Listen up Media types - McCain is behind in the polls NOT because of Iraq.
By paulseale Posted in 2008 — Comments (20) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As I was flipping through the channels this morning I caught "Washington Bob" (Thats what CBS calls him) giving his political analysis of why John McCain was failing in the GOP primary polls. While the commentator mentioned immigration as a possibility, Bob Schieffer only honed in on the Iraq debate as THE reason why McCain is doing poorly.
I hate to mention this to you folk in New York and California who run the news departments, but that is not why we Republicans are not attracted to Senator McCain right now.
If the media was being honest about the situation (Heh, right. Hell will freeze over first) most of McCain's fall can be centered on his positions during the immigration debate and a few other areas in the past where he failed to carry the mantle of small government.
Let me be specific about the immigration issue because the news clip I saw of McCain played during the CBS morning news made it seem like McCain (and the immigration debate in general) was being very reasonable and those opposing his view were pretty much racist.
Most of us would love to see immigration reform take place, but it must come in the context of securing our borders first and not giving illegal immigrants who are here now special preferences and rewarding them by forgiving back taxes and things of that nature. That is the problem many of us have with the bill presented and is why people of this nation in a nonpartisan fashion took action into their own hands, which was a good thing.
In the end, though, I would argue that McCain's strength is the Iraq war. I would argue that the most qualified person to the Commander in Chief in the GOP field (okay, the entire Presidential field) is John McCain.
So to say that Iraq is his weakness is far from the truth.
You can stick a fork in him - - but not because of Iraq.
Let's see, there is serving as Ted Kennedy's towel boy for that hideous immigration amnesty bill. Then there is that pesky McCain Feingold Law that limits political free speech rights. And finally there's that small matter of him being the only Republican to vote against the Bush tax cuts.
Politically, the man is bipolar and he is clearly off his meds.
with the judges is number one on my list, number two is immigration (his bill was much worse than the recent one. He basically conceded everything to kennedy.) Besides thost two, in general is sided far too often with liberal democrats on issues that were very important. He was in love with the positive media coverage.
Also, his arrogance is right there with the Clinton's, Kerry, Leahy, et al. If you don't agree with him, he starts with his snooty comments.
I have learned a few things about politics over the last several years. One is don't listen to outsiders about what is going on within a party. The liberal MSM knows about as much about the dynamics of the Republican race. Do you remember how the media proclaimed that McCain had risen from the dead after his strong defense of the immigration plan? He sure did, and now it is the war support that is killing him. Of course it is, just like how he rose from the dead after that debate in which, according to media at least, he had convinced us silly base Republicans that amnesty was a good idea.
Say what you will about McCain, and I know most won't vote for him after the immigration debacle, but one thing is for sure, his steadfast support for the war is the one and only thing that all Republicans can admire.
www.proprietornation.blogspot.com
"The nine most dangerous words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'"
Ronald Reagan
There is much to dislike about McCain as politican and the positions he has taken. But his position on the war is rock-solid.
His speech on the Senate floor yesterday when his campaign was in tatters, the psychic cost to him of losing these supporters and friends, staring defeat in the face, yet he summoned the courage to take the fight to his opponets. That is the MacCain I admire.
Everyone loved to trash McCain, Kyl, Lott, and Graham on the immigration.....but those four are among the staunchest defenders of our mission in Iraq. Lindsey Graham may be the best.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
Those two guys are the most staunches supporters of our efforts.. and Kyl isnt far behind. I havent heard much from Lott since I am here in Missouri, so I cannot judge his comments.
Not so fast St. Louis Conservative:
I'm from South Carolina and I'm here to help!
Cousin Lindsey spent months in political maneuvering to make sure that every terrorist we nab (whether here or in foreign lands) can "lawyer up" with his own Johnny Cochran or F. Lee Bailey. He also has gone out of his way to ensure that guidelines make Military Tribunals impossible to hold or stand up to appeal.
The last person I would stand next to in a "Support The Troops" rally is Lindsey Graham (Colonel, US Air Force Reserve Staff Judge Advocate Corps). And I am a retired Air Force officer myself.
... Rudy, who may be the front runner, is equally committed to the prosecution of the war on terror in Iraq, as well as here. If the media wasn't so d*** interested in peddling their views via the "news" they might see this. McCain, as others have stated, lost the Repub base due to the immigration issue, the campaign finance issue, weak on tax cuts (voted against them twice since 2001), and his otherwise maverick disposition. Not to mention his position on lumping legitimate terrorist interrogation procedures (waterboarding, cold temperatures, 27/7 Britney Spears music, and putting bad guys to bed without desert) with torture. No, McCain had too much too overcome despite his strengths on the war.
Schieffer... say goodnight!
Jack
The World's Ruined
is that the guy's a fossil!
Why can't the media be honest and say it might be because of his age!
On the list of reasons that most conservatives would give not to vote for the guy, "age" is on page 54.
If you polled Red State on that, you'd find that most of us (I was going to say ALL of us, but I'm tempering in my old age) wouldn't vote for McCain if he was 44.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
I hope you would not call Ronald Reagan a fossil.
It is the policy and the leadership at hand which is most important (or should be), not the age of the person.
The problem is with the man, not the age. If I thought he was Ronald Reagan II, I'd vote for him even if he were 90 years old.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
Kill the Terrorists. DING!
Secure the Borders. BZZZT!
Confirm the Judges. BZZZT!
...1-for-3 on the Party's key issues just ain't making it when every other Repub contender scores a DING! on #1, too.
Only the MSM would be surprised when a man who repeatedly shivved his own Party on keys issues like judges and tax cuts gets rejected by his Party's base.
McCain also failed to demonstrate demonstrate basic qualifications for Party leadership by snubbing Republican candidates who opposed his immigration policies, like Brian Bilbray and John Campbell in California. McCain even went so far as to endorse one of Campbell's primary challengers, forcing a runoff (in the special election for Chris Cox's seat) where Cambpell would have won in the first round had McCain even kept his mouth shut.
McCain is free to endorse whomever or posture however he wants, but when he snubs the Party's concensus candidate in a special election, he's proving, to pararphrase the cite above, that he's serious about being John McCain, not about being President.
--furious
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." -- Darth Vader
McCain was around 20% support before his "decline." He was not winning over any anti-immigration reform voters at that point. The question that both the MSM and the original poster are trying to answer is who are the 10% of the GOP primary electorate that went from McCain to someone else.
As one of the more sympathetic posters here, it is possible that I would fall into such a category. I like McCain and think he would be a good President. I believe he would veto pork unlike many other candidates. I think he could win over independents to the Republican Party and he is generally (although not always) on the conservative side of issues.
But he divides the GOP too much. He has alienated too many members of the grass roots too thoroughly. Thus, I started considering Giuliani, Romney and Thompson. I am still undecided, but it is unlikely at this point that I will vote for McCain in the primary.
Other options appeared and they appear better. Specifically, Fred Thompson takes almost identical positions to McCain, but excites conservatives rather than insulting them. I think the rise of Giuliani and Thompson has hurt McCain's "inevitability" campaign more than anything else. Furthermore, McCain is an insider at this point. He has been in the Senate when Congress has become deeply unpopular. Giuliani and Thompson are both outsiders insofar as they have been outside DC during the past 6 years.
I don't think anyone who supported McCain 3 months ago was ignorant of his immigration views (which are closer to mine than most R primary voters) so I don't see how those views could be costing him voters. He never had their support.
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Bobby Jindal Saves Louisiana
and no question he took what could be a fatal hit from his support of the immigration bill. The Gang of 14 shouldn't be an issue but somehow is. Liberals hate it even worse, which should tell conservatives something. Nevertheless, from what I've seen of the candidates, there's no one better than him on national security and he has a solid record on spending control.
But I'd say the beginning of the end was the vote against the tax cuts. Republican's aren't in the market for another "Read My Lips" presidential candidate that doesn't think we pay enough in taxes.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
The list of things going against McCain is so long we haven't even mentioned them all here;
Opposed Tax Cuts Twice
Called Religous Conservatives Bigots
Joined Left in Ranting about Abu Grab
Gang of 14
Immigration
Called Conservatives Racist for opposing him
Joins ACLU in bashing GITMO
Opposes Water boarding
Spoke out Against Swift Boat Vets giving Kerry Cover
Campaign Finance "Reform"
The general theme can be summed up as, "gave aide an comfort to the liberal media, liberal politicians, and liberal causes."
because of the issues where he and the MSM agree. God, that cannot possibly be true because everyone I know on the Upper West Side supports amnesty and limitations on free speech...
What morons.