John McCain's Ohio disconnect

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 9, 2008 | Peter Wallsten

[TADSLOS]

CINCINNATI -- As the architect of Ohio's ballot measure against gay marriage, Phil Burress helped draw thousands of conservative voters to the polls in 2004, most of whom also cast ballots to reelect President Bush. So Burress was not surprised when two high-level staffers from John McCain's campaign dropped by his office, asking for his help this fall.

What surprised Burress was how badly the meeting went. He says he tried but failed to make the McCain team understand how much work remained to overcome the skepticism of social conservatives. Burress ended up cutting off the campaign officials as they spoke. "He doesn't want to associate with us," Burress now says of McCain, "and we don't want to associate with him."

[estrogen]

I couldn’t agree more....McCain is on the Today show today and he really doesn’t stand for anything a social conservative believes in....he is wrong on drilling in Anwar, he wants alternative energy. He doesn’t come off well at all......the debates should be interesting.

[Comparative Advantage]

I’m starting to believe that McCain doesn’t really want to win, or that he is really running as the “moderate Democrat” in this race. This article, albeit from the LA Times, accurately assesses the situation on the ground here in Ohio. I have planned to hold my nose and vote for him in November, but as each day passes, it is getting harder and harder to see myself doing that. I have little respect for this man. I am beginning to believe that McCain has no core principles, that he is as bad as Bill Clinton. In the end, I’ll probably just focus my attention on local contests.

[BufordP]

Vote McCAIN!

He Sucks Less!

[Molly Pitcher]

Well, as a Buckeye working in the trenches '00, '04,'06, it doesn't surprise me to read this.

The only thing I can think of to say is this: if Obama becomes president, the social issues so many of us care about will become a moot point as our very survival as a country becomes the paramount question.

[dforest]

McCain and the dolts at the top of the GOP ladder have successfully destroyed the party. Every time he opens that mouth with the little mealy voice he causes more damage.

Face it, the man is a democrat and I have no reason to vote for him.

The party is over.

[Nervous Tick]

>> he wants alternative energy

He’s a bag of uninformed wind.

[Nervous Tick]

>> I have planned to hold my nose and vote for him in November, but as each day passes, it is getting harder and harder to see myself doing that.

+1

Up to now I was going to hold my nose... now I’m seriously re-evaluating the wisdom of a vote for JMC. We’ll see who he picks for VP. If it’s Crist, I won’t vote for the “couple”.

[Comparative Advantage]

“Up to now I was going to hold my nose... now I’m seriously re-evaluating the wisdom of a vote for JMC. We’ll see who he picks for VP. If it’s Crist, I won’t vote for the “couple”.”

If it’s Crist, Lieberman or some other closet type or lib, I will definitely feel comfortable abstaining in the fall.

[AmericaUnited]

the social issues so many of us care about will become a moot point as our very survival as a country becomes the paramount question.

And filibuster-proof working majority is a very real possibility. How many of the social programs enacted have been ROLLED BACK? The answer is almost none of them. I love my country more than I love "teaching someone a lesson" and damning my country to hell.

[Bernard]

The party is over.

The party is self-purging. The good news is that the next generation of candidates will have an open field. If they choose to make commitments for reduced spending, balanced budgets, less government interference in people's lives, and honor those commitments, then the country will be better off in the long term.

If, however, they act like the last group of Republicans who lost track of what got them elected in the first place, then we will be stuck in a revolving spiral of self-important jerks who think more of themselves than they do of this country. And the spiral will always be pointed down.

[LS]

I got my first pitch from the Mont. County chairman for McCain. I replied that I would not work for McCain, and could not support him. It's not just that he's a RINO---I could bring myself to work for the "right" RINO---but McCain utterly detests me and what I stand for. At least Rudy did everything he could to mollify conservatives, went to all the conservative meetings, met with all the ministers, tried to find points of agreement. McCain seems to want to find points of difference.

Fine. I walked streets and worked polls for Bush in 2004, for Blackwell in 2006. Not for Juan.

[WarEagle]

Sometimes I wonder about this man. He thinks he can win without the voters who elected Nixon, Reagan, and the Bushes?

GW nearly lost in 2000 because the evangelicals stayed home. If both stay home, and it's beginning to look like we will, this guy is so screwed. And so are we.

Thanks loads, GOP.

[library user]

I think it’s way too early to be making such dire predictions. The two haven’t even debated yet! When Americans finally see - between now and November - what we have been seeing now for a long time, they’ll reach the same conclusion: no way will they/we allow an American-hating, racist, pompous-ass empty suit win the election.

[dforest]

I totally agree with you. My thoughts exactly.

We get stuck with these people because we keep voting for them.

Fear is a very reliable hammer and we have been hit over the head with it.

[suijuris]

The good news is that the next generation of candidates will have an open field. If they choose to make commitments for reduced spending, balanced budgets, less government interference in people's lives, and honor those commitments, then the country will be better off in the long term.

Keep on dreaming. The real problem is that as time goes on the definition of conservative keeps getting redefined further and further to the left. Some even call George Bush a conservative where as 20 year ago he would have been chastised for the liberal he is. Hell, right now JFK would be considered a John Bircher and I would be tripping over myself to get to the polls to vote for him. Back in 1960 he was considered very far to the left.

After the end of the Obama reign there will be no one left in politics who will even be able to define the term conservative. History will have been rewritten. This country has reached the tipping point and there is no return.

[bcsco]

Many political analysts say the strategy played a large role in Bush's reelection. Bush won Ohio, for example, by about 120,000 votes -- roughly equal to the combined margins of victory in the GOP-leaning communities around Cincinnati, where the voter-identification plan was used heavily.

This time, Republican officials say, they are preparing to use these "data mining" techniques to reach voters, but will point the strategy at an additional segment of the electorate: the independent and swing voters whom Obama is targeting too.

For McCain, the challenge is to win enough of these voters to make up for a potential lack of passion among conservatives, and he is betting that his image as an independent and his moderate views on issues such as global warming will help. McCain is positioned to "find a new layer of voters . . . that's probably not available to the average Republican," said Mike DuHaime, a McCain campaign advisor.

In Ohio, McCain will target blue-collar workers outside Cleveland and Youngstown, and in the state's Appalachian counties in the southeast, who turned their backs on Obama in his primary contest with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

GOP officials also say that new voter-identification technology will help them make up for any falloff in conservative zeal.

Well, there's McCain's strategy in a nutshell, and it meshes with what I've been saying. He's not interested in the conservative vote. He's taking the approach "Who ya gonna vote for?" with us and is concentrating on the undecided vote and those democrats disaffected because of Obama.

So, you McCain supporters, tell me again why I should vote for a guy who doesn't give a damn about me.

[bcsco]

The only thing I can think of to say is this: if Obama becomes president, the social issues so many of us care about will become a moot point as our very survival as a country becomes the paramount question.

That's the one argument the McCain supporters here on FR keep pushing; McCain is the lesser of two evils. Well that argument doesn't take into consideration that should the democrats gain a larger majority in Congress (which is a sure possibility), having McCain in office will in itself be moot.

When pressed, the two main areas the McCain people bring up is judgeships and the war. With a larger democrat majority there's the distinct possibility that they'll be able to override a McCain veto. McCain's ability to lead on both issues will be curtailed. Couple that with McCain's penchant for bi-partisan legislation and coziness with the DIM's positions on such as amnesty and Global Warming, and I see little difference between the two Presidencies (McCain/Obama).

As for me, if I have a choice, I'd rather have a DIM in the office when the country heads South. After all, who do we Americans blame when things go bad? The Executive!

[estrogen]

I agree with you and this is the first time in 40 years that I will refuse to support someone who doesn’t believe in anything I believe in other than a strong military.

Where do we draw the line?.....keep voting for the lesser of two evils or should we make a statement and make the politicians pay attention?

I’m in a dither myself. I sincerely don’t know what to do and still be true to my values. You shouldn’t have a choice of holding your nose or not voting.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Maybe he watched the governor’s race last year, saw how well the social conservatives were able to turn out the vote for someone they loved, and figures he better hedge his bets.