“ CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Republican Sen. John McCain, reaching out to wary conservatives, delivered some bad news to the party's core constituency on Thursday, warning that the midterm elections will be hard for the GOP.” Yahoo News
In recent weeks, Senator John McCain has been touring conservative gatherings across the country. If you live in a red state the “McCain Conservative Express” may be visiting you too in an effort to mend fences with the conservative base. His apparent goal is the further self promotion of his bid for the 2008 Republican nomination.
On April 11th in Ohio, a key electoral battle ground state, McCain attended a $1,500 a plate Ken Blackwell fundraiser. Blackwell, a strong contender in the Ohio gubernatorial race and a staunch conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan, is hardly the type of conservative one would expect to find in the arms of Senator McCain. However politics make strange bed fellows. The Bully Pulpit believes that McCain is hoping that by appearing with staunch conservatives that he will be able to garner more support from the Republican base during the primary season. McCain is also auditioning potential traditional conservative running mates such as Ken Blackwell to further his appeal to the base and balance a potential ticket.
The “McCain Conservative Express” continued on April 13th as it thundered into Iowa, the first stop on the way to Pennsylvania Ave. a stop he did not make in 2000. McCain spoke to a group of Iowa conservatives and delivered what will become part of his campaign message “the Republican Party is in trouble.” "We Republicans are going to have a tough race in 2006 because the country is not happy with us . . . We have a 25 percent approval rating in Congress" McCain said. He also strongly supported President Bush’s policies in the War on Terror and take a tough stance on the Mullahs in Tehran. However, McCain has not changed his position on other issues such as gay marriage and immigration. He also opposes ethanol production which is near and dear to Iowa conservatives.
McCain is going to make a strong bid for the Republican nomination in 2008. Considered a renegade by many conservatives, ironically McCain will have to play to Republican weakness in order to obtain the party’s endorsement. McCain’s primary campaign will be based on strong national security, fiscal conservativism, and a new face who can appeal to a broad range of Americans.
Republicans are going to face the prospect of President Hillary in 2008 and will need to nominate someone who can beat her. McCain, who leads Hillary in every poll, will try and position himself as the only Republican stop impending doom.
McCain will first rely on his voting record on the War on Terror and his support for President Bush to help bring leery but hawkish conservatives into his column. He may even receive convert assistance from the Bush team as payback for not agreeing to join Kerry’s proposed “unity ticket.”
McCain will then try and seal the deal with a strong conservative fiscal agenda. "Many of our Republican supporters are not happy because we are spending money like a drunken sailor . . . We risk not our base voting Democratic, but what I worry about is there being disillusions with us and (voters) staying home" McCain said in Iowa. Most conservatives feel that the administration and the GOP Congress have not lived up to their fiscal conservative creed.
McCain is the enigma of American politics these days. He is in a sense a modern day Henry Clay or Steven Douglas trying to play all sides of the spectrum in order to obtain the Oval Office. Neither of them achieved that objective. Will McCain? To some extent McCain is also somewhat like Teddy Roosevelt in that he is strong on defense yet a progressive. TR was too a maverick. Republicans are going to have to find a real conservative to beat Hillary or settle for what Marcus Hannah described after President McKinley had been assassinated when he said “that God Damn Cowboy is in the White House!” Even worst like TR if McCain does not get the nomination he will run as a third party candidate. Have you ever heard of TR’s Bull Moose Party that allowed Wilson to become president? A battle for the Republican party has begun.
This post first appeared on The Bully Pulpit! - Fanning The Winds Of Freedom!, please read the originial post: here
