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.
You are correct! And I know a lot here do not know to what level she would bring this country down.
McCain needs to run.......for the border.....along with Hagel, Specter, Warner and Graham. Without those five, we might have had a fighting chance. As it was, they effectively torpedoed virtually every positive initiative over the past six years and enabled us to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Millions of us worked our butts off to get a Republican majority in the House and Senate just to see it squandered.
More than interesting. Fred Thompson could do it.
I have one word for McCain: Never.
Got that right. After Hillary, then it's Jeb Bush, then Chelsea Clinton, then one of the Bush twins, then the offspring of Socs the cat...
I would vote for Elmer Fudd before I would vote for McCain.
It's a shame how many folks haven't realized this yet.
I don't know enough about Hunter, yet. He might be great, but it's very hard to win from either the House or Senate. Former governors have a huge advantage.
"Got that right. After Hillary, then it's Jeb Bush, then Chelsea Clinton, then one of the Bush twins, then the offspring of Socs the cat..."
Some cablle Tv brought up Jeb. I like Jeb. Seems to be a great Gov.
But please, No more Bushes.
I will keep his name in the back of my mind and watch for information about him.
We do need a Western Governor or one from the South. Since I haven't heard of him I am guessing he is one of the 2?
I love Mike Pence, but he is in the House.
Plus, he's too old!
I'd have to see Johnny Boy play golf before going that far.
It's all about him and his "personal quest." He's glad we lost. I will not vote for him ever.
Fred Thompson is a former Tennessee Senator. Frist got Thompsons seat after retiring from the senate. He is now an actor on Law and Order. He also was and maybe still is a lawyer.
Vert smart, very charismatic.
I would vote for Giuliani before McCain (and I will never vote for Giuliani). If either is nominated in 2008 I will leave that portion of the ballot blank.
Thompson was and still is a McCain supporter,
If you recall, one of McCain's objections to the nuclear option was the "what about when we lose control of the Senate".
"As bad as McCain is, you have no idea what Hillary is capable of doing. You don't think she would shut down talk radio? She would do anything she wanted to do." - doug from upland
Have you forgotten McCain-Feingold? Sen. McCain has no regard for free speech. Both McCain and Clinton would try to end talk radio and regulate political blogs. As for other policies, Clinton is the more evil of the two, but she's also the more rational. Right now, I think it's a tossup as to whose election would be the greater disaster.
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