Posted on 03/01/2008 3:04:41 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
John McCain could officially wrap up the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, and he'll celebrate in Atlanta on Thursday.
As the GOP establishment in Georgia begins to align behind the presumptive nominee, trouble still lingers among some conservative voters who doubt McCain's bona fides.
Those skeptical voters ultimately could determine McCain's fate. Do they stay home? Do they vote Democrat instead?
Tom Nesbitt is not sure what he's going to do. A retired postal worker from Turner County, the 66-year-old Republican voter said he's "disgusted" with his party in general and McCain in particular.
"I have not yet decided whether I will, at the last moment, vote for McCain, sit this one out or, out of complete disgust for the Republican Party's lack of consideration, vote for another candidate," Nesbitt said.
McCain, an Arizona senator, is expected to pass the delegate threshold to secure the nomination after Tuesday's primaries in Ohio and Texas. Although former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee remains in the race, McCain has a lock on the top slot on the ticket.
Huckabee won Georgia's Feb. 5 primary, in part because of his strength among evangelical voters, many of whom look at McCain with dismay.
Still, some say conservatives' ire toward McCain has been exaggerated and that he has been unfairly painted as a moderate or liberal by the media or by those who simply don't like him.
In Georgia, at least, it seems unlikely that apathy among conservatives toward McCain could trigger a Democratic victory. Georgia last went for a Democrat for president in 1992 and has been trending Republican ever since.
Besides history, McCain has other reasons for optimism in Georgia.
First is Thursday's $1,000-a-plate reception at the Westin Buckhead with host Gov. Sonny Perdue, who did not endorse a candidate in the primary. Joining Perdue on the host committee are nearly every top elected Republican in the state, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who also did not endorse in the primary, and House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), who backed McCain after first choice Rudy Giuilani dropped out.
McCain also has the support of Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss. The state's two Republican U.S. senators endorsed their Senate colleague late in the primary campaign, while most U.S. House members went for Huckabee or Mitt Romney. Chambliss is on the ballot in November, too, and it will benefit him to have a strong presidential candidate above him, so Chambliss will be expected to work to bring conservatives back into the GOP fold.
Alec Poitevint, who led McCain's Georgia campaign, said there's no question the GOP will unite behind McCain.
"Absolutely," Poitevint said, "he's a proven leader in a difficult time. And he's the right man to be president now, and I think our people in Georgia understand that."
The primary season is over, he said, and Republicans typically put aside their differences for the good of the party in November.
Shawn Davis, who led Huckabee's Georgia campaign, agrees.
Huckabee will eventually give way, Davis said, and the Arkansan's supporters will back the nominee.
"We believe to win in November it's imperative to have a conservative on the ticket," Davis said. "Once Governor Huckabee releases his 51 delegates to McCain, presumably after his last stand in Texas (on Tuesday), you will see all Georgia Republicans unite strongly behind John McCain."
Some conservatives' anger toward McCain lingers.
A recent report from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 78 percent of white, born-again Protestants voted for George W. Bush over Democrat John Kerry in 2004. But, wrote John Green, Pew's senior fellow in religion and American politics, McCain "may have some trouble achieving that level of support from white evangelicals given that a majority of them preferred other candidates in the primaries."
If the race is close, a drop in support from such a key component of the Republican base could be damaging.
Exit polls taken from the Georgia primary give McCain reason for concern. He lost badly to Huckabee, and in some cases to third-place finisher Romney, among those who identified themselves as either somewhat conservative or very conservative. Among Republican voters who said they chose a candidate who shares their values, McCain got 15 percent, compared with 51 percent for Huckabee and 31 percent for Romney.
Don Neunaber, a physical therapist in Lilburn, looks at his choices in November and is conflicted.
"I haven't yet decided whether I can vote for McCain," Neunaber said. Note the use of the word "can." It's not "whether I will vote" for McCain. It's "whether I can" vote for him. That difference indicates a deeper, more personal level of frustration.
Neunaber finds the choice excruciating.
"I am faced with a real dilemma as a Republican," he said. "I am stuck between adversaries."
Such strong feelings stem from a series of frustrations and perceived betrayals. Neunaber specifically mentioned McCain's support for the failed immigration bill that many conservatives considered amnesty for illegal immigrants.
In the face of loud and angry response from many voters, McCain backed off his support for the measure. But, Neunaber said, McCain later told a television interviewer that he would sign a similar bill if elected president.
"He's playing to conservatives, trying to move to the conservative side, but he's not that much of a conservative when it comes down to it," Neunaber said.
Others criticize McCain for his sponsorship of campaign finance reform they say stifles the political power of pro-family groups. Others, such as the powerful Club for Growth, don't like his economic policies.
Helen Slater of Marietta, a secretary at Lockheed Martin Corp., voted for Romney in the Feb. 5 Georgia primary. Romney dropped out shortly after finishing third here. Slater will vote for McCain in November.
"Although he certainly is not my choice for the Republican nominee, I still feel like he is the lesser of three evils," she said, noting that the other two "evils" would be Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Jim Beck, chairman of the Georgia Christian Coalition, said more and more Republicans displeased with McCain will come to the conclusion that McCain is the best option available to them.
"You're already seeing it," Beck said. "Based on our e-mail traffic, some Huckabee people are waiting (to publicly back McCain) out of respect for him. At the end of the day, you have to pick between imperfect people."
McCain was not Beck's first choice. That becomes less important in November, he said.
"Look at the alternative," he said.
Plus, Beck said, McCain could gain independents and moderates to offset any loss of conservatives.
"McCain offers appeal to swing voters that would not have been the case with Huckabee or Romney," Beck said.
In the end, however, "I don't think McCain will turn off the base," Beck said.
Nesbitt, the Turner County Republican, would disagree.
"I am totally disgusted with them all, and have decided to call myself an independent, and will think twice before ever voting Republican again," he said.
I’ll take a RINO over the dictator loving America hating liberals ANY day of the WEEK. We have serious threats facing this country, many of them come from within our political body. The are enemies of our country will a lot of petro-dollars to buy favors and do us damage. May God have mercy.
“Will conservatives back McCain?”
Nope. Repubes will, but not enough Conservatives will to make a difference.
I have no intention of voting for McCain but this is why I think it doesn’t really matter. He is hoping to garner a large amount of votes at the center with his moves leftward. Couple that with the appallingly low quality of thy Dem candidates and McCain stands a very good chance of winning the big prize
Well put. These threads are the most outrageous I've ever seen here at FR...Most divisive and virulent.
Personally, I'm still undecided, FWIW
“McCain is the right man for the times”....
If that’s what you need to tell yourself, go right ahead. Just keep it to yourself.
Still, some say conservatives’ ire toward McCain has been exaggerated and that he has been unfairly painted as a moderate or liberal by the media or by those who simply don’t like him.
McCain - Feingold
McCain - Kennedy
McCain - Liebermann
McCain’s “gang of 14”
The hatred directed at this composite of human waste is quite WELL FREAKING DESERVED!
I’m with you. My sentiments exactly!
Would you rather share your cell with a forger or a rapist?
“Among Republican voters who said they chose a candidate who shares their values, McCain got 15 percent”
Cannot be repeated enough.
katie....did I call her a RINO???? No, then please keep your yap shut.
—”Will conservatives back McCain?”
A simple hell to the no suffice?—
Megadittos to that statement. I fully agree with your tagline BTW.
Politicians do learn. After Bush 41 lost what should have been an easy reelection to an Arkansas grifter by raising taxes and signing gun control, it's hard to name a single Republican proclaiming that they will do either.
And if we accept and vote for McCain, they will learn that being a rino is a winning Republican strategy.
No Thanks!
McCain is a disgusting and grotesque little man. I’ll never forget him defending John Kerry by calling the Swift Boat Veterans “dishonest and dishonorable”. He should resign his senate seat and end his presidential campaign. He is a disgrace.
“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But, conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
“And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr
Regards . . . Penny
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978923/posts?page=54#54
Don’t you understand by now that no matter who “wins” in November, there will be a Democrat in the WH?
“That kind of apathy is exactly what is going to lead to a democratic victory in Nov. Not voting or protesting your vote is not going to change who the nominee is nor is it going to ‘teach’ the republican party a lesson.”
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Thanks ezed72 for some sanity. It amazes me that so many seem to think that an Obama victory will teach “the Republicans” a lesson.
When a political party losses, if it changes the party direction at all, it will tend to drive it toward ‘the middle’ to capture more of the electorate.
The result of an Democratic victory will be is higher taxes, government sponsored health care, more Supreme Court justices in the mold of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a victory for terrorist, ...
What it will not be is a victory for conservatives.
You are of course, absolutly right
“8 years of a McCain administration is 100 times better than 8 years of a Hil/Obama admin”
A term is 4, not 8 years and no matter who wins, I look forward to their primary challenger in ‘12.
And 100 times? WTF are you smoking?
“I don’t know what the heck to do!!!!!!
The thought of Obama as President scares me to death!
The thought of voting for McCain makes me ill!
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I’d rather be ill than dead.
My earnest ire is not in the least exaggerated, and I don't need the media to stoke my opinion of McCain's liberal bias. I've long been aware of his opposing viewpoint on a number of important issues.
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