McCain: "Winning in the fall will be 'uphill battle' (just what we needed to hear...)

CNN ^ | Feb. 17, 2008 | by Rebecca Sinderbrand

[jdm]

** EXCERPT **

(CNN) — Likely GOP nominee John McCain said Sunday that beating an energized Democratic party in a fall election fight would be “an uphill battle all the way.”

The Arizona senator told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week that he “can out-campaign them, and I can out-debate them, and I can out-perform them” but conceded that he had his work cut out for him in the months ahead.

“…We've got to reunite the party, and we've got to re-energize the party. And I'm prepared to do that. We've got plenty of time. But I won't waste a day,” said McCain.

The Arizona senator, who is close to capturing the number of delegates required to claim the Republican nomination, has struggled to win over much of the GOP’s conservative base. But party leaders have begun to rally to his side: Monday, he is scheduled to receive the endorsement of former President George H.W. Bush.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Oh Really!

Is that why he raised Arkansas taxes by nearly double and increased their gas taxes?

Try pulling you head out of where ever you have it and smell the fresh air.

[LowTaxesEqualProsperity]

I don’t like McCain either, he’s not that conservative.

But a Nixon, Ford or George Bush 1 type of President is light years better than a Castro clone (kill every unwanted child, even those that survive an abortion) like Obama.

Our survival is likely at stake. Obama will let the Jihadists get nukes. That’s a risk we can’t take.

[bronxboy]

McCain has stabbed Repubs in the back for the past nine years ever since Bush beat him in the primaries...he had a hissy fit lasting all this time. Now, he wants to make up? I doubt it very much. I will never vote for McCain. He does not have the temperament to be president and will play ball with Dems while forcing congressional Repub loyalist to go along with him.

McCain is worse than Hillary or Obama because we can expect the Repubs to oppose Democrats. Also, he is a threat to free speech. McCain/Feingold proves this. He would re-institute the fairness doctrine for sure. McCain is a big loser;the GOP will regret forcing him on conservatives. NO more holding my nose Senator.

[jdm]

I am not sure what you are getting at with your commentary. Should he be saying “Winning in the fall will be a ‘walk in the park’”? Would that help to energize the party?

Is the likely Democrat nominee (Obama) going to have an "uphill battle"? Of course not. So why should the GOP be picking someone who's going to have an uphill battle (and is flat-out admitting it, and apparently okay with that sort of situation)? Doesn't make any sense to me.

[isrul]

Oh, I know you was funnin’ :)

[End Times Crusader]

Lay off the Ron Paul weed. Hunter went absolutely nowhere and Thompson has already endorsed McCain.

[bronxboy]

Nonsense, the primaries were rigged to produce a moderate candidate:Guliani was supposed to win. However, McCain won by splitting conservative/Repub vote. The winner take all strategy was dreamed up by the GOP to get a ‘moderate’ candidate who could attract all those independents don’t you know. Well they screwed up big time. The GOP will lose in November. My only hope is that we can maintain Repubs in the House and Senate.

As for ‘religious’ votes, he we are part of the GOP big tent. Why do you and other party hacks believe we should have no say in the nominee to the highest office in the land. Also, the so called moderates never win anything. The only GOP success has been delivered by conservatives-Reagan and Gingrich. The country club set totally ruined our chances this year for sure.

[dforest]

If you hadn’t noticed, the jihadists are getting nukes.

No one has stopped them, and if we do one of these days, I hope there is a draft. The whole country should have to be involved in war. Not just those that volunteer. A group effort for survivival or dhimmitude.

This is no reason to vote for McCain. My son is in the military and he is not going to vote for McCain. McCain is for giving up US sovereignty, allowing us to be overrun by Mexicans, amnesty, and not securing our borders. He also wants to shut down GITMO and bring those jihadis on to US soil and give them rights.

Sorry, he is a miserable, globalist kook. Not worthy of my vote.

[LostInBayport]

I’m not a Republican. Never was.

I too have never been a Republican, yet this week alone I received two mailings from the RNC. One was a questionnaire. I answered only one or two questions. The first was whether I would vote for Republican candidates in November. I crossed out the word 'Republican' and wrote 'conservative' over it. I also let them know I did not vote for McCain in the primary.

I attached the McCain Peso to both mailings and sent them back at their expense. Will they take me off their mailing list now?

[mtrott]

That’s a state issue. If Arkansas voters elected him on a platform to improve infrastructure and address other state issues, I don’t have so much problem with it. Why did they keep re-electing him?

Everything I’ve heard from him about federal taxation indicates he understands the negative effects of federal overtaxation on business.

[TWhiteBear]

It is going to be hard to listen to this eccentric old coot and his STRAIGHT CROCK EXPRESS until the election is over and then see the Republican Party destroyed.
Now that he seems to have the nomination in the bag, one can feel the fawning support of the MSM abating. His other supporters seem to lack the fire and funds to keep him really going.

[COWBELL]

What are the odds Romney would be asked for Vice President? Or maybe......Patrick J. Buchanan?

[samtheman]

As far as I know, he has always been attacked here.

Know why? Well, this is a conservative site, and McCain is more of a Democrat, than a conservative.

While I respect your right to criticize anyone, including and especially John McCain, I don't have to take you at your word that you are speaking for "this conservative site".

Free Republic Opinion Poll: (2/16) If it's McCain vs Obama in the general, how do you vote?

Composite Opinion
McCain 57.8% 1,203
Write-in 13.8% 288
Third party 10.6% 220
Stay home 5.7% 118
Obama 5.2% 109
Blank 3.5% 73
Pass 3.5% 72
100.1% 2,083

Member Opinion
McCain 57.2% 649
Write-in 16.8% 190
Third party 10.8% 123
Pass 4.6% 52
Blank 3.9% 44
Obama 3.4% 38
Stay home 3.4% 38
100.1% 1,134

Non-Member Opinion
McCain 58.4% 554
Write-in 10.3% 98
Third party 10.2% 97
Stay home 8.4% 80
Obama 7.5% 71
Blank 3.1% 29
Pass 2.1% 20
100.0%

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=227;results=2

It looks to me like you're speaking for 42.7% of "this conservative site".

Which means, I guess, that you don't know as much about "this conservative site" as you think you do.

What else are you also woefully uninformed on? Ever think to ask yourself that?

[isrul]

I bet they won’t. They’re probably too dense to get the message.

[Luke21]

“Too bad the GOP can’t find a World War I vet to run.”

ROFL

[TomGuy]

McCain: "Winning in the fall will be 'uphill battle'

Trying to rally the troops. I don't think he has it in him. Besides, the troops have been abandoned. Why should they rally back?

Even if McCain committed to signing in his own blood pledges against amnesty and First Amendment assaults, I would have a difficult time trusting him.

If he did happen to win in November (and I have my doubts he would defeat Obama and it would even be a toss up with Clinton), as soon as he was sworn in, he would again middle-finger the conservatives to helped him get elected.

The true signal to the conservatives will be whether he nominates an overt conservative as VP. If he goes for a middle-of-roader, the conservatives are SOL.

[LibLieSlayer]

mcqueeg does not have it in him to do what it would take... he has never done it in his past and he certainly is too ego-driven to do it now. For the first time in my adult life, I see a black future no matter what happens.

LLS

[So Circumstanced]

Yes, of course it will be an uphill battle.
Not necessarily for the reasons that you put forth.

But more because that, except for his stance on the Military, John McCain will find it “uphill” difficult to stake out ANY difference between himself and a Democrat.

[TomGuy]

SOROS if financing Obama, Clinton, and MCCAIN, take your pick, bottom shelf.

That is a point many keep missing. There isn't a dime's worth of difference among the 3. They are all Senators. Two of the three have been buddies for years. All have pledged to continue, for example, trying to get Comprehensive Immigration (amnesty, no matter what McCain calls it) passed.

McCain's candidacy was DOA just a couple of months ago. Who resurrected it? The GOP brass who want business and usual and the mainstream media who gave McCain plenty of press and cover.

Who have McCain's buddies been for the last few years? Kennedy, Kerry, Lieberman, hClinton. Who was thinking about jumping ship and joining the Dems after his 2000 defeat in his run for the presidency? Who was asking the Dem nominee in 04 to put him on the ticket as VP?

Oh, but he has an R after his name so he's ok. [/s]

[TomGuy]

And did you notice he said to Stephie, “if the economy continues to struggle, we need to cut corporate tax rates because we have the second highest in the world”?

Another point in that Stephie interview that many probably missed:

McCain suggested that he supports more companies going 'green' and forcing more 'green' on the public [such as with the new fluorescent light-bulb mandate].

McCain: ‘Green’ won’t cost the American people. It is a profit making industry.’

[Duh!!!! Who does Mc think will pay the final bill for all that ‘green’????? No wonder Mc has stated he doesn’t know much about economics. Hide your checkbook, folks. President McCain is going to give the ‘green’ light to corporations to force more new ‘green’ on YOU.]