Tuesday, May 8, 2007

McCain is Finished, Head of Conservative Union Says/American Priorities

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/6/142814.shtml

David Keene of American Conservative Union says McCain has fatal flaws. Keene says he’s not trusted on the right…”he’s not a small government conservative.” But, I think the main problem is that McCain is a sentimental, not a philosophical conservative. He doesn’t have a blueprint to restrain him from falling into the Washington culture about right and wrong, even though he’s troubled by “pork barrel spending.”

The article mentions McCain-Feingold in noting that Fred Thomson supported it, too. But, that makes the point: They want to stick their finger in the hemmoraging dike of power and money, but don’t have the perspective to see that the bill fatally wounds The First Amendment and at the same time won’t even accomplish what it aspires to. Liberals have a long history of this kind of foolishness. Welcome to Washington.

That’s also why McCain can’t make a vital cases on abortion and why neither he or Thompson (who also is “pro-life”) will not move the ball or even the discussion on the matter. The article also discusses Giuliani’s flaws. I wish the focus could get down to Romney and whoever, as soon as possible. Let the people decide if they trust Romney with social issues. I’m strongly inclined not to. Only Huckabee and Brownback, and Tancredo and Hunter (though it’s not as important as illegal immigration for them) feel any passion about it. I certainly agree (and so does Huckabee) that illegal immigration is a problem that leaves security full of holes and makes a farce of American law. That needs to be fixed. But the disrespect of life and socialist propensities inside America are much larger problems than the vast majority of immigrants who come here for work. And, if we don’t focus on those problems because we think a wall is going to fix America, we’re fatally misguided.

Larry

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/6/142814.shtml

2 comments:

SigPres said...

McCain isn't my personal preference, but, from the perspective of a former civics teacher, at this very early point in the campaign, I'd say he's the odds-on favorite to be the GOP nominee in November of '08. I have three reasons for my prediction.

First, McCain's staff is the only one among the current GOP field with the experience of having run previously, and with the contacts and influence on the precinct level. Second, contributions to his campaign are growing faster, and are coming from a broader constituency in the party than anyone elses. Third, the consistent and reliable polls show that McCain is the most frequently mentioned GOP candidate as either a first or second choice. Most other polls out there are skewed because they are getting a "non-response" from about 90% of the people they contact.

McCain will be an ideal choice for the GOP for several reasons. The party's next real shot at the White House isn't going to come until 2012 at the earliest, and realistically probably not until 2016. McCain is too old to consider another shot, so his ability to run again later on won't be damaged by a defeat along the lines of Goldwater in '64 or Mondale in '84. Second, he's great at giving lip service to positions on social issues about which he will never have to take action. Third, he's a strong moderate centrist with a highly visible Senate record which will give the impression that the GOP is moving back to the center and set things up for the next guy who runs.

I wouldn't mind seeing your friend Huckabee give it a shot, but he needs to plan on doing it four years down the road. He needs to find a way to stay on the radar screen in the meantime.

Larry Perrault said...

Lee, You may be right. Republicans are already many steps down the road to the ambiguos mind of McCain. I just won't fail to regret that.

But, I can't collapse into hopeless fatalism. We are human beings. We make choices that are...well, choices. We usually make bad ones. But I believe and I'm sure you do too, that truth and right have an intrinsic value that human beings have the capacit to respond to.

The choice is theirs. But, I won't stop holding up and praying for what I believe is right. That's my job. I can't do theirs and God's.

I do wonder how a governor Huckabee would present himself as an option in 2012 or later. But, I'm also confident that we are still only steps into the internet-digital age that will transform communicating and social organization in ways that we can't even imagine. In 10 years, the change will be more dramatic even than today's world is changed from 10 years ago.