Why John McCain Had A Pretty Good Month
Why does Sen. John McCain sit atop our '08 race rankings when he's the two-to-one underdog in national polls?
-- He continues to lead most polls in NH and all of them in SC. He's running strong in IA, too, despite stepping away from the '00 caucuses. He's leading in MI, and was leading in the last GOP poll we saw in CA. McCain has the strongest teams in IA, NH and SC bar none.
-- While voters fawn over Rudy Giuliani, they continue to like McCain quite a bit. His fav/unfavs are very strong. Romney's favs are ok among conservatives, but among Republicans, generally, they're even with his favorables.
-- When was the last time you read a "McCain Panders To the Right" story?
-- He'll probably wind up raising more money this quarter than any other candidate, although Romney might come close. His direct mail list is producing significant returns, his calendar is full of fundraisers, and no major bundler has defected.
-- He continues to get endorsement after endorsement: Thune, Ridge, Sen. Warner, Chip Pickering, Mitch Daniels, Frank Keating, strategist Charlie Black. Note that Sen. Hillary Clinton hasn't been able to keep prominent Dems from endorsing Sen. Obama, but McCain, for the most part, has been able to keep prominent Republicans from endorsing anybody else.
-- In a favorable cover story, National Review's Ponnuru urged conservatives to take a closer look at his record.
-- His formal announcement on Letterman was funny, self-effacing and well-covered; his troop lives "wasted" gaffe wasn't.
-- McCain (and Hillary Clinton) are two candidates who, by dint of their public profiles, are immune from opposition research. Their popularity (or lack thereof) reflects the sum of all there is to know about them. So more than the other candidates, McCain and Clinton will rise (or fall) on their merits.
-- Most insiders believe that McCain will be the nominee. Only 11 percent of RNC members surveyed by the Los Angeles Times say they'd never vote for McCain. McCain's nomination has the tacit blessing of the Bush White House. "Tacit blessing' doesn't mean "endorsement" -- it means that the White House -- Karl Rove, specifically -- is not going to put his body in front of any prominent GOPer who wants to endorse McCain.
McCain doesn't have any support in NH, neither does Rudy or Mitt.
Ron Paul is our man! Back to the constitution!
Are you living on the same planet? McCain has lost so much support during last month or two that he has completely lost the momentum. Its like no one that really matters likes him.. conservatives don't like him, religious right does not like him. Whats the use of likes of Ridge, Pickering, Keating endorsing him? They do not have ability to turn out primary voters. Most of the CPAC crowd hated him. McCain is looking very weak indeed.
I think everyone needs to watch Brownback and Gingrich who are about to fill the space on the right.
Stop the handwringing and knee jerking out there everytime you read a conservative blog or magazine denigrating McCain. Really, Rudy, who has no convictions when it comes to traditional family values or Mitt who swaps values depending upon which office he is running for?
Or how about McCain, with a 24 year pro-life voting record and who has promised to nominate judges in the mold of Alito and Roberts, the spine to reign in the national budget, and the courage of his convictions to advocate winning the war by calling for more combat power when over half the nation stands against it?
How about the McCain of McCain-Feingold? Bloggers remember their very close brush with the death of 1,000 cuts at the hands of McCain-Feingold, and they have very loooooong memories.
How about the "never met a tax cut I liked" McCain? Then there is McCain-Feingold.
How about the voting record of the sixth-most-Liberal-in-the-Senate McCain? Whoops! Silly me, that was until he wanted to be President. Now he is the born-again Conserva-RINO(tm) !
How about the McCain of the "Gang of 14" who shot down the appointment of REAL conservative judges? Then there is McCain-Feingold
Straight talk? Don't be silly - the "straight talk" from Iowa Style is just spin from the McCain machine. After all, if you are a conservative and the media isn't trying to stomp your guts out on a daily basis - you aren't a conservative. The lap-dog Liberal media just swoons over McCain.
Do I need to draw you a picture at this point? Oh, and one last thing - have I mentioned McCain-Feingold yet?