Sen. John McCain seeks conservative support.
Fight on the right: Can John McCain unite Republicans?
With John McCain’s victory in New Hampshire and his surge in the polls going into today's Michigan primary, the Arizona senator has moved from struggling hopeful to serious contender to become his party’s standard-bearer. That, in turn, shines a spotlight on the policy differences between John McCain and his GOP colleagues. McCain's surging campaign is spurring heated debate among conservative activists and Republican lawmakers.
“If he became the nominee or was elected president, it would be a net negative for conservatives in Congress,” said a senior Senate GOP aide. “While he is strong on pork barrel spending and the war, he’s either vocally against us or absent from the debate on a host of other issues such as global warming, campaign finance reform and immigration.”
Can the straight-talking senator surmount those worries and unify the GOP?
Thoughts
Can John McCain Unite Republicans
Submitted on January 15th, 2008 by Dominic_DezzuttiI think the thoughts about this topic say it all. No, McCain cannot unite Republicans. He's not the rebel that New Hampshire voters fell in love with in 2000. In an attempt to get back to the mainstream, McCain has successfully given every wing of the Republican party a reason to not like him.
But here's the bad news for Republicans, McCain is doing this well not because of his record, but because of his competition. Mitt Romney is cominig off as a bigger flip flopper than John Kerry, Fred Thompson seemingly has no interest in leading this country, Mike Huckabee can be President of the Midwest, but not much more, and that leaves Rudy Guiliani.
Rudy is the Republicans' best bet to beat a Democrat in the fall. But in order to elect him as the nominee, Republicans must accept that the social plank of their platform will not be represented.
So, will Republicans elect a nominee that is failing at trying to be everything to everyone and will be soundly beaten in the general, like Romney or McCain? Or will they be pragmatic and elect a nominee that's electable, but doesn't truly represent a critical wing of the party? Only time will tell.
RE: McCain
Submitted on January 15th, 2008 by Jim LakelyI believe McCain can unite Republicans -- at least I hope he can unite enough of them in a general election against either liberal Hillary or even more liberal Obama.
And a President McCain would certainly unite Republicans -- against him. McCain has managed to attach his name to some of the most anti-conservative pieces of legislation of the last decade. To the delight of his vanity, his name is usually slapped on first.
McCain-Feingold: Violates the people's right of free speech so McCain can do penance for his Keating Five sins. As a bonus, it afford's McCain endless opportunities for holier-than-thou politicking. ("Everyone in Congress is corrupt ... except me, of course.")
McCain-Lieberman: Buys into the most hysterical aspects of global warming scaremongering, and promotes the "cap-and-trade" scam, to boot.
McCain-Kennedy: Gets the federal government more involved in micromanaging our public schools, while allowing Democrats to hammer Republicans for not spending even more.
One of the worst features of the Bush presidency, on the domestic side, is his legacy of expressing "compassionate conservatism" by exerting more government control on our lives and spending ever-more taxpayer money. President McCain would be that, on steroids.
I admire his steadfastness on the war. Everything else? Not so much.
McCain
Submitted on January 15th, 2008 by WayneLaugesenMcCain's success at this juncture says everything about the state of the GOP and its conservative base. Conservatives have completely lost sight of what the movement stands for. McCain, while a fine and electable man, would be a conservative caricature at best. The most he would offer to conservative Republicans would be a few traditionalist themes served up as programs from a big central government. Forget any advocacy of tax cuts, minimalist government and free markets. McCain's a legislator who believes in the power of government, not the power of a marketplace in which free individuals cast votes with their personal decisions and dollars millions of times each day. He doesn't get that concept, at all. Ideologically, he's not far from any of the Democrats in the hunt.