McCain As The Nominee?: Over My Dead Body
Of course we know we are in the beginning of the election season. And a lot of focus will be on the 2006 races. But, we are also paying attention to who is moving their pieces into place for a run in 2008. Now the Democrats have less than nothing. Their hopes like in Governor Mark Warner, and Sen. Hillary Clinton. They might sneak Governor Bill Richardson in. But if any of the usual "Clouseaus" show up-Kerry, Kucinich, Sharpton, Gore, Daschle, or Gephardt--they will be blown right out of the water.
Hugh Hewitt brings u0p John McCain today, and this is what he has to say:
The Republican Party primary voter rewards loyalty to party and long service. Sebator McCain may yet win over that base, though there is almost no evidence that he has made significant progress in the effort, and every gathering of party faithful solidifies the impression that while Senator McCain is indeed a great American, he has been a lousy Republican and a terrible senator. On this last point McCain-Feingold and the Gang of 14 are the two most obvious episodes of McCain's separation from the base.
Indeed. These are the two big sticking points with the GOP base. But I contend there is far more in this man's past that will keep him from seeing the nomination. Many people will remember that he was opposed to the president's tax cuts, and did not vote for them. And during the 2004 election, not only did he spend his spare time--the time he was not with the president on the campaign trail--ripping up the president over his war strategy, but he was busy being fawned over by the Kerry campaign as a possible veep. In addition to that, he came out against the Swift Boat Vets strongly, accusing them of slandering a "a good and honest man." Well, senator, if your friend were so honest, why did he run from his record--both service and Senate records--and why did he wait until almost a full year after his presidential run to release his service record? For a "good and honest man" Senator Kerry sure acted like he had something to hide.
The more that MSM tries to create "inevtiability" around McCain, the more the base will see him as a creation of elites these voters do not trust. That's McCain's second dilemma --he has all the wrong friends inside the Beltway.
He always has had the wrong friends inside the Beltway. This is nothing new. Ever since the press dubbed him the "maverick" senator from Arizona, this man has cuddled up to the press more, and less with his party and it's base. The reason behind this is because McCain, above all else, is an opportunist; a media whore of the first order. He has never met a microphone he does not like, and has never been interviewed by a reporter that dislikes him. He loves the attention, and he craves the attention. Every time this man thinks that he is fading out of the news cycle, he has to throw himself back into it. His recent torture legislation, attached as a rider on the defense appropriations bill? It was there because he just had to ride the coattails of the movie made based on his book, and on the heels of the leaked story about the CIA's black prisons where we are supposedly torturing people. Thank God the president acted accordingly, and told McCain that he will enforce McCain's legislation as he sees fit, but that interrogation of the enemy falls under the auspice of the president, not the Senate.
If McCain is going to make a serious bid for the base vote, he has got to get in the habit of wading into conservative circles and admitting the obvious problems with McCain-Feingold (the 527s and the ban on ads criticizing incumbants to name two) and the Gang of 14 (still frozen in place judicial nominees and a missed opportunity to reform the deeply diseased judicial nomination process.)
No, no, no, no. Every time this man tries to "fix" something, he screws it up worse than what it was. No, I do not want him touching anything. He can be a cheerleader for both causes, but I do not want him directly involved. And on McCain/Feingold, he thinks there is nothing wrong with it, except the 527s, and that only came after the Swift Boat Vets started their campaign against John Kerry. McCain's major reason for going after the 527s is because his longtime friend in the Senate, and fellow Vietnam vet was underfire from people he had served with that questioned his service, his medals, and accomplishments. they ought to know. They were there. But that did not stop McCain from losing his cool over these guys. He railed against them every chance he had. He even called on the president to condemn the ads, which the president refused to do. The president, instead of directly going after the Swift Boat vets instead chose to rail on all 527s, and the rhetoric they were using.
I'll issue my 400th invite to the senator to appear on the program. Perhaps he'll surprise and say yes, but I suspect so long as he keeps MSM fooled, he'll keep fooling himself as well.
There is a reason why Thomas and I listen to Hugh. Actually, there are a couple of reasons. The biggest one is that he does not have McCain on his show. He has Senator John Kyl on. His lack of McCain as a guest was the one thing that sealed Hannity's fate with us, and opened up the door for Hugh. We cannot stand Sean Hannity's reference to John McCain as his "good friend." McCain is an ideological enemy to the GOP who cuddles up to the MSM and liberal Democrats, hoping for some praise frome either one.
Thomas recently picked up Hugh's new book. It is called Painting The Map Red: The Fight To Create A Permanent Republican Majority. I bring this up not simply because I am addressing the points made by Hugh, but also because he has a chapter in his book that is relevant to this situation. The chapter is called "How Big Is This Tent?" and it is referring to the party being under one tent. And obviously, not everyone under that tent is going to be to the right, always. Some will be more moderate, choosing a straight path down the middle of the road, and a few will lean to the left. But, as he points out, those whjo stay firm on the "big issues" should be allowed to stay in the tent.
In that chapter he argues that Senator Lincoln Chafee must go. We agree. He has to. He is never with the GOP on anything that is of vital importance, and he was the only Republican to vote against Samue Alito. Now, there are others we would like to see go, as well. Senator Olympia Snowe, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Lindsey Graham, and Senator Mike DeWine, in addition to Senator John McCain; these people come to mind when it comes time to clean house. And we--Thomas and I--have contended for a long time that McCain should be one of those that must go. Simply put, this man cannot be trusted.
Yes, he voted for the war, yet he later ripped into the president over his strategy, and overstepped his bounds with the new torture legislation. He stood opposed to the president on his tax cuts, claiming that taxes needed to be raised when we started this war. (A history lesson for the esteemed senator from my state: We did not start this war.) He moved to grant himself and thirteen other senators extra-constitutional powers to give their yea or nay on judicial appointees--this is a blatant violation of the Constitutional powers of the president.
The point of this exercise is to show the country that the inevitability that is alluded to today by the Baltimore Sun is false. As one of the most widely recognized names amongst the GOP hopefuls for 2008, McCain could be considered a "front-runner." However, that will fade as he shows he cannot handle the tests that are going to be thrown his way by the likes of Mitt Romney and George Allen. These men were governors of Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively, and they know what it means to make the tough decisions. Over the last ten years, or so, McCain has shown that he is more likely to moderate and negotiate with the Democrats. But if that is his method for dealing with opposition in the Senate, I must question his ability to handle opposition as commander-in-chief. Could we be wrong? Could McCain be a good president? It is possible, as with all things in life, but we are not convinced as things stand now. And should he have another meltdown, like the infamous one in 2000, there is no way he will make it through the primaries to get the nomination of the party for a 2008 run.
The Bunny ;)
Of course we know we are in the beginning of the election season. And a lot of focus will be on the 2006 races. But, we are also paying attention to who is moving their pieces into place for a run in 2008. Now the Democrats have less than nothing. Their hopes like in Governor Mark Warner, and Sen. Hillary Clinton. They might sneak Governor Bill Richardson in. But if any of the usual "Clouseaus" show up-Kerry, Kucinich, Sharpton, Gore, Daschle, or Gephardt--they will be blown right out of the water.
Hugh Hewitt brings u0p John McCain today, and this is what he has to say:
The Republican Party primary voter rewards loyalty to party and long service. Sebator McCain may yet win over that base, though there is almost no evidence that he has made significant progress in the effort, and every gathering of party faithful solidifies the impression that while Senator McCain is indeed a great American, he has been a lousy Republican and a terrible senator. On this last point McCain-Feingold and the Gang of 14 are the two most obvious episodes of McCain's separation from the base.
Indeed. These are the two big sticking points with the GOP base. But I contend there is far more in this man's past that will keep him from seeing the nomination. Many people will remember that he was opposed to the president's tax cuts, and did not vote for them. And during the 2004 election, not only did he spend his spare time--the time he was not with the president on the campaign trail--ripping up the president over his war strategy, but he was busy being fawned over by the Kerry campaign as a possible veep. In addition to that, he came out against the Swift Boat Vets strongly, accusing them of slandering a "a good and honest man." Well, senator, if your friend were so honest, why did he run from his record--both service and Senate records--and why did he wait until almost a full year after his presidential run to release his service record? For a "good and honest man" Senator Kerry sure acted like he had something to hide.
The more that MSM tries to create "inevtiability" around McCain, the more the base will see him as a creation of elites these voters do not trust. That's McCain's second dilemma --he has all the wrong friends inside the Beltway.
He always has had the wrong friends inside the Beltway. This is nothing new. Ever since the press dubbed him the "maverick" senator from Arizona, this man has cuddled up to the press more, and less with his party and it's base. The reason behind this is because McCain, above all else, is an opportunist; a media whore of the first order. He has never met a microphone he does not like, and has never been interviewed by a reporter that dislikes him. He loves the attention, and he craves the attention. Every time this man thinks that he is fading out of the news cycle, he has to throw himself back into it. His recent torture legislation, attached as a rider on the defense appropriations bill? It was there because he just had to ride the coattails of the movie made based on his book, and on the heels of the leaked story about the CIA's black prisons where we are supposedly torturing people. Thank God the president acted accordingly, and told McCain that he will enforce McCain's legislation as he sees fit, but that interrogation of the enemy falls under the auspice of the president, not the Senate.
If McCain is going to make a serious bid for the base vote, he has got to get in the habit of wading into conservative circles and admitting the obvious problems with McCain-Feingold (the 527s and the ban on ads criticizing incumbants to name two) and the Gang of 14 (still frozen in place judicial nominees and a missed opportunity to reform the deeply diseased judicial nomination process.)
No, no, no, no. Every time this man tries to "fix" something, he screws it up worse than what it was. No, I do not want him touching anything. He can be a cheerleader for both causes, but I do not want him directly involved. And on McCain/Feingold, he thinks there is nothing wrong with it, except the 527s, and that only came after the Swift Boat Vets started their campaign against John Kerry. McCain's major reason for going after the 527s is because his longtime friend in the Senate, and fellow Vietnam vet was underfire from people he had served with that questioned his service, his medals, and accomplishments. they ought to know. They were there. But that did not stop McCain from losing his cool over these guys. He railed against them every chance he had. He even called on the president to condemn the ads, which the president refused to do. The president, instead of directly going after the Swift Boat vets instead chose to rail on all 527s, and the rhetoric they were using.
I'll issue my 400th invite to the senator to appear on the program. Perhaps he'll surprise and say yes, but I suspect so long as he keeps MSM fooled, he'll keep fooling himself as well.
There is a reason why Thomas and I listen to Hugh. Actually, there are a couple of reasons. The biggest one is that he does not have McCain on his show. He has Senator John Kyl on. His lack of McCain as a guest was the one thing that sealed Hannity's fate with us, and opened up the door for Hugh. We cannot stand Sean Hannity's reference to John McCain as his "good friend." McCain is an ideological enemy to the GOP who cuddles up to the MSM and liberal Democrats, hoping for some praise frome either one.
Thomas recently picked up Hugh's new book. It is called Painting The Map Red: The Fight To Create A Permanent Republican Majority. I bring this up not simply because I am addressing the points made by Hugh, but also because he has a chapter in his book that is relevant to this situation. The chapter is called "How Big Is This Tent?" and it is referring to the party being under one tent. And obviously, not everyone under that tent is going to be to the right, always. Some will be more moderate, choosing a straight path down the middle of the road, and a few will lean to the left. But, as he points out, those whjo stay firm on the "big issues" should be allowed to stay in the tent.
In that chapter he argues that Senator Lincoln Chafee must go. We agree. He has to. He is never with the GOP on anything that is of vital importance, and he was the only Republican to vote against Samue Alito. Now, there are others we would like to see go, as well. Senator Olympia Snowe, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Lindsey Graham, and Senator Mike DeWine, in addition to Senator John McCain; these people come to mind when it comes time to clean house. And we--Thomas and I--have contended for a long time that McCain should be one of those that must go. Simply put, this man cannot be trusted.
Yes, he voted for the war, yet he later ripped into the president over his strategy, and overstepped his bounds with the new torture legislation. He stood opposed to the president on his tax cuts, claiming that taxes needed to be raised when we started this war. (A history lesson for the esteemed senator from my state: We did not start this war.) He moved to grant himself and thirteen other senators extra-constitutional powers to give their yea or nay on judicial appointees--this is a blatant violation of the Constitutional powers of the president.
The point of this exercise is to show the country that the inevitability that is alluded to today by the Baltimore Sun is false. As one of the most widely recognized names amongst the GOP hopefuls for 2008, McCain could be considered a "front-runner." However, that will fade as he shows he cannot handle the tests that are going to be thrown his way by the likes of Mitt Romney and George Allen. These men were governors of Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively, and they know what it means to make the tough decisions. Over the last ten years, or so, McCain has shown that he is more likely to moderate and negotiate with the Democrats. But if that is his method for dealing with opposition in the Senate, I must question his ability to handle opposition as commander-in-chief. Could we be wrong? Could McCain be a good president? It is possible, as with all things in life, but we are not convinced as things stand now. And should he have another meltdown, like the infamous one in 2000, there is no way he will make it through the primaries to get the nomination of the party for a 2008 run.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:58 AM
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