Redstate

Yes, I’m a Ditto Head! As an avid Rush listener, I subscribe to 24/7 so that I can listen when I get a chance. After work I usually sit down with my laptop, and a cup of coffee (Folger’s Gourmet), then start Rush (ditto cam version on the television), and read my RSS feeds. Work is done and here I am.

Adam C, I can’t say this better than Mr. Limbaugh…

“There were no conservative principles in that speech. If he loses the presidency, it's nobody's fault but his and his party's for being unable to unify his own party behind him. That's going to be nobody's fault but his and theirs, certainly not mine. “

“If the Republican Party had a nominee who had a consistent record on conservative policies and principles, not just good here and maybe awful there; that candidate right now would be kicking the crap out of these leftists in the polls, because that candidate would be kicking the crap out of these people in the midst of their own infighting and pointing it out! That's the kind of candidate who inspires and unites. I know Senator McCain thinks he's going to unite and energize his base, but I don't know how much he really cares about the base, after having heard that speech yesterday; talking about appealing to Europeans, closing Guantanamo Bay, managing the private sector.”

May I also refer you to his second hour monologue? (If you’re interested, email me… I think I have a copy around here somewhere.)

I have, since Florida, suspended myself from commenting here at RS right, mainly due to my disdain for Senator McCain. I have some REAL issues with the man, however I WILL vote for him. I mean really, what other choice do I have now? A lot of us conservatives believe that our principles are worth standing on, because we know they are worth standing for. With talk like this from Senator McCain, I get the wind knocked out of my sails. I was starting to like the guy! Perhaps Rush is right when he suggests that McCain’s base IS the moderates and Independents? It wouldn’t surprise me though, he usually is. I mean Rush BTW…

I have to wonder what the GOP is thinking when they send me a fundraising email touting the Senator the day after a speech like that? I cannot defend the man or support him with my wallet. If we can’t beat whomever the Dems put up, especially this election cycle, we need to put a fork in this party of ours. I am confident that the Dems will destroy themselves this year, but if there is anyone out there that can screw this up for the Republican party, I think we have our candidate.

I am not trying to go negative on Senator McCain, but let me explain my situation. I am a very outspoken individual when it comes to my politics. The nature of my job allows me the opportunity to let my conservative principles be known, and being able to sensibly debate a liberal is fun. I mention this as I think of myself as a foot soldier and anytime that I can switch a vote to the (R), all for the better. On primary day here in Wisconsin, surprisingly my phone lit up all day long with questions about who to vote for. Many of them converted libs, so my strategy has been working. Back to my point, I have been preaching this conservatism along with the Republican Party… now my phone rings; those converts are now asking me to defend Senator McCain… What do I say after a speech like this?

If this is a threadjack, I apologize, I am just frustrated with this stuff and needed to vent. Thanks Tom, I always enjoy! Some of the best stuff I get comes from right here at RS, especially GC.

that Senator McCain is missing out on in Rott's missive. Having a bunch of half-hearted conservatives is not a good strategy. At some point, he's going to need to strongly rally us, and it ain't gonna happen by appealing to the margins for support.
Tim Schieferecke

I never miss a word Rush says. I think any Republican would win by a landslide if he/she just followed the advice Rush freely hands out everyday. Senator McCain has a problem with trying to be all things to all people. It's OK to have people that don't love you, as long as they are on the other side of the divide.
Tim Schieferecke

First choice: have someone willing to repeatedly explain to the mushy independents why conservatism works, and liberalsm is a fraud.

Second choice: avoid annoying the conservative base that will be necessary to man phone banks, knock on doors, and otherwise do the work that a campaign will need.

Mushy indendents will not know anything positive about McCain and will not actually vote unless there are people on the ground who care enough about politics (conservatives, non-moderates) to work the campaign.

Third choice: absolute self-destruction on the democratic side such that my dog would get more votes

Hillary and Barak are so far on the left, that this election should be much easier than it is going to be

don't think that's going to happen so I shall just vote for him....Adam has said many times McCain doesn't need us...so don't expect him to speak to us...he is going after Independents and right leaning Democrats to make up for his losses with conservatives.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion

Those “Independents” and “Moderates” will abandon him in mass in the general and return to their party. Offering Democrat-lite to people want the full on socialist smorgasbord is doomed from the start.

We did Democrat-lite in 2006, that didn’t work out so well.

There is no evidence that conservatives stayed home in 2006. All data we have shows that independents shifted towards Democrats. It had nothing to do with amorphous terms like "Democrat-lite." It had to do with a) corruption and earmarks and b) the War.

We are lucky to have the one candidate that neutralizes both of those major weaknesses. As someone who stood up to the Rs on earmarking and corruption, McCain is as close to a change from our 2006 strategy of porking our way to re-election. And his background and early support for the surge has neutralized the issue that could have sunk Rs to a worse round in 2008 than 2006 was.

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That hasn't defended himself against the press. It also didn't help that for most of the time he had a press secretary that wasn't up to the task (whether it was lack of ability or the rules of engagement, I have no idea)

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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

and find your advocacy of John McCain to be better than anything I hear him or his campaign put out there. He really should put you in charge of conservative outreach---I sincerely mean that, and I mean it as a genuine compliment.

However, I think you are mistakenly adopting a static view of the electorate in the same way that democrats have a static view of the economy.

Electrions do not consist primarily of people with static views. Voters can become more liberal or more conservative depending on what the candidates said.

In 1980 and 1984, Reagan actually moved the electorate to the right. It is possible to move independents and moderates to the right if candidates are willing to spend the time articulating conservatism.

I other words, there is a difference between selling independents on conservatism and getting independent votes by mixing in some liberal policies.

McCain's appeal to independents is based on (1) his personal history; (2) his media reputation; and (3) his adoption of some liberal policies.

(1) is not broad enough to win -- See Bob Dole '96
(2) will be shown fleeting once the Dem's have a nominee
(3) is vastly inferior to explaining and selling conservatism.

If McCain is not able to sell conservatism, then even his conservative policies (such as not doing homeowner bailouts) is just going to make him seem out of touch.

The underlying frustration with McCain is that he spends more time explaining is liberal deviations than he does explaining anything conservative outside the war in Iraq

I literally said nothing about conservatives staying home in 2006.

My statement about “moderates” and “Independents” abandoning John in the general still stands, as you say they identify with Democrats so why oh why would the settle for Democrat-lite when they can get the real thing with Hillary or Obama.

Lastly Democrat-lite is not amorphous its John’s central plan, I’m sure you are aware of his recent speech in LA where he laid it out quite clearly.

I am very worried that Senator McCain's appeals to independents and "right leaning" Democrats will lead to a bunch of McCain for POTUS votes to accompany a bunch of congressional votes for libs. If he alienates a significant number of conservatives from showing up, he may win, but we'll lose even more seats in Congress. It's a double edged sword appealing to Democrat proclivities. I'm not saying he needs to go out and talk like Goldwater. IMOP, he's already got the moderate vote locked up, so he needs to shore us all up.
Tim Schieferecke

"Adam has said many times McCain doesn't need us"

I've argued vigorously that McCain's entire primary strategy was talking about his conservative views. He had pro-life mailers in SC. He ran on winning the War. He ran against earmarks and with a record of fighting Big Government (including fighting the Bush administration and Rs in Congress on things like the Prescription Drug Bill).

I'd like to see a link for the idea that I said McCain doesn't need conservatives. I do think that if conservatives spend the election cycle complaining and threatening to stay home, then they will have a hard time next cycle win or lose. If McCain wins despite their protest, they lose a seat at the table. If McCain loses, a lot of center-right McCain supports won't feel like they are part of a coalition. After sucking it up and supporting Bush, they will know that conservatives only participate when they are in full control. Why would anyone be a part of a coalition like that?

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I didn't mean to insinuate you were a hater. I'm just asking what you think should be done to win over Is. Most of McCain's campaign has been arguing for conservative positions (abortion, earmarks, small government, winning the War). How should he reach out to people who "extremely dislike" President Bush (45% of the country)?

I'm happy to see he is doing so on issues that are not on my A list (global warming, Gitmo, "talking" to allies, campaign finance). He could support time tables or universal health care instead... but I'd be more upset in that case.

I understand pointing out the areas of disagreement with McCain, but I hope people are making a note of the areas of agreement as well.

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absentee

'what... should be done to win over Is? Most of McCain's campaign has been arguing for conservative positions (abortion, earmarks, small government, winning the War). How should he reach out to people who "extremely dislike" President Bush (45% of the country)?'

I suggest he stick with "winning the War" (but wait, isn't that what the so unpopular GW Bush wants to do?) I think he has already established his position on the other three, and they don't require explanation. He needs to tell HOW he will win the war, or at least why WINNING is so much more important than QUITTING. He might as well plan on it, because Barry is already campaigning against the "third term of George Bush."

Then, he should talk about WHY what he wants to do is best for the country (especially if it's different from what Hill and Barry want to do). Close Gitmo? WHY? Where do the prisoners go?

Confirm Kyoto? WHY? Global Warming? Is it actually more than just a scheme to keep AlGore's name in the news? Why convert NOW, especially when all the new evidence is AGAINST Global Warming?

League of Democracies? WHY? What if even they don't agree with what WE believe has to be done?

What is his Social Security plan? REAL Independents want to know something that makes sense and is concrete, and they aren't solidly against ANY measure if it will work. They just need to be told HOW it can work, and WHY it will work.

Oh, yeah, Independents are a big part of the 80% plus of Americans who were more than relieved to see McCain-Kennedy go down in flames last summer. (OK, we thought that McCain went down with it, too. Well, just as he was resurrected, so can McCain-Kennedy be revived.) He should explain IN DETAIL how his new plan to solve the illegal immigration problem will work, and how it WON'T encourage a new wave of illegals in the near or distant future. He needs to get off the "Well, they'll get their (Rev. Wright Language) fence" rant and get on the "What I'll do to keep it from happening again" trail. And he needs to acknowledge that the people who want our laws enforced aren't just jingoistic crackpots who hate Mexicans. And that allowing somebody to keep what they stole, even after some "punishment," isn't palatable and appears grossly unfair and counterproductive to a lot of us. If he doesn't, he may end up choking on it.

Get what I'm saying? Independents want reason and direction on big issues, not ideology. They don't care much about abortion, or small government, or Global Warming, or even reaching across the aisle unless it will accomplish something positive. Tell them about the positive things he intends to do, why they're positive, and how he'll accomplish them.

'I'm happy to see he is doing so on issues that are not on my A list (global warming, Gitmo, "talking" to allies, campaign finance). He could support time tables or universal health care instead... but I'd be more upset in that case.'

Maybe I should have gone back to see the context of this comment, but it appears you're OK with disagreeing with him on those four issues, but you wouldn't like it if you disagreed with him on TT's or UHC. Well, there are plenty of us who feel just as strongly about illegal immigration as you do about UHC, etc. I think it's a ticking time bomb that's even more dangerous than the terrorist threat, because it can destroy our way of life (or our children's) without a shot being fired. Get the picture of why so many of us are not in love with your candidate?

'I understand pointing out the areas of disagreement with McCain, but I hope people are making a note of the areas of agreement as well.'

The trouble is, there are so darn few areas like that.

I think it's interesting that rabid Democrats think that either Hill or Barry will beat McCain (I wouldn't bet against it, myself), but an "independent" newsman on Fox yesterday called McCain our "most electable candidate." Yet I look at the three contenders and think that logically McCain should win going away on the War issues alone. Trouble is, that and tax reduction are the ONLY issues where he's clearly better than the other two right now. Even "no earmarks" and "spending under control" (which I really like in McCain) are not going to get him a lot of votes, although they are clearly conservative beliefs. Even his likelihood of nominating better Justices is hard to use in the campaign for Independents. And he's even or worse on most of the other points of comparison.

I say that "Independents" are all voters who aren't committed to voting for a particular party, either because they don't care much for their preferred party's candidate, or because they aren't committed to either party's overall philosophy. Those people may be swayed by emotion but they can be convinced by facts. The facts are on our side. Don't be afraid to use them.

"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.“--Jeff Cooper. From Bill Coffey's collection of military quotations

if he was more than a 2/3 conservative. I love what he's said about lowering the corporate income tax. I love what he's said about no bail outs. But he's not shouting this loudly enough. It's the Field General's responsibility to rally his troops, and he's not doing it at present.
Tim Schieferecke

lowering the corporate income tax and passing either (a) McCain-Kennedy or (b) some type of global warming legislation, does anyone thinkg MCCain would a reduction in corporate income tax the higher priority item?

My fear is the McCain is most passionate on his liberal positions, and least invested in his conservative positions (Iraq being an important exception).

McCain has been a politician for a long time. He has spent very little time explaining how capitalism benefits everyone or how government actions often have unintended and negative consequences.

I will vote for McCain, but I would rather vote for Dole in '96 or Ford in '76 than McCain in '08---and I was never a big fan of Dole or Ford.

I would have to say that internationally, the GWOT and specifically Iraq he is most passionate about (though free trade ranks pretty high here for him speaking to non-military international policy).

Domestically, I would say spending drives McCain more than anything else.

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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

but I am very much concerned that his #2-X are contrary to mainstream Republican/conservative thought

I think John McCain will not put any political capital at risk to push for capital gains tax cuts. Sorry--I just don't believe he is invested in the position. In contrasat, we know he went to the matt for McCain-Kennedy. I think he will go harder for Global Warming than we think.

McCain's Global Warming is Bush's CFR and Drug Benefit.

And you'd be an odd sort of conservative to find the stuff in the second paragraph a bigger deal than that in the top one.

First up, the PPIC poll. It's California poll not a nationwide poll.

If the election were held today, California’s likely voters would favor Obama over McCain by 9 points (49% to 40%). However, Obama and McCain split the independent vote (44% Obama, 42% McCain). Between Clinton and McCain, the race is a toss up: 46 percent of likely voters in the state support Clinton and 43 percent support McCain. Among independent voters, McCain has an 8-point edge over Clinton (44% to 36%). Nearly all likely voters (92%) say they are following news about the presidential election.

So McCain is holding Obama to under 50% in California and is well within the margin of error against Clinton? Wow, that's actually pretty good news! (Kerry won CA 54/45)

Moving on to the Pew Research poll, here's an interesting tidbit that was left off...

Obama and Clinton held similar leads over McCain in late February.

I won't call you a liar, I'll just assume that you misspoke (or are you just dumb enough to believe what the biased reporter was feeding you). I'll leave it to others to decide if "fading badly" is an accurate description.

On to Quinnipiac, ahhhh yes, it's a CT poll, not a nationwide poll...

With strong support from young and independent voters, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama leads Arizona Sen. John McCain 52 - 35 percent in Connecticut, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. These same voters do not give New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as much support in her 45 - 42 percent lead over Sen. McCain.

Obama is only at 52% in Connecticut??? Clinton's lead is within the MoE?? Kerry won 54-44, so McCain is doing pretty well there.

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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

Here is the place to go for a round up of national polls of Obama vs. McCain. The last two weeks have been good for McCain but that has only brought him into a tie. Note also that Rasmussen is very much to the right of other pollsters. I take that into consideration with all Rasmussen polling this year.

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believe they were beating McCain...they are literally tearing each other apart and McCain isn't getting any bad press....so his numbers should remain steady.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion

The first tip off was "Public Policy Institute of California", it just seemed out of whack that they would do a nationwide poll. And then the 3rd poll just seemed screwy for a national poll as well. I decided that going to the source would be better.

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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion

and now his brother "Boss" is our LB too. :)
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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion

Ask most Bronco fans, we love trading with the Redskins :)

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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

Mar 23-26

http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_...

It also shows Clinton with a 2 pt edge.

Thanks for the "concern" though, Trout.

“.....women and minorities hardest hit”

Show Me™ some good news:

John McCain has opened a significant lead over both potential Democratic opponents in the state of Missouri. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds John McCain leading Hillary Clinton by nine percentage points, 50% to 41%. He leads Barack Obama by an even larger margin, 53% to 38%.

Mixed Oregon:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone poll in OregonA shows Barack Obama leading John McCain 48% to 42%. However, McCain leads Hillary Clinton 46% to 40%. Those results are broadly similar to last month’s poll in Oregon. Last August, McCain also led Clinton by three percentage points. Obama was not included in that round of polling.

Note: I was not called (my wife and I have cell phones only, so no polls for us).

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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.

....it shows Obama's fav/unfav rating declining among independents, while McCain's has risen.

“.....women and minorities hardest hit”

Tim Schieferecke

absentee

Concern trolls should be mocked relentlessly.

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