Tom Bevan says 'don't count McCain out yet."
Tom's got a decent argument. It's sound, it's researched, and optimistic. It ends on a warning-like note:
The bottom line is that those who were quick to write off McCain would be well advised to take another look and to remember the credo that "slow and steady wins the race.'' McCain still has his flaws, and he still has a long way to go to win the nomination, but eight months away from the first primary he's in a much better position than many people think.
Slow and steady does win the race, but that is but a tiny facet of such races. Let me point out that John McCain's first quarter fundraising numbers showed that he had $12.5 million in donations. That was quickly blown through (about $8 million of it), which prompted him to reassess how his campaign money would be spent. Likewise, his slow start in the race had him hovering around second place nationally. And that was behind Mayor Giuliani -- a man the pundits all agree has a liberal streak, but can't seem to figure out why he appeals to so many conservatives, especially those that should be opposed to him for his social views.
John McCain, since losing the nomination in 2000, has taken his maverick side to the extreme ends of the political spectrum. In 2001, he voted against the tax cuts proposed by President Bush to ease our burden under President Clinton's higher taxes. In 2002, he teamed up with Russ Feingold to enact campaign finance reform which, in the end, took away more of our free speech rights, especially when it mattered most -- in the realm of politics. In 2003 he voted against a new round of tax cuts, claiming then that it benefited only the rich. (That is a typical talking point of the Left and rarely rooted in truth.) In 2005, his infamous Gang of 14 deal usurped the power of the president to nominate qualified jurists to the federal bench, and continued to allow the use of an unconstitutional filibuster on judicial nominees. In 2006, he attached a torture amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill; one that was not only redundant, but it also used PC-like terms to describe what was unlawful treatment of combatants. Finally, in 2007 he and a number of senators on BOTH sides of the aisle struck a compromise in an immigration bill that is, for lack of a better word, a disaster.
Tom Bevan may not want to count him out just yet, but the base is done with John McCain. In fact, I'd wager that a fair number of people yesterday entertained the thought that he would look good tarred and feathered. (No, I'm not advocating violence on any elected representative, but I can claim with some sadistic amusement that I entertained the thought for the briefest of moments.) He has turned his back on those who elected him. He has sold out the base for some lauding approval in the MSM. (That medium, we'll recall, he declared was his "base," and that doesn't sit well with his own party's base at all.)
I'll give Tom this much: John McCain had a chance to get the nomination this time around. He really did. He could have set himself apart from the others. But he didn't. He's ripe with contempt for the people, he drips arrogance and self-adulation. In short, there isn't a mirror this man's met that he doesn't love. He's verily narcissistic, and holds little regard for those below him. And that's the damnable thing about him.
When you show little or no respect for those who believed in you, and sent you to DC to represent them, those people will turn on you. It's the vicious cycle in politics. John McCain doesn't understand that. Thanks to John McCain (at least a great deal of this can be laid at his feet), the GOP base has little respect and support for those in office, and far more contempt. We will constantly hear, from both sides, that the losses in 2006 revolved around the war.
Tell that to Mike DeWine and Lincoln Chafee. These were two members of John McCain's Gang of 14 that were routed in last year's elections, and that particular issue -- the Gang of 14 -- plagued them all the way up to election day. With this new deal on immigration that John McCain claims to "have been a small part of it" he is condemning the party to defeat, again, in 2008. Politicos like McCain tend to think the American electorate has short memories, and that the amount of time left before the next election (approximately a year-and-a-half) will eventually bring them the returns they wish to see, and a voting populace that will forget about this boondoggle.
Not so. We've already seen the long memories that voters have. The Senate GOP is responsible for this fiasco, and with 21 seats up for reelection in 2008, we will be lucky to hold onto a quarter of them. I don't lay all the blame at John McCain's feet, but a good deal of it belongs there. And because he has made idiotic decisions like this, and those mentioned above, John McCain doesn't have a chance for the nomination in 2008.
Publius II
The bottom line is that those who were quick to write off McCain would be well advised to take another look and to remember the credo that "slow and steady wins the race.'' McCain still has his flaws, and he still has a long way to go to win the nomination, but eight months away from the first primary he's in a much better position than many people think.
Slow and steady does win the race, but that is but a tiny facet of such races. Let me point out that John McCain's first quarter fundraising numbers showed that he had $12.5 million in donations. That was quickly blown through (about $8 million of it), which prompted him to reassess how his campaign money would be spent. Likewise, his slow start in the race had him hovering around second place nationally. And that was behind Mayor Giuliani -- a man the pundits all agree has a liberal streak, but can't seem to figure out why he appeals to so many conservatives, especially those that should be opposed to him for his social views.
John McCain, since losing the nomination in 2000, has taken his maverick side to the extreme ends of the political spectrum. In 2001, he voted against the tax cuts proposed by President Bush to ease our burden under President Clinton's higher taxes. In 2002, he teamed up with Russ Feingold to enact campaign finance reform which, in the end, took away more of our free speech rights, especially when it mattered most -- in the realm of politics. In 2003 he voted against a new round of tax cuts, claiming then that it benefited only the rich. (That is a typical talking point of the Left and rarely rooted in truth.) In 2005, his infamous Gang of 14 deal usurped the power of the president to nominate qualified jurists to the federal bench, and continued to allow the use of an unconstitutional filibuster on judicial nominees. In 2006, he attached a torture amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill; one that was not only redundant, but it also used PC-like terms to describe what was unlawful treatment of combatants. Finally, in 2007 he and a number of senators on BOTH sides of the aisle struck a compromise in an immigration bill that is, for lack of a better word, a disaster.
Tom Bevan may not want to count him out just yet, but the base is done with John McCain. In fact, I'd wager that a fair number of people yesterday entertained the thought that he would look good tarred and feathered. (No, I'm not advocating violence on any elected representative, but I can claim with some sadistic amusement that I entertained the thought for the briefest of moments.) He has turned his back on those who elected him. He has sold out the base for some lauding approval in the MSM. (That medium, we'll recall, he declared was his "base," and that doesn't sit well with his own party's base at all.)
I'll give Tom this much: John McCain had a chance to get the nomination this time around. He really did. He could have set himself apart from the others. But he didn't. He's ripe with contempt for the people, he drips arrogance and self-adulation. In short, there isn't a mirror this man's met that he doesn't love. He's verily narcissistic, and holds little regard for those below him. And that's the damnable thing about him.
When you show little or no respect for those who believed in you, and sent you to DC to represent them, those people will turn on you. It's the vicious cycle in politics. John McCain doesn't understand that. Thanks to John McCain (at least a great deal of this can be laid at his feet), the GOP base has little respect and support for those in office, and far more contempt. We will constantly hear, from both sides, that the losses in 2006 revolved around the war.
Tell that to Mike DeWine and Lincoln Chafee. These were two members of John McCain's Gang of 14 that were routed in last year's elections, and that particular issue -- the Gang of 14 -- plagued them all the way up to election day. With this new deal on immigration that John McCain claims to "have been a small part of it" he is condemning the party to defeat, again, in 2008. Politicos like McCain tend to think the American electorate has short memories, and that the amount of time left before the next election (approximately a year-and-a-half) will eventually bring them the returns they wish to see, and a voting populace that will forget about this boondoggle.
Not so. We've already seen the long memories that voters have. The Senate GOP is responsible for this fiasco, and with 21 seats up for reelection in 2008, we will be lucky to hold onto a quarter of them. I don't lay all the blame at John McCain's feet, but a good deal of it belongs there. And because he has made idiotic decisions like this, and those mentioned above, John McCain doesn't have a chance for the nomination in 2008.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 1:14 PM
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