As I believe I mentioned in the last few days (I forget where), I like to read British observers of American politics from time to time, because their perspective enables them to go straight to things that should be obvious, but which we forget over here amid the trees of day-to-day nonsense.
Therefore I read with particular appreciation this column from the most recent edition of The Economist, headlined "The case for John McCain." An excerpt:
Mr McCain’s qualifications extend beyond character. Take experience. His range of interests as a senator has been remarkable, extending from immigration to business regulation. He knows as much about foreign affairs and military issues as anybody in public life. Or take judgment. True, he has a reputation as a hothead. But he’s a hothead who cools down. He does not nurse grudges or agonise about vast conspiracies like some of his colleagues in the Senate. He has also been right about some big issues. He was the first senior Republican to criticise George Bush for invading Iraq with too few troops, and the first to call for Donald Rumsfeld’s sacking. He is one of the few Republicans to propose sensible policies on immigration and global warming.
Mr McCain’s qualities are particularly striking if you contrast him with his leading rivals. His willingness to stick to his guns on divisive subjects such as immigration stands in sharp contrast to Mr Romney’s oily pandering. Mr Romney likes to claim that his views on topics such as gay rights and abortion have “evolved”. But they have evolved in a direction that is strikingly convenient—perhaps through intelligent design. Can a party that mocked John Kerry really march into battle behind their very own Massachusetts flip-flopper?
Over here, many are quick to dismiss him as having no chance — to which I say, if John McCain has no chance, America has no chance. Besides, Republicans are in a hunt for something better than their "front-runners," which has most recently led them to Mike Huckabee, about whom Lexington wrote:
The weakness of the two front-runners is persuading many Republicans to turn to Mr Huckabee. Mr Huckabee is indeed an attractive candidate—a good debater and a charming fellow. But he is woefully lacking in experience. He knows next to nothing about foreign and military affairs, and his tax plans are otherworldly. A presidential debate between Mr Huckabee and Hillary Clinton would be a rout.
I hadn’t really thought about that, possibly because I don’t think like a Republican — I don’t sit up nights worrying about how to stop a certain person (a decreasingly relevant worry). It has occurred to me, and I don’t think I’ve noted it here, that she would beat Rudy Giuliani fairly handily, which makes it ironic that some throw away their principles because they think Rudy would win that match-up. (Think about it. Remember when he dropped out of the Senate race against her? Nothing’s changed about either candidate since then.)
But now that I think about it, I suspect Mrs. Clinton would tear up Gov. Huckabee without breaking a sweat.
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Remember when he dropped out of the Senate race against her? Nothing’s changed about either candidate since then.
Well, 9/11 certainly changed the public perception of Rudy, if it did not change him.
Also, the USA as a whole is not quite as blue as New York state.
Why not McCain? You misunderstood my post the other day. When I said that McCain looked old and he was no Reagan, was Reagan was old but had the personality to get away with it. McCain doesn’t. A Hillary or Obama will look young, energetic, and full of fresh new ideas. I don’t agree with what I just stated but, too many people in the photo opt. age will tie him to the Bush, Bush, Reagan era and that perception in the upcoming election will not fly. People in both parties are looking for serious new leadership and the big business Republican machine will not work this time. To make matters worse he couldn’t beat Bush because of the McCain-Fiengold Act. This time around his immigration stand has alienated conservatives. I am going to vote for Ron Paul as long as he is in the race. He will not when the nomination because he wants to return to a constitutional form of government and when people realize that he will drop like a rock. I will then vote for any Republican candidate except Mitt Romney, nothing to do with his religion. We do not need another big business man in the White House at this time. The winning ticket is Guliani-Huckabee.
What makes McCain a better candidate in 2008 than the one who couldn’t make a strong case against George Bush in 2000?
Has he not had all the opportunity to make his case for the past eight years generally and the past year specifically? What did his $30M in campaign donations buy him exactly? His poll numbers in the states where he has spent the most time have dropped in the past three months.
He’s had the name recognition, the money, and the media exposure… and the result is: also-ran before the race even starts.
Will you at least concede that if McCain does not finish in the top three in Iowa, NH, and SC, that his campaign is over?
Richard I respectfully disagree, I think that Hillary would beat Guiliani pretty handily, for the same reasons that he knew he’d get beat last time and pulled out.
I have to agree with this writer and the British writer that McCain is a strong possibilty for a win.
Watched the Des Moines Register Republican debate tonight.
McCain, unfortunately, doesn’t have the presence he once did as a speaker.
My top five: Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, Thompson and McCain.
Those five, in that order, stand head and shoulders above all the Democrats, whose three leading candidates have just one term in Congress each to call experience and nothing more substantive to say than “We must stop Bush” and “Thank you, Oprah.”
Curiously, the candidates who want so badly to stop Bush didn’t do jack in office to stop him.
It always seems to me the GOP understands how the world works, but the Democrats understand only how government can serve them.
Maybe, Tom (that was the first commenter above). But when you’re looking for a hired gun to take somebody on, do you go looking for the guy who ran from her last time?
McCain was the best GOP candidate in 2000, but he was the victim of the sleaziest of campaign tactics. I really can’t understand why anyone would vote for or respect Bush after his dishonest, slanderous attacks on McCain. (It was a good lesson– a dishonest campaigner will eventually become a dishonest president).
McCain is a great statesman who would be a terrific president, but the voters of SC thwarted him last time, and they are on track to do it again.
Maybe they are; then again, maybe not.
The GOP contest in SC is very much up for grabs at the moment, and any one of five people could win it. That Huckabee could vault from the second tier of candidates to the lead so quickly show how fast all this can change. Between now and Jan. 8, when the New Hampshire primary takes place, the polls can shift several times.
I truly believe that all McCain needs to pull back to the forefront is for a few more people in this state to start saying aloud that he can, indeed do it. What has held him back up to now is an almost perverse tendency on the part of even people who think he’s the best candidate to say he can’t make it. And in politics, expectations can often dictate outcomes.
If a few more people would just believe in him, he could make it. And I think he’s earned that kind of confidence, among those who truly think he’s the best.
My only hope is this election is that people are truly looking at the candidates. This country needs a man of character and integrity to be their next president, and for me, that man is John McCain. Why isn’t McCain surging? The reason is that the guy speaks his mind, and does what he thinks it’s right, regardless of who he upsets. I personally think it’s about time we get a guy like McCain in the White House, who will be consistent and do what is right for America. Isn’t that the kind of candidate we all should want to be the next president?
Just wait until the anonymous automated calls about his “black child” start hitting the Upstate. It worked in 2000… and since McCain chose not to fight it in any way, it will work again.
What he needs to do is bring his adopted daughter Bridget to SC, get on every TV station and say, “There are people in this state who want to smear me because my wife and I adopted this girl from Bangladesh in 1983 when she was two years old. If you won’t vote for me because of the color of her skin, I don’t want your vote.”
And then he should condemn George Bush and Karl Rove publicly for the 2000 smear campaign and demand that they apologize for their actions during that campaign.
If he can’t defend his daughter, he can’t defend America. Case closed.
Note: there’s a new novel out called “The Race” by Richard North Patterson. It’s subject is a fictional run for the 2008 presidency by a Gulf War hero who was captured and tortured by the Iraqis. The candidate also is divorced and dating a black liberal actress from South Carolina.
The middle of the book deals directly with the primary in South Carolina and hits all the stereotypes dead on (including an ultra conservative Christian university in the Upstate run by an old guy named Carl Cash and a well connected good old boy biker named Boss Hoss).
In the Afterword, Patterson says he used a combination of John McCain and William Cohen (senator married to a black TV host) as the model for the main character… was also surprised to see that Lee Bandy was a source for the author. I recommend the book.
McCain, like Lindsay Graham, sold out America to the Illegal Immigration Industry. They might have deep pockets for contributions, but not enough votes.
Doug Ross had trouble posting this, so I’m posting it for him. Anybody else having trouble?
I told Doug I’ve been having trouble, too, and it seems pretty arbitrary. I’ve complained, but to little avail. You know how unresponsive these private sector bureaucracies can be.
Somewhat more seriously: Doug, you bring that up a lot, and I just don’t follow your thinking.
Who on Earth would drag his daughter through something like what you propose?
Why do you consider it such a vice to move on?
You don’t think some day (if not already) this girl is not going to hear that the reason her father lost the primary in South Carolina is because slimy people used her to defame her father?
I will never understand why he just sat back and took it. As I’ve said before, proving you can take whatever they throw at you isn’t always a noble trait. When it come to family, you have to fight back. And to basically give Bush a free pass on it is baffling. I won’t ever be in that position, but if it were me, Karl Rove would have been missing a few teeth.
If it’s Guliani-Huckabee, and their ticket fails, there’s always that chance for an Odd Couple remake. … I believe Walther Mathau and Jack Lemmon would approve.
Hillary could be the misunderstood girl they fight over, while Bill’s out saving the world.
And so it begins in New Hampshire… but once again, the response from Senator McCain is to use a hired mouthpiece to say “no fair!” Come on, Senator… if you truly are a fighter, let’s see some fighting!
MANCHESTER, NH (DEC 14) — U.S. Senator John McCain’s New Hampshire Vice Chair, former Congressman Chuck Douglas (R-NH), along with the campaign’s New Hampshire Leadership Committee, today issued the following statement on new reports of push-polling activities in New Hampshire:
“Last night, the McCain campaign received disturbing reports of new push-polling calls in New Hampshire paid for by a group supporting Governor Mike Huckabee for president. Similar to previously reported calls in Iowa, the calls were to designed to disparage John McCain in an effort to advance Governor Huckabee’s campaign. Governor Huckabee should immediately condemn these tactics and urge his supporters to stop this activity attempting to smear John McCain or any other candidate, and allow this campaign to be waged on the issues and each candidate’s merits.
All the campaigns are using staff mouthpieces for attacks, so they can distance themselves if there is a backlash, or let it stand if the public buys it.