Posted on 11/25/2008 12:50:10 PM PST by pissant
In his first real news conference since the week following his defeat for the presidency, Senator John McCain emerged today in Phoenix to talk about his own future.
He said he plans to run again in 2010 — it may seem a long time from now for you but so many are already gearing up for the midterm elections that maybe it’s no surprise. The longtime Arizona senator — at age 72 — had already returned to the Senate earlier this month and tried to deflect media inquiries every time he ventured into one of its public hallways.
At his news conference today, he continued to defend his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a choice that many top Republicans and their pundits ultimately came to blame for his decline in the polls. While the conservative newcomer was enormously popular at rallies during the fall election season, her lack of foreign policy experience and her inconsistent performances in interviews undercut the Republican presidential ticket for many leading Republican thinkers.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Ahhhh! That’s the benfit of rational thinking...McCain IS conservative on MY issues..... abortion/taxes/military....and I don’t see a better canidate running ...so he’ll certainly get my vote.
The “perfect” canidate is like the “perfect” spouse...an illusion.
Just remeber that Reagan signed the abortion bill in CA....not perfect ....not perfect....but i still voted for him.
Send that rinocerous back to lala land. GO AWAY McClame.
Of course they will make it blanket amnesty, they want the votes; and McCain will be right there leading the charge with Lindsay Graham and Lieberman. I would like to see J.D. run...
I wish you all the luck in the world, but I don’t pray for ‘providence’ to be bestowed upon Senator McCain’s next run!
Wouldn’t it be better to have a conservative you believe more (in line with) than John McCain? Come on I am not saying he has ~never~ done anything for his country, or good at all, but by and large he’s a moderate and squandered the run against Maxist-Obama!..
Once again what if you had candidate A good on Taxes/abortion/military, and candidate B who was good not only on that but on +Immigration/Spending/Marriage/The Federal Reserve/Gun Rights/Bailouts?
Would you pick A or B??
The non-existence of "perfection" doesn't mean you should settle for the RINO dung at the bottom of the barrel.
yeah....I’d certainly vote for JD....but he’ll wait for McCain to retire.
Well...I think MCain will not support blanket amnesty....he knows the cost burden it will put on AZ....especially without any border enforcement. But he also won’t support the othere exreme of pulling up the grey-hound buses and sending them to Mexico.
I do think he’s too weak on this issue ....but the Obama team makes him look like a raging conservative. I think he’ll be one of the moderates....and will be run over by the open border crowd. What a mess it will make in AZ...especially since Nappy put us in such dire financial straights.
I can’t vote in AZ. Not my mistake to make. I just hope a conservative wins.
Stay safe !
well Reagan signed the abortion bill...so I guess that makes him a RINO as well...so go figure! your logic is a little weak! LOL’s!
I wish I could vote in that election because that would be one less vote RINO McCain would get.
“McCain IS conservative on MY issues..... abortion/taxes/military”
And this is precisely the problem with the GOP.
Assuming that conservatives want to stay with the party it is imperative, if they want their agenda advanced, that they give support to the broad spectrum of conservative principles and not just the ones they prefer. McCain is good on national defense, votes pro-life but doesn’t appear to be particular enthusiastic about it, has waffled on taxes but appears to be OK overall. He is a leftist when it comes to immigration policy. His stance on “climate change” can only lead to government expansion and economic hardship. And he pushes hard to annul the first amendment with his destructive “campaign finance reform” policies.
So overall McCain is a moderate Republican. But he is no conservative. And no conservative should support him - not for reasons of “purity” but for reasons of practical politics.
Conservatives may not agree with equal fervor on every conservative principle. But they should give support to these regardless. And they should do this with the expectation that the principles they do hold dear are also given support by those who do not think of them as particularly important. If they want to win conservatives must accomodate all factions within the movement and not compromise on conservatism. The left is exploiting the differences within the movement with the express goal of splitting the factions and rendering them impotent.
If conservatives want to advance their cause they must accomodate one another and work together. The road to electoral defeat has been paved by compromises that have discredited the conservative message and fractured the conservative base. And politicians like McCain are a very big factor in this. He divides the conservative base. He weakens the overall message because he actively opposes conservative principles that are important.
If there is any alternative to him - any candidate that espouses conservatism and who will give support to these even when he is not particularly enamored of one or two - then that candidate should be put up against McCain and others like McCain and every effort should be made to get them nominated.
The leftists have their factions too. But over the past 15 years they have imposed party discipline and every faction gives support to every other faction no matter how reluctantly because the overall goal was electoral success. You can see how well this has worked. Conservatives, if they want to advance their agenda, must emulate the left insofar as party unity and party discipline goes and they must insist that their candidates support conservative priniciples across the board.
McCain doesn't care what we think. Has he ever responded to a concern of your's unless it was a letter asking for money? He certainly hasn't me. Kyl, OTOH, has responded in writing to concerns and has even had his staff call me in the past... McCain... nope, he cares less and truly takes our votes for granted.... so he will not get mine. I hope immigration is the catalyst to get JD to challenge him.
He had one less from me this past Nov 4 in my state.
well thought out; but I disagree. There is a Republican platform; and to my knowledge, McCain supports every plank of it. Therefore, either change the platform; or create another party that suits you.
Didn't that little ditty get ya banned under your prior freeper name?
Pretty much... but those border counties took a beating this year. But I agree - shut it down, get back in line.
If McCain were a horse...well, we know what would have been done to him long ago.
I’m sorry...I have no idea what you’re talking about.
It’s a fact, look it up....Reagan signed the abortion bill in CA....
Reagan was not as obsessive about anti-abortion legislation as he often seemed. Early in his California governorship he had signed a permissive abortion bill that has resulted in more than a million abortions. Afterward, he inaccurately blamed this outcome on doctors, saying that they had deliberately misinterpreted the law. When Reagan ran for president, he won backing from pro-life forces by advocating a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother. Reagan’s stand was partly a product of political calculation, as was his tactic after he was elected of addressing the annual pro-life rally held in Washington by telephone so that he would not be seen with the leaders of the movement on the evening news. While I do not doubt Reagan’s sincerity in advocating an anti-abortion amendment, he invested few political resources toward obtaining this goal.
your guy=RINO...pretty funny....LOL’s on u
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