
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For most successful candidates, politics is about addition, not subtraction. This presidential campaign, however, McCain is involved in something of a zero-sum game. Securing a traditional GOP base could come at the expense of losing his old media base.
In 2000, his admirers in the mainstream media loved the tough-talking war hero of "Straight Talk Express." The Arizona maverick opposed George Bush and famously railed against "agents of intolerance" like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and other conservative religious leaders. Since then, he's been a conquering hero of Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show," a Republican worthy of puff-ball questioning. But McCain has committed two unpardonable sins in the eyes of the media clerisy. He has backed Bush's Iraq war to the hilt and gone out of his way to make up with Falwell and religious conservatives. Sacre bleu!
McCain's wooing of GOP social conservatives has not been pretty to watch. And, if recent developments are any guide, the effort might prove unproductive.
Recently, perhaps the most influential Christian conservative gave McCain a stiff-bristled brushoff. "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," said Focus on the Family's James Dobson in a radio interview. "He is not in favor of traditional marriage, and I pray that we will not get stuck with him."
McCain's alleged opposition to traditional marriage would probably astonish the most determined McCain watcher. Didn't he, after all, favor a traditional marriage measure that was on the Arizona ballot last November? Why, yes, he did. But right before Dobson let loose, his radio-show host had run a clip of McCain telling "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, "I think, uh ... I think that gay marriage should be allowed if there's a ceremony kind of thing, if you wanna call it that. ... I don't have any problem with that."
McCain had, indeed, uttered the same words before an Iowa State University crowd last fall, but – well, isn't there always a but? A quotation yanked out of context or something said in humor is treated seriously. In this case, "but" only highlights McCain's problem courting the GOP's traditional-values base.
In the same sentence that Dobson's radio interviewer found so damning, McCain had appended his own but: "But I do believe in preserving the sanctity of the union between man and woman." Yes, it made for an illogical sentence, and McCain and his handler realized they had a damage-control problem. After the next break, a student asked about a farm issue and McCain answered it. But before moving to the next question he said, "Could I just mention one other thing? On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe if people want to have private ceremonies, that's fine. I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal."
It's sad that McCain is sitting in Barry Goldwater's Senate seat.
I'm not sure which republican candidate I will support in the republican primaries as they have not all entered the "race" yet.
I will tell you one thing for sure:
1) I WILL DEFINATELY VOTE IN THE GENERAL 2008 NOVEMBER ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT
2) I WILL VOTE FOR WHOMEVER THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IS WHO IS RUNNING AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON.
That is the position most people take. Who cares what people want to do on their own time?
I don't think there is much risk of McCain getting through the primaries. He will screw up somewhere and make a big mistake
I remember back in 2000 when McCain was running against Bush in the primaries. Quite a few people in my church, including the pastor, were supporting him.
Then right before the Carolina! primary he dissed Pat Robertson and other Christian conservatives. Overnight everyone switched to Bush. I never saw someone shoot themselves in the foot with such relish.
The MSM couldn't figure out what happened.
If conservatives don't unite behind the most electable of those three -- Mitt -- then it seems probable that we will end up with McCain or Rudy.
Amen, brother--we all better vote for whomever the Republican candidate is in this election. Having a democrat elected this go-around could very well be the end of this country, IMHO. I think the terrorists are waiting for a dem to win--then they will start massive attacks against us on our own soil. They already know that the dems are appeasers, not warriors.
McCain - Feingold '08
Yep. McCain has been an asshat for years. He's made his bed sucking up to the MSM and blowing off conservatives, now let him sleep in it.
I would not support McCain either. After he pi**ed on the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, I have no respect for him.
"McCain's wooing of GOP social conservatives has not been pretty to watch."
Yeah, what ever happended to the "Straight Talk Express"? It's in storage, replaced with the "Doubletalk Express".
Ditto
Duncan Hunter appears to be the most conservative of the three. I will always vote for the most conservative candidate in any election - primary or general.
I am one of the 'I will never vote for McCain- EVER' people.
"Newt, Mitt or Duncan is the way the GOP needs to go if they want my vote.
If conservatives don't unite behind the most electable of those three -- Mitt -- then it seems probable that we will end up with McCain or Rudy."
Except Mitt is just as unelectable because of the Mormon thing.
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