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I was watching the post debate coverage from tonight’s CNN democratic shouting match, and I noticed something interesting. Liberals are scared of John McCain.
Several of the commentators who had just gotten done praising Barack Obama and their own personally declaration of his victory in the debate, turned to John Edwards and his surprising prediction that the good senator from Arizona would win the Republican Nomination.
Larry King asked them if they too thought it was in-the-bag for Mr. McCain. Not to my surprise, they all insisted this was not the case, and since these commentators probably actually knew that John McCain is the only GOP candidate who beats all three democratic candidates, they began to downplay his front-runner status. Interestingly enough, they took a page out of the Rush Limbaugh book.
They all insisted that he wouldn’t get the nomination because he isn’t Republican enough. They cited his disagreements with Bush on the handling of Iraq, but failed to note his support of the now-working surge. They talked about him being “wrong” on immigration, but not citing his re-tooled, “right” approach to border security. They brought up him voting against the Bush tax cuts, but failed to mention his pork hating, tax despising, over-all conservative fiscal record. And lastly that McCain is against all forms of torture in any circumstance. This last comment is a flat out lie since McCain himself has said that he can understand the use of extreme techniques desperate situations but stands against making torture our official policy on interrogation.
Of course they are playing out of the Rush Limbaugh playbook so they wouldn’t want you to get the correct message about McCain’s conservative record, just the skewed one that works best for them.
Then another commentator brings up the claim that McCain only draws independent voters and that once the real conservatives get to him, he’s done. Though McCain does draw independent votes (which is one of the reasons he’s so dangerous to Democrats) this, as we have seen in South Carolina just isn’t true. McCain’s votes came from the conservative base, who turned out more for McCain than Willard Romney, the dream candidate of Limbaugh and the like.
Their reasoning for distorting the senators positions and voting base is much different from Limbaugh’s however. Whereas Limbaugh wants eight more years of G.W. in the form of Romney, the “liberal thinkers” (though I still consider that term to be an oxymoron) know that McCain is a threat, and would be very tough to beat in a general election.
Since they aren’t yet officially running against him, they have begun to try to scare conservatives away from him so that they never will be running against him. If the far right came to their senses, much as I have, that contrary to the all-knowing Limbaugh, John McCain really is a conservative, and fully realized that he is the only hope in winning the 2008 election for the GOP, he would win the nomination easily. The left can’t let this happen, and they won’t sit back quietly and just watch it happen.
As Conservative as Ever,
Michael Hilburn
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1 comment:
Hi Michael, I agree, McCain is the most likely winner at this point. However, I'd still basically call it a coin flip at this point, with Romney having almost as good of a chance.
Reasons: The independent vote has legitimately helped McCain win in Michigan and SC. I agree with you that the antipathy towards him from some movement conservatives is deeply irrational (I've met plenty of liberals, centrists, and conservatives who think McCain is a centrist or liberal Republican. Why this is the case I have no idea), but it is real, and it does show up in the voting. (Limbaugh may be a pretty contemptible figure, but his influence is sadly real). In a close state with a closed primary, McCain will suffer.
Furthermore, Romney has all the money he wants and needs, and will tell people whatever they want to hear, whereas McCain has some limitations on both these fronts. These are real advantages as well. And Romney retains a delegate lead, thanks to his second place finishes, NV, and WY.
McCain does have the advantage of not being a completely empty suit, and it's pretty clear the political reporters like him more than they like Romney, so he'll get more favorable coverage.
I'd handicap the races like this:
McCain 50% chance
Romney 45%
Huckabee 4%
Rudy "My Middle name is 9/11": 1% (thankfully, what an awful president he'd have been)
(on the other side I'd give Clinton a 2-1 advantage right now)
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