Some grounds for skepticism about McCain’s CPAC Suckup:
1) He pledges to appoint “judges of the character and quality of Justices Roberts and Alito.” [E.A.] “Character and quality”? What about legal ideology? John Paul Stevens arguably has the “character and quality” of Roberts and Alito. He’s just a legal liberal. Is there any chance that McCain will appoint someone who would curtail campaign finance reform on First Amendment grounds?
2) McCain said that “only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure” would he pursue the semi-amnesty part of his immigration reform. This non-trivial concession would be more reassuring if proponents of that reform didn’t righteously claim a ‘widespread consensus’ in its favor in 2006 and 2007. ( “[A]national consensus has formed around what the president calls ‘comprehensive’ immigration reform.”—Fred Barnes, May, 2006.)
3) McCain said he had “respect” for opponents of his immigration plan (which he didn’t renounce) “for I know that the vast majority of critics to the bill based their opposition in a principled defense of the rule of law.” Not like those others who base their opposition on bigoted yahoo nativism! McCain’s semi-conciliatory words aren’t what you say when you really respect your opposition—then you say “I know we have honest disagreements.” Not “I know most of you aren’t really racists.” Even his suckup betrayed how he really feels. Which I suspect is sneering contempt! (See his former campaign manager and informal adviser Mike Murphy, who—writing under cover of a pseudonym—likened Tom Tancredo to the “Bund”!). ....
I just don’t know if I can reward McCain with my vote for all his backstabbing of conservatives over the past 8 years. I just don’t think he should get the big prize. He’s a liberal democrat at heart and his speech yesterday was a bunch of lies. He basically just said I know we’ve had disagreements, but that’s just too bad and we are going to have more.
This brings me back to the wonderful days of my childhood and youth when Republicans like Nixon and Ford were running, and I hadn't yet experienced a good president. McCain is the first Republican president about whom I am not at all enthused and for whom I will have to struggle to vote.