Posted on 11/10/2006 2:07:19 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
His party may have taken "a thumpin'," in the words of President Bush, but ABC News has learned that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his political team have decided it's full steam ahead for his 2008 presidential campaign. Although no absolute, final decision has been made, sources close to McCain say on Wednesday in Phoenix, he and a half dozen of his top aides huddled and decided to proceed more formally with his quest for the White House.
A presidential exploratory committee will be set up this month — perhaps as early as next week.
McCain's official, final decision will likely not come until after the Christmas holidays, when he will talk to his wife, Cindy, and his children.
Among his seven children, Jimmy is at boot camp at Camp Pendleton; Jack is at the Naval Academy; and daughter Megan is in her senior year at Columbia University.
In the meantime, McCain's team is exploring office space in Virginia, hiring staff and building infrastructure in key early-primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Strategy Could Target Swing Voters, Bipartisan Issues
Despite Republican losses of the House and Senate, McCain sees encouraging signs for his personal quest.
Independent voters were the key swing voters in this election, going overwhelmingly for Democrats.
Republicans will want to focus on winning them back, and according to polls, McCain is more popular with them than he is with conservative Republicans.
In exit polls, Republican voters expressed disappointment with their party on the issues of fiscal restraint and government ethics, issues McCain has tried to make his signature.
"A lot of people look at the Republican Congress and say the problem is they only took half measures of which McCain wanted to do in full measure," said former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon, who worked on the 2004 campaign.
He said McCain had been a "leader for years" in those areas.
"All the relevant issues in the Congress now — spending reform, ethics reform — are issues that John McCain has been talking about for a long time," he said.
Why would McCain start his campaign so early?
For one reason, the race is wide open — with no president or vice president running for the first time in 80 years.
Already Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa have announced their intentions.
The race also looks to be expensive. In 2004, President Bush spent more than $345 million on his campaign.
Though he's considered his party's front-runner, McCain faces some considerable hurdles.
Having turned 70 in August, he would be the oldest U.S. president to get elected. And he faces at least one strong challenger within the party, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and others in the seemingly ascendant Democratic Party, such as Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Moreover, McCain has yet to resolve the problems he's had with the Republican Party's conservative base.
"He has a problem with pro-lifers on judges, he … became very hostile to the Second Amendment community and supportive of gun control. He has a problem with the economic conservatives because he's been bad on taxes for six years now," said longtime critic Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, which includes individuals and businesses opposed to higher taxes.
"Conservatives who care about the tax issue are very concerned that he opposed Bush's tax cuts," Norquist said.
McCain has tried to combat that with goodwill. He appeared at 346 events for Republican candidates this election cycle and was said to be the most requested speaker for GOP candidates.
"He's built a base across the country, and unlike [in] 2000, John McCain will run a 50-state strategy," McKinnon said.
While emphasizing more bipartisan issues such as campaign finance reform and a patients' bill of rights early in the Bush presidency, McCain has more recently strongly supported the war in Iraq.
He may very well be the only serious presidential contender calling for more troops to go to Iraq.
While he opposes a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, he supported such an effort in his state — an effort that failed.
McCain has also attempted to reach out to conservative evangelical leaders, as he did with the Rev. Jerry Falwell earlier this year.
Appealing to those conservatives while keeping the independents so important to his party's 2008 hopes may pose a considerable challenge.
McCain can go take a flying leap IMO.
This is one GOP candidate, I absolutely would not vote for-no way, no shape, no how.
Kinda like the Lutheran Church got to liberal for me, well, the GOP is doing the same thing. I am ready for a party called the Retro Party..I guess it would have Barry Goldwater, or Reagan types in it.
"I would never want to see Hillary as President"
Same here.
Soros could probably throw his money into a McCain bid for '08 just to assure a Hillary victory.
I'm tired of holding my nose. We have to get rid of McLame fast.
Here you go. Thompson did support McCain.
The second byline should read: "And the World Prepares to End"
We need to find a viable alternative quickly!
Not that I'm aware of. He may not even be interested but I am just saying there are better choices than Rudy or McCain and the party needs to get behind one of them.
My personal choice would be Alan Keyes, who doesn't stand a snow balls chance in hades but I like him in spite of the Illinois senatorial run/fiasco and the brain fart he had concerning reparations.
McCain: As a retired Naval Officer and contemporary of yours with some limited influence, I pledge to hold you in contempt and as accountable for your self-serving and egotistical conduct. At all times, people need to know that your Navajo Indians are exempt from your campaign finance law. You were the head fool which allowed the gang of 14 to road block conservative judicial nominees. Finally you were a jet jockey which means you sucked wind then and blow hot air today.. Go away .. be gone.
The following quote is the best comment I’ve seen on McCain’s run. It pretty well sums up the situation as I see it.
“John McCain, you treasonous bastard, …How dare you even think that you are qualified to sit in the oval office! Ronald Reagan's office! President? Hah! You miserable excuse for a two-bit political hack, you're not even qualified to shine Ronald Reagan's boots. If you do run, I'm afraid you're gonna be at least one vote short. It'll be a cold day in hell before a traitor like you ever receives my vote. And that's a campaign promise you can take to the bank.”
I put McCain on par with Gerlad Ford,
###
Not even close. President Ford is an honorable man.
No,
No,
John...please talk to me!
Talk to just about any other Vietnam veteran,
Talk to just about any Gulf/Afganistan/Iraq veteran,
Talk to someone who isn't on your payroll, or the DNC, or George McGovern...
Cut to the chase and then decide.
... a certifiable Marxist or a certifiable nutcase.
I don't love the guy. But I will support him if he is the candidate.
in retrospect, his "gang of 14" compromise got us Alito and Roberts. and he was right about not forcing a rules change - had we done that, we would now no longer have fillibuster power going into this next senate, where we are the minority. and we are going to need that fillibuster power.
I disagree. The Dems need all of their 51 votes to change the rules - they won't hold them all.
had the republicans set the precedent on the rules change, they would hold them all in the next senate.
I can see McCain's campaign slogan now "I'm not worth a shit but I'm better than Hillary". What else can he run on?
there isn't enough time to take some "unknown" republican, who emerges as a "litmus test pure" candidate on all the social issues, a person few people have ever heard of, who therefore loses a large block of independents right out of the gate. and such a person can't raise the needed money anyway, and our guy needs alot of money, since the entire MSM is against us.
2008 is a difficult year for republicans. we have done nothing to build "bench strength" these last 6 years. and for 2008, if the Clintons are returned to power - we essentially lose the country. I won't sign up for that.
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