McCain: Getting the Candidate We Deserve
While driving on the Beltway the other day, I got behind a SUV with a rather fascinating collection of bumper stickers: “9/11≠Iraq” and “War is Not the Answer!” were joined by “McCain 2008.” Add “No Amnesty for Illegals” and “I ♥ the Bridge to Nowhere” and the contradictions would begin to multiply.
But then this rather confused soul behind the wheel was not alone. CNN reported that in New Hampshire, McCain actually won the majority of voters in the GOP primary who opposed the war in the Iraq—this from a man who claimed that it wouldn’t much bother him if the U.S. remain in Babylon for another 100 years. Such strange voter rationale marked the triumph of that “maverick” moniker forged by a swooning media establishment in a Republican primary of yore. NH independents and independent Republicans turned reflexively to McCain when they disagreed with the policies of the GOP—even if McCain enthusiastically supported these policies.
Memories of clueless bumper-sticker arrangement and antiwar McCainites have come to mind recently as much of the base of the conservative movement—or at least Rush Limbaugh, Michele Malkin, most of the NR crowd, and many associated with them—have mercilessly attacked McCain as representing, in Rush words, the “death of the Republican Party”—or worse.
Mark Levin has called McCain’s domestic record a “disaster” for his strangling of free speech in McCain-Finegold, his compromising on judges, and congeniality with liberal colleagues in the regulating of American industry. In a syndicated column run on NRO, Michele Malkin amusingly labeled McCain the “Geraldo Rivera Republican” for his “demagoguery” in supporting illegal-immigrant amnesty. The New York Times’s endorsement fulfilled expectations. Malkin’s recent discovery that McCain’s “outreach director” was the former head of Vincete Fox’s “Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad” was a cherry on top.
I generally agree with most of these critiques, and, I confess, I read these attacks with a certain sense of glee. I don’t think I can imagine a worse GOP candidate than John McCain (but then, not only for the reasons cited by Levin, Malkin, & Co.). I also confess that I might have to suppress a fugitive desire to root for Romney this evening as an infinitely better choice than Mac. I agree with Rush that the conservative movement (in the electoral sense of the Reagan coalition) is being destroyed and that a McCain nomination would hasten its end, but then I’m not at all convinced that McCain is singularly responsible this.
Even if I agree with the attacks of Limbaugh & Co., I’d be far more likely to believe that they’re the ones to rescue conservatism from the danger of McCainism if they were not so blind to the fact they are just much to blame as anyone for perpetuating the whole McCain-as-straight-talker myth—that which was so attractive to antiwar New Hampshirites and to him of the confused bumper-stickers. Rush was much more likely to overlook McCain’s liberal misdeeds and call him a “maverick” when the senator was bravely speaking out against critics of the Iraq war. Even if McCain is keen to remind voters that he disapproved of Rumsfeld’s “go with the army you have” tactics and demanded more troops before Petraeus took charge, the fact is that both McCain and NR were unified in claiming that “We Are Winning” well before the onset of the surge.
Limbaugh & Co shouldn’t be so surprised that, despite his liberal leanings and alacrity toward comprise, McCain’s has remained at or near the top of the GOP heap, and is thus in a position to get the nomination, when these writers have ranked the support for the Iraq war über alles in certifying who’s really a conservative. In this line, Joe Lieberman is a perfect McCainian campaign partner: the abortion and affirmative action enthusiast and general welfare statist is, after all, Sean Hannity’s “favorite Democrat.”
I’m glad that mainstream conservatives have been willing to attack McCain; indeed, this fact gives me a bit hope (most likely false) for the movement’s future. But I can’t get over my gut sense that a McCain nomination is exactly the kind of disaster mainstream conservatives deserve.
Comments
Rush Limbaugh a mainstream conservative?
Don’t you mean mainline conservative?
Anyone who plays golf with 2 gloves on
is not exactly committed to either the
left or the right.
I’d just as soon get my political advice
from Bozo the clown or better yet, Doc Savage.
At least Savage lives up to his name.
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I share Richard’s amazement at the incoherent, muddled
way in which Republican voters make their presidential
choices. In Florida Giuliani supporters say they would vote
mostly vote for Romney if their candidate left the
race; and on TV I heard the comedian Dennis Miller
explain to Hannity that he was backing Rudy “because
the most important issue is controling immigration.”
My older son, who is a very conventional Republican,
considers McCain’s selling point to be “his consistent
conservatism,” including his hard line on immigration.
I hear such opinons from my neighbors as well.
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Prof. Gottfried,
What did you ever do to deserve such a political dunderhead of an eldest son?
Dan
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Mr.Gottfried’s son is state educated, no doubt.
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I think the best explanation for the fact, and it is a fact, that many of the voters voting for McCain don’t seem to understand his position on the issues is that McCain is the media favorite among candidates on the Republican side. Thus, McCain’s frequent lies are never exposed, nor are his positions in favor of amnesty, remaining in Iraq for 100 years, and starting new wars against Iran (McCain actually sang “Bomb, bomb, bomb-Bomb, bomb Iran to the tune of a Beach Boys hit during this campaign). McCain gets lots of great free media, and voters fall for it, thinking the positive free media is more “objective” than advertising. The exit polls tell us over and over again that most of McCain’s voters are liberals, and the other conservatives are uninformed and view McCain positively mostly because of name recognition. This later element was seen with Bob Dole’s run in 1996.
Looking on the bright side, McCain is likely to destroy the Republican party and force the creation of a new more conservative party.
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An excellent post. McCain fully embraces what Steve Sailer has called the neocons’ foolish “invade the world, invite the world” strategy. And many of his supporters have no idea that McCain is adamantly pro-amnesty and pro-war.
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@ Sam Spade:
“Looking on the bright side, McCain is likely to destroy the Republican party and force the creation of a new more conservative party.”
I wouldn’t bet on it. Bad ideas never go away.
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the media rescued him and put him on the throne
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“Mainstream Conservatives”? exactly what might that be, a diorama in the museum of Natural History?
Sean Hannity anointing Joementum Lieberman as his favorite Democrat is like Snoop Dog calling Barry Manilow his favorite white entertainer. Who cares?
Right now, the malevolence is vaguely comical because it appears inconsequential. Rest assured though, the Maitre’ D is bringing the check and it is a loaded gun.
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The popular vote is one of the problems with
America.
We need to return the Senate to the State
legislatures and let the people keep the House.
As it is, the popular vote determines the Pres,
the Senate and the House.
Not good.
Who has time to constantly keep up with boring
‘ol politics? Does anyone reading this blog
know, or care, what bills are in committee,
when they may be voted to the floor, what the
results were in either house, what the Pres’
position is, etc., etc.,...? Not me and probably
not you.
We need to repeal the 17th ammendment and return
the Senate to the pros in our State Houses.
If diversity is a strength, and it is, think
how secure our Nation would be if we reinstituted
the Republic?
Turns out that it’s not that difficult to
courrupt D.C. but think how hard it would be
to buy all 50 State legislatures?
Eh?
Sounds good to me.
States Rights!
Go, Ron. Go!
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JOHN MCCAIN IS SCARY. HE NEVER MET A MILITARY INTERVENTION HE DID NOT SUPPORT. PAT BUCHANAN DESCRIBES HIS FOREIGN POLICY VIEWS AS “BUSH ON STEROIDS.” I PREDICT MCCAIN WILL NOMINATE JOE LIEBERMAN (I TEL AVIV) AS HIS SECRETARY OF STATE. IF MCCAIN IS ELECTED, I SUSPECT THE GOVERNMENT WILL MANUFACTURE A “PROVOCATION” AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR AN INVASION OF IRAN OR SYRIA OR ANY ARAB/MUSLIM NATION THE NEOCONS DEEM ENEMIES OF ISRAEL.
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The sooner this fake conservative party goes down, the better. Worse is better because obviously the average American hasn’t suffered enough to wake up and see these globalist pretenders for what they are.
McCain Lieberman works for me. Pure poison. Attack on Iran, confrontation with the East, recession/depression, military draft, suspension of any further pretense of a Constitution. The backlash couldn’t happen to a better duo.
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Well, according to reports, the exit polls tell us that a full 49 percent of McCain’s voters in Florida consider themselves to be Liberals. My guess is that most of them won’t be voting for McCain in November.
Here is how Pat Buchanan summed up McCain’s program on MSNBC:
The lost jobs are gone for good.
The illegal aliens are here to stay.
More wars are coming, with many more Americans to die from IEDs.
This doesn’t sound like a winning program and nearly everyone knows it except for Captain McCain/Queeg. Before this election is over, McCain-Queeg will be asking who stole his strawberries.
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Well, you see there is this sattelite creating ELF waves, called Orwellia, and it beams down EA [EastAsia]messages into the minds of the simple minded;
We love McCain. We have always loved McCain.
[for the amusement of my Twilight Zone fans]
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At least Savage lives up to his name
His name is Weiner. Michael Weiner; as in Weiner Nation.
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Most people don’t like or vote for McCain because they know what he stands for and agree with it. They have and will vote for him because they see his name and face every time they pick up the paper or turn on tv. The media is telling everyone that he is the front-runner and people want to vote for a winner. Republicans also want to vote for someone who they think could beat the Clinton Machine. What ever happened to voting for a candidate you truly believe in? Ron Paul is the only Republican (and maybe even Democratic) candidate with supporters who truly believe in his message.
Let’s not let the media pick our next president!!!
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If Republicans think McCain can win, they are seriously delusional. Outside of the “America has never lost a war crowd” and diehard Republicans, NOBODY else will vote for him. I would put that at no more than 40% of the population.
Ron Paul would have been able to get the anti-war Democrats and the libertarian leaning lefties and righties. The other Republicans would have been the ones with no choice but to go along to avoid Hillary or Obama.
I am done with the Republican party. No more money or votes from me. From now on, I sit them out and only vote against bond issues.
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If Rush and “Savage” Weiner are conservatives, then I have never been one.
Though I am not voting for McCain (or anyone else for President, if our quixotic jouster Ron isn’t in the November plebiscite) I must confess to being a little befuddled why McCain Feingold is always characterized as “an attack on Free Speech.”
It’s a half hearted attempt to tamp down the big money (mostly from corporate sources) that corrupts our process.
Not being able to purchase all the millions of dollars t.v. spots available is somehow equated with restriction on speech.. But it’s not. It’s a restriction on that big money unduly influencing our process, and buying our politicians.
They should all be on a level field. Everyone should be playing by the same rules, with the same financial restrictions. Nobody is keeping them from flapping their gums and saying whatever the like.
Money is not speech. It’s power. And it corrupts. Keep it out of our politicians pockets. McCain has tried, in flawed fashion, to do that. And I respect him for it.
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