If you liked Reagan, the odds are you don’t think McCain is too old to be president. And if you liked Reagan, the reason he gave for opposing a bill that would ensure women equal pay for equal work might even make sense to you. Here’s McCain, ‘reasoning’:
“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.” (AP)
You know what, I don’t even know where to start with this. For one thing, I can’t believe this is even an issue in the 21st Century. For another, it’s hard to type when your hands are shaking with fury.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Specter said the recurrence “was detected during a routine scan of his chest and abdomen. A biopsy confirmed that the cancer had returned in a chest lymph node.” Just last month he had talked about beating the disease while doing a tour for his new book, Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate.” This time, his stage is considered IIIA, which is “significantly less advanced,” according to the statement from Specter’s office.
“I consider this just another bump on the road to a successful recovery from Hodgkin’s, from which I’ve been symptom-free for three years,” Specter said in the statement. “I’ve beaten some tough medical problems and tough political opponents and I expect to beat this, too.”
Specter has had a history of health problems. In 1993 he underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, which recurred in 1996 and was successfully treated. He also had coronary bypass surgery in 1998.
I remember following Senator Specter’s questioning and dialogue with the NIH director last year. His concern about the impact of flat funding was obvious and best characterized as indignant that we could be allowing our research to become such a low priority. A presence like his is very much needed in a legislature that can so easily clamor for one end or the other.
After the torrent of words over the arrogance of America’s self-selected, unelected Vice President, a former Republican colleague and friend boils it all down to one word in today’s Washington Post.
Ex-Congressman Mickey Edwards explains what changed his mind about defending Cheney, his “all-too-revealing conversation this week with ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz. On Wednesday, reminded of the public’s disapproval of the war in Iraq, now five years old, the vice president shrugged off that fact (and thus, the people themselves) with a one-word answer: ‘So?’”
Into that one word is compressed more than seven years of secrecy, usurping of power and stealing traditional American freedoms.
Tony Campbell is a unique character attached to a stranger-than-fiction cause.
A Republican, he worked in the early 90’s for two Democratic members of Congress from Pennsylvania: Ron Klink (who’s no longer in office) and Mike Doyle.
“Growing up in western Pennsylvania, I always heard there were no Republicans, only Democrats and conservative Democrats,” Tony explained.
Tony has also run for office, first as a Republican candidate for Congress in Maryland’s 7th District, and then as the Republican candidate for Baltimore City Council President. He won the nomination in the latter race, but neither election.
He was an advance press representative for President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns and once served as a special assistant to the chief of staff of the Social Security Administration during Bush’s tenure.
Today, Tony is an adjunct professor of political science at Towson University and is working on a masters of divinity through Liberty University, a school founded by the late Jerry Falwell.
Tony is also press officer for an organization known as “Republicans for Obama” (RFO). The group was started in December 2006, before Obama officially announced his candidacy, to help encourage him to make a run for the White House. Since then, the all-volunteer RFO has morphed into a grassroots effort to disseminate information on why Republicans should support the Senator. The group — active members of which number around a thousand — operates with no funding and no coordination or official relationship with the Obama campaign.
So, how does a Republican and former Bush booster like Tony end up working with an organization that is supporting a Democratic Senator’s bid for the White House?
Ohio Senator George Voinovich has long been known as a deficit hawk. Whether as Commissioner of Cuyahoga County, Mayor of Cleveland, or Governor of Ohio, Voinovich has a strong reputation for insisting that government ought to live within its means. In recent years, that’s made him out-of-step with Republicans in Congress and the White House who have departed from traditional conservative Republican principles to engage in “drunken sailor” spending (to borrow a phrase from a Republican running for President this year).
A ploy used in recent years to make the annual budget appear less deficit-ridden has been to put anticipated spending into extra-budgetary emergency supplemental appropriations. Voinovich wants to put a halt to this practice. According the Columbus Dispatch blog:
Sen. George V. Voinovich next week will make a move to restrict Congress’ ability to pass “emergency” spending bills that aren’t, well, in fact much of an unanticipated emergency.
Voinovich’s move comes in the wake of a Government Accountability Office report. The GAO report, released earlier this week, found that the number and cost of so-called supplemental spending bills, which are supposed to be only used when unanticipated emergency needs arise in the middle of a federal fiscal year, has risen dramatically in recent years.
Much of that is due to defense spending. Emergency supplementals, for instance, have been passed in recent years to fund the Iraq war though it would seem that much of those costs could have been anticipated. Supplemental spending bills aren’t subject to the same controls and constraints designed to avoid busting annual budgets and sending the federal deficit spiraling upward.
Voinovich is going to propose an amendment to the Senate budget bill that would tighten up the definition of just what is an emergency…
Voinovich may get himself into trouble again with the crowd that likes to call other Republicans RINOs, Republicans in Name Only, then engage in more of that drunken sailor behavior.
Both Virginia and Wisconsin are likely to be battleground states in the November election. The fact that one seventh of Republican voters in Virginia and one fourth of Republican voters in Wisconsin chose to participate in the Democratic primary should be a clear warning signal to the McCain campaign, especially if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. According to the exit polls, 72 percent of Republicans who voted in these Democratic primaries cast their ballots for Obama. Obama’s ability to lure large numbers Republican crossover voters in these Democratic primaries indicates that there could be a high rate of defection to Obama among moderate-to-liberal Republicans in the November election, especially if John McCain continues to focus on shoring up his support among GOP conservatives.
What do people in Latin America think about Barack Obama’s difficulties with Hispanics? In the first article of its kind translated by WORLDMEETS.US, Alfredo Toro Hardy of Venezuela’s El Universal writes, ‘Curiously the biggest obstacle to overcoming the taboo that closes off the White House to non-Whites comes from Hispanics. The Hispanic community, which has always played a decisive role in opening the racial floodgates, is now being transformed into the last containment wall to the arrival of a Black man to the U.S. Presidency.’
By Alfredo Toro Hardy
Translated By Barbara Howe
February 14, 2008
Venezuela - El Universal - Original Article (Spanish)
Like a bulldog and despite having no chance of winning, Mike Huckabee refuses to withdraw from the Republican contest. That obliges John McCain to devote time and energy to prevailing over him instead of concentrating on reorganizing the party to confront the Democrats. Moreover, the face-off with Huckabee implies a confrontation with the Christian right and the more conservative elements of the party.
Meanwhile, this difficult effort to differentiate himself from Huckabee threatens to distance McCain from this high-powered faction of the Republican Party, which has so many financial and media resources to draw upon and such a capacity to mobilize voters.
This is a component of the party that McCain has never liked, but without their participation it will be difficult for him to win in November. It seems inevitable that this will lead McCain to forge an agreement between Huckabee and those factions that back him, perhaps offering him the Vice Presidential ticket. In that case, McCain will alienate many of the independent and centrist voters that that support him, and which he needs to prevail over the Democrats. McCain finds himself caught between the conflicting demands of winning the support of the Christian right and of centrists.
The Democrats, however, are breaking the mould and making history. By some unknown method, a woman and a Black man, representatives of the country’s so-called minorities, are competing to run for the nation’s highest office. Breaking the gender barrier would be impressive, but overcoming the barrier of race would be much more so.
Curiously the biggest obstacle to overcoming the taboo that closes off the White House to non-Whites comes from Hispanics. The Hispanic community, which has always played a decisive role in opening the racial floodgates, is now being transformed into the last containment wall to the arrival of a Black man to the U.S. Presidency.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of the U.S. elections.
You want to know why moderate Republicans are dying?
It’s not because conservatives have run them out (which they have).
It’s because we lack stamina. We lack backbone. We are more interested in our own wants and needs than in looking at the bigger picture. We see politics more as enterainment instead of hard work.
The far right got to where they are because they had passion. They had a vision for the country and saw the GOP as the vehicle to get them there. They weren’t just looking for someone that made them feel good, but someone who could help propel a movement. That’s why they are in control of the GOP and why moderates are not.
My fellow blogger and friend Pete Abel wrote today about his dissapointment with John McCain especially on what seems like backpeddaling on torture (I am also let down by McCain’s apparent reversal). While I’ll agree that McCain has dropped the ball on this one, I was mad after reading this post.
I kept wondering: okay, you don’t like what McCain did. Have you contacted him and raised bloody hell? Write to his Senate office? His campaign?
You want to know why McCain did this? Because he has to get the conservative base to win. I don’t like that anymore than Pete, but they are the ones that control the party, not the moderates.
He also did this, because he can. There are no moderates who will give him hell for this, no moderate Rush Limbaugh. If moderates don’t like what they hear, they will just go to someone they like, such Barak Obama.
What would have happened if an army of moderates jammed his Senate phone lines and email boxes? What if they called his campaign headquarters and shamed him for even thinking to do this? He might have changed his mind.
But of course, no one will do that. We moderates will get all pissy and just vote for someone else.
I support McCain, even though he isn’t perfect because he is probably the best candidate Republicans have had in a long time. He could pull the party in a better direction. And in the end, I am not thinking soley about McCain, but about the future of this party and trying to make it more humane and caring and more in line with true conservatism. But McCain can’t do that by himself; he needs a movement that will keep him honest.
The problem with a lot of moderates is that we want to be in love with our candidates. We want someone that thrills us and is a good show. That’s probably why so many moderate Republicans are going for Obama. He is thrilling and his speeches are wonderful. He talks about hope and unity and our nation is desparate need of both.
But in the end, he is a politician and he will dissapoint people. And in the end, he won’t do anything to help make the GOP a more center right party.
If there is anything that I’ve learned over the years is that politics is work and a bit of courage. My dear friend Jim is a lifelong Republican who is gay. He has gone to district conventions and presented resolutions that are gay friendly. My quiet, little friend has the guts to stand for justice in the middle of a bunch of social conservatives. He is a moderate that has a backbone made of steel.
I asked him once why he remains in the party. He told me that he has always been a Republican and that things will change. In the end, he knows who he is and is willing to fight for change.
I wish there were more Jims in the GOP. But the fact is, too many of us moderates aren’t willing to spend the time to get down and dirty and work for change. And then we wonder why the GOP has become so right wing.
I’m dissapointed that moderates are such wimps when it comes to working for change.
That’s about it, then, isn’t it—-all the talk about McCain as the new type of Republican moderate destined to lead the party back to its roots? I’m guessing that this latest news will put an end to talk among disenchanted Democrats of voting for him in November.
Today, McCain voted legislation that intended to do exactly what he himself has advocated: adopted the Army Field Manual interrogation standards for the US government. Anti-torture advocates, such as the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, supported this crucial bill. McCain himself said in a Republican debate in November that the Army Field Manual should be ‘the gold standard for interrogations.’
February 12th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
NBC has projected that Arizona Senator John McCain will be the winner of the Virginia and Maryland primaries — and has just projected he will win in Washington D.C. as well, virtually assuring what was already assured: that he will be his party’s 2008 Presidential nominee.
But McCain got good news — and bad news.
The good news is that exit polls shows that a large portion of Republicans — a chunk of conservative voters who don’t go along with conservative talk show hosts and that increasingly vanishing species called “moderate Republicans” — are willing to accept him. The bad news is that a hard-core group of conservatives, most typified by conservative media establishment types such as top radio talk show hosts, continue to reject him.
Despite strong opposition from many conservative voters in Virginia’s GOP primary Tuesday, three-quarters of Republican voters surveyed said they would be satisfied with John McCain as the party’s standard-bearer in November.
February 11th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has hinted the GOP may not get his vote in the 2008 Presidential election in remarks that contained some thinly-disguised barbs aimed at President George Bush:
Former US secretary of state Colin Powell said Sunday he was weighing his options in the 2008 White House race, hinting he may cross party lines and vote against the Republican nominee.
“I will vote for the candidate I think can do the best job in America. Whether that candidate is a Republican or Democrat or an independent,” Powell told CNN’s “Late Edition.”
“Frankly, we lost a lot in recent years,” Powell added in a swipe at the administration of President George W. Bush, under whom he served as secretary of state from 2001 to 2005.
And his comments contained what some will see as even more suggestions that he is not pleased with the tenor of American foreign policy under the second George Bush:
Powell, a top general and former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said he would vote for the candidate with a vision “that starts to restore confidence in America. That starts to restore favorable ratings to America.”
“I am going to be looking for the candidate that seems to me to be leading a party that is fully in sync with the candidate and a party that will also reflect America’s goodness and America’s vision.”
At the same time, he had some nice things to say about Democratic Senator Barack Obama, but made it clear (a) he doesn’t agree with Obama on everything and (b) he’s not ready to endorse anyone (yet):
He also praised Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, who is also an African-American, and locked in a battle for the White House nomination with Hillary Clinton.
“I think he’s been an exciting person on the political stage. He has energized a lot of people in America. He has energized a lot of people around the world,” Powell told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“And so I think he is worth listening to and seeing what he stands for.”
But Powell added he did not share all Obama’s views, nor did he completely share the views of the other candidates.
“I think every American has an obligation right now at this moment in our history to look at all the candidates and to make a judgment not simply on the basis of ideology or simply on the basis of political affiliation but on the basis of who is the best person for all of America and which party and what does that party look like?” Powell added.
Powell is the great might-have-been of American politics.
He had been a rising star in the administration of the first President George Bush, and his philosophy fit in well with that administration. Several members of the first Bush administration have expressed unhappiness with the policies of the present Bush administration, but Powell was always the good political soldier as well as the good soldier.
He had been talked about for years as a possible Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate, but his political stock fell when he defended the war in Iraq. Ironically, by all accounts Powell was marginalized and even somewhat humiliated within the present Bush administration as he fought a losing battle that pitted him against the then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, two of the administrations most pro-active hawks.
CNN showed an interview with former Gen. Colin Powell last night in which the former secretary of state played his cards close to his chest when Wolf Blitzer asked him who he’d be supporting for president.
But based on his comments about the need for a presidential candidate who could repair America’s standing in the world, Powell at times seemed to be indicating a strong inclination towards Sen. Barack Obama.
And he also appeared to send a signal to Republicans that he wouldn’t look kindly on the party if Sen. John McCain became the nominee and many conservatives decided not to rally behind the senator from Arizona.
Why does all this matter?
To a lot of people, Powell is indicative of the independent-thinking Republican who could be a moderate or conservative but is not a lockstep supporter no matter what of the current Republican faction that now controls the Republican party and the White House. Despite a reputation diminished by his (losing) White House battles and argument that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the United Nations, he remains a highly appealing and credible figure to independent voters who have also shown an affinity for McCain, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and others who don’t quite fit into the “sports team” partisan mode.
If he makes it known during the campaign that he’s going to vote for a Democrat, it could be something factored in by independent voters — voters who are increasingly necessary in winning elections.
Are the 2008 elections destined to be bereft of the kind of divisive politics characterized by the Karl Rove electoral machine? Bernd Pickert of the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung writes, ‘The conservative wing of the Republicans, the party’s driving force under Bush, is torn by the battle between Huckabee and Romney and this time around will not have a major role. Finally, differences can be settled without taboos – finally reason and common sense have made a comeback to the debate in the United States.’
Commentary by Bernd Pickert
Translated By Ulf Behncke
February 6, 2008
Germany - Die Tageszeitung - Original Article (German)
The only clear winner of the elections on Super-Tuesday is named John McCain. The 71-year-old senator from Arizona has succeeded in restoring to himself the position of frontrunner. And yet both of his competitors, Mick Huckabee and Mitt Romney, claim that they too have been resoundingly confirmed – but that’s nonsense. They haven’t a chance. The Republican candidate for 2008 will be John McCain.
Things are different in the Democrats side: Hillary Clinton does indeed lead the delegate count, yet both she and Barack Obama have shown that they both have solid support from certain groups of voters. Clinton mobilizes the poor, the elderly, White women and Latinos. Support for Obama comes from Read the rest of this entry »
February 6th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
The race for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination may not be totally over — but Super Tuesday was a watershed for the GOP due to the way Arizona Senator John McCain stacked up his victories: they were victories largely without rock-ribbed conservative support:
Republican John McCain won a sweeping victory on Super Tuesday even without winning the conservative base of his party, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fought to a draw, virtually guaranteeing a long and sharply contested Democratic contest ahead.
The voting in the Republican primaries solidified McCain’s position as the GOP front-runner and dramatically lengthened the odds against prime challenger Mitt Romney. At the same time, a surprisingly strong showing by Mike Huckabee in several Southern states underscored the continuing importance of evangelical Christians in the GOP.
So the Evangelicals continued to show political clout. And what about the party’s most self-avowedly proud conservatives? The ones who insist on a litmus test and feel the party would be damaged by running someone who might be considered a moderate:
Notably, though, McCain failed to make inroads among conservative Republicans at the heart of the Republican Party: More than six in 10 GOP primary voters said they were conservatives — and only 31 percent of them voted for McCain. Still, McCain’s strong showing among independents and moderates, as well as his ability to attract crossover Democrats, could prove to be an advantage if he captures the nomination.
This suggests a couple of things:
(1) Conservative talk show hosts failed in their attempt to stop McCain. A monitoring of their shows indicated that many of them had become virtually nonstop commercials for Romney, complete with Read the rest of this entry »
Romney is proving an expert at reinventing himself and reframing his positions as his campaign rolls along. I imagine if he gets the nomination he’ll be an expert in reinventing himself again.
Judging by the number of voters who seem drawn to John McCain, it seems as if he’ll have to moderate his message, however much this might distress the party hardliners who are currently clinging to him as their last best hope against “liberal” John McCain. I don’t fault him for that; I’ve never bought into the notion that so-called “flip-flopping” is a cardinal sin.
After seven years of Bush and his unshakable confidence in his convictions, I have come to the conclusion that an elected official needs to be sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing circumstances. But the media does view it as a cardinal sin. If it were not a cardinal sin, it’s just possible Hillary would unbend and confess, “Yes, oh God yes, my Iraq vote was the worst mistake of my political career!” But she can’t, because it’s a cardinal sin.
You could even say that it takes a special kind of courage to flip flop on issues as much as Romney has had to do to become the favorite son of Republican hardliners. This is the most charitable way to look at the criticisms of Romney, and I am all about being charitable.
Some might argue that Romney has taken flip flopping too far. Not me, though. Instead, I’m just hoping that the best man will win. We can’t afford anything else.
In his present incarnation, Michael Luo says, Romney is leading a “citizen revolution” as the “anti-establishment insurgent.” Hey, it worked for Jimmy “I have never set foot in Washington” Carter, another state governor. (Not with me: I voted for Gerald Ford.) Even so: it worked for Governor Carter. Will it work for Governor Romney?
I like Hillary Clinton. Although my heart belongs to John Edwards, I voted for her as the candidate most likely to succeed, and even succeed superbly, at the thankless damn task that cleaning up after George W. Bush is likely to prove. After all, it’s not a
job for someone who can’t deal with being hated. But what a lot of people are saying now is that Hillary is too hated generally to make it to the White House; therefore Dems should get behind Obama.
I say that Obama would be much better off if he let Hillary do the cleaning up before he takes the presidency; it’s going to be a nasty, unpalatable job for the most part involving choices between one decision with consequences that are hard to stomach and another that is even worse. But Obama has signified that he would like to be president now. And many of my friends want him simply because they’re sick of the sound of Clinton-bashing. At least with Obama, mused one, we’d hear new, fresh contumely.
And we all know it’s true: Hillary is hated by many-many-many. In fact, she routinely gets reviled by right, left, and center. At The New York Times, Stanley Fish discusses the loathing that Hillary Clinton evokes from her detractors (not all of whom are Republicans), compared to which, he says, " the Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry was a model of objectivity." Fish lists some of the crazier allegations against Hillary. As he says, when the question presented is "“Have the Clintons ever murdered anyone?” — and it turns out to be a rhetorical
question like “Is the Pope Catholic?” — you know that you’ve entered cuckooland."" (NYT)
But I’m more interested in the allegations of Hillary-haters who aren’t actually certifiable. As Fish points out, many of the allegations against her are flat-out contradictory. She is damned by her detractors (who aren’t limited to Republicans) no matter what she does.
First we got Coulter promising with a straight face to campaign for Hillary if McCain wins. Now Rush Limbaugh is saying that he’d rather see Clinton or Obama win the presidency than John McCain, despite Bob Dole’s plea for sanity on the party’s far right. Too bad, Bob Dole. That ship sailed a long time ago.
When it comes to the McCain mutiny, Limbaugh has plenty of company on the right side of the dial. Laura Ingraham endorsed Mitt Romney last week, saying, "There is no way in hell I could pull the lever for John McCain." Sean Hannity, who also endorsed the former Massachusetts governor, regularly rips McCain. Hugh Hewitt is urging the audience for his syndicated radio show to fight for Romney against what he calls a media-generated "McCain resurrection." But with a program heard on 600 stations, including Washington’s WMAL, Limbaugh is the loudest and brashest voice inveighing against the man he derides as "Saint John of Arizona." (New York Times)
Could it be that even some of the dittoheads have noticed that the far right has turned out to be wrong about every single thing it’s said every single time? Doubtful. Clearly, though, a certain number of sane Republicans have noticed.
by Damozel |Hurray! Ann Coulter has semi-endorsed Hillary, sort of! Ed Morissey asks "Has Ann Coulter jumped the shark?"He wonders if this will finish her off with anyone who still takes her seriously, assuming anyone still does. Jill Miller Zimon has the video right here. Is this the greatest campaign season ever, or what? It’s not exactly fair on Hillary, but I can’t help chortling madly as I watch it again and again and again.
So. Ann too is well and truly infected, as the Captain puts it, with “McCain Derangement Syndrome.” You might be surprised by her extreme solution to it, but I’m not. True, from Duncan Hunter to Hillary might strike some as something of a leap, but McCain has the power to drive neocons right over the jagged edge, bless him. This campaign season, liberal is the new conservative!
Here in Florida, Hillary and McCain carried the day. Giuliani apparently is planning to drop out of the race and give the nod to McCain. And some conservatives ain’t happy, to put it mildly.
At The Corner, Michael Graham says, "Assuming there is no shocking revelation or health issue, the GOP nomination is over. Conservatives need to start practicing the phrase
"Nominee presumptive John McCa….." Sorry, I can’t say it. Not yet….. So it is over. Finished. In November, we’ll be sending out our most liberal, least trustworthy candidate vs. to take on Hillary Clinton—perhaps not more liberal than Barack Obama, but certainly far less trustworthy." Hey, cheer up, Michael Graham: Obama might still get the nomination!
Kathryn Jean Lopez, whose love for Romney is legendary, is keeping the faith alive. “I’ll shut up after this post, but Romney has been ON since Michigan. It may prove — it may have been proven tonight — to be too late. But this guy speaking right now, is hitting important issues, making you feel good about America, as you should. It’s a rallying speech. Maybe it’s the silly flip-flopping thing that has been too hard to shake. Maybe he took too long to rise above it.”
Maybe. Podhoretz pooh-poohs "the ridiculous early analysis." "Mitt Romney has no reason to back off, even though he will have lost four of the five real contests so far. He’s worked successfully now to establish himself as the McCain alternative, and there appears to be enough anger and suspicion of McCain among Republicans to make a Romney win plausible if McCain does something to injure himself." He does foresee "increasingly agitated conservative rage radiating toward him from the radio speakers and a browser near you." I expect McCain—-if his momentum continues, which I’d say is far from a foregone conclusion—will survive. He’s been the target of it so often.
I don’t expect these particular Republicans to take this in, but McCain’s success indicates that moderate Republicans and right-tilting independents might be as sick as Democrats over where their party’s hard right turn has taken them. Maybe a lot of people who consider themselves “conservative” would like a return to a more Read the rest of this entry »
Unless Rudy Giuliani pulls off a Florida surprise in next Tuesday’s primary, there are now three Republicans with some chance of winning their party’s presidential nomination: John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee. Recently, I speculated on who might be the vice presidential running mates of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the event that one of them becomes the Democratic nominee for president. But what about the remaining Republican contenders?
Each would have their own particular needs when it came to selecting running mates. In this post, I want to address what and who McCain will likely need in a running mate.
McCain should, by all rights, be the clear frontrunner, given the usual orderly succession of Republican presidential politics. That he isn’t results in part, from the fact that neoconservatism, with its advocacy of Wilsonian intervention in foreign affairs, has at least temporarily changed the definition of conservatism. Additionally, on at least two major issues–immigration reform and campaign financing–McCain has departed from conservatism. Some will also mention his opposition to President Bush’s 2002 tax cuts. Others will excoriate his participation in the Gang of Fourteen, ignoring how the compromise struck by those US Senators in 2005, made it possible for the President’s conservative nominees for the US Supreme Court to be confirmed without controversy.
Be that as it may, McCain, an orthodox Goldwater-Reagan conservative who is an advocate of strong national defense, restrained government spending, Second Amendment rights, and an end to abortion, doesn’t have the luxury that Ronald Reagan had in selecting running mates in 1976 and 1980. Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio Senator George Voinovich has long been known as a deficit hawk. Whether as Commissioner of Cuyahoga County, Mayor of Cleveland, or Governor of Ohio, Voinovich has a strong reputation for insisting that government ought to live within its means. In recent years, that’s made him out-of-step with Republicans in Congress and the White House who have departed from traditional conservative Republican principles to engage in “drunken sailor” spending (to borrow a phrase from a Republican running for President this year).
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