Posted by
Over the Kohls on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 8:58:08 PM
I'm not the biggest fan of John McCain. He has his obvious problems for true conservatives. For starters, McCain-Feingold legislation, McCain-Kennedy Immigration Bill, the Gang of 14, his position on closing GITMO, his position on waterboarding, he voted against the Bush tax cuts and his statements supporting the global warming alarmists is a real finger in the eye of conservatives. But on the other hand there are certain conservative principals on which he is very strong and has full support of even the most far right conservatives: his strong support of our effort in Iraq and the will to win it, his firm anti-terrorism stance, his willingness to crush al-Qaeda wherever it shows itself, a firm supporter of a strong and ready military, he has always been a pro-life hero and pledges to appoint conservative judges.
The primaries are the right arena for voters to make their preferences for president known. If the voters prefer a truer conservative like Romney, they will vote for him, but there is still a presidency to win against the Democrat candidate in November and even a far right conservative will prefer a McCain over Clinton or Obama. Again I have not made up my mind yet for a Republican candidate. They are all good in my mind. Any one of them is better than a Dem but just for arguments sake, what if McCain is the Republican standard bearer in November?
How will the Clinton attack machine go after McCain in the general election? Which of the issues is McCain susceptible on?
Certainly the War in Iraq will be one of them. But my feeling is that most of the country does not want the US to lose in Iraq and also feels that a stable Iraq is a good thing for not only the US but also the world. So I think McCain will prevail on Iraq.
Hillary may attack him for his strong anti-terrorism position and support of the Patriot Bill and position on FISA. Here again, his military history and long record as a civil servant will, I believe, enable him to fend off attacks from this angle.
Hillary will use his pro-life stance against him particularly with the woman vote. McCain will not convince the far left on this issue but neither will any other Republican.
But on the following issues, he may be a difficult target for the Left:
Immigration Policy
Corruption in government
GITMO
Waterboarding/Torture
Global Warming
On all these issues, most of the other Republican candidates will have trouble defending themselves but McCain is virtually insulated on these from Democrat attack. So McCain, while not the darling of conservatives, may be just conservative enough for most Republicans come November when put up against any Democrat.
Again, I'm not crazy about the guy, but I'm just sayin'...