Friday, February 08, 2008

The Hypocritical Right

I've been feeling a little sorry for John McCain today. McCain, as we know, was bullied into offering a mea culpa of sorts to conservatives over his stand on a few issues that they take big issue with.

What is it about John McCain that has the Right Wing of his party so angry?

  • McCain supports bipartisan immigration reform;
  • McCain supported campaign finance reform;
  • McCain recognizes the need to act on global warming;
  • McCain has indicated in the past that he wants moderates on the Supreme Court.
What's so hypocritical about the Right Wing?
  • George Bush supports bipartisan immigration reform;
  • George Bush signed campaign finance reform into law;
  • George Bush now recognizes that global warming is a problem that needs to be addressed;
  • George Bush attempted to appoint moderate Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court.
Instead of kissing the rears of the Right Wing, John McCain should simply tell them the truth: I'll be a president like George Bush. Just like George Bush.

BTW, all the puckering up by McCain isn't really paying off. Today, conservative leader and former presidential candidate James Dobson (head of Focus on the Family) endorsed Mike Huckabee.

A Huckabee VP spot appears inevitable.

20 comments:

Bill Baar 1:08 PM  

Check the scathing stuff McCain said about Rumsfeld. He won't be like George Bush on that score.

Or as heeding of the advice from Gen Sanchez, Colonel Morgenthaler's boss...

Bill Baar 1:17 PM  

McCain's been talking like this for a long time YDD.

I didn't agree.

But it's hard to argue with the success of late.

He's no George Bush though.

Anonymous,  1:59 PM  

Yes, the whole Huckabee deal has already gone down. He'll be the Veep pick, McCain needs him to get votes from the ultra conservative base. All this leads one to think that rank and file Republicans are fed up with the self-described base of the party. What that means, of course, is that the very base of the party is changing. Rush and others like him need to wake up and understand that things are changing. Or he'll really be bawling, and off the air, as the rest of the party moves past him.

Pat Collins 2:01 PM  

1) The right STOPPED the miers nomination. So no double standard there.

And in case you haven't noticed, the right is NOT happy with Bush on those issues either.....

But if Obama is elected, I cant' wait for HIS first nominee to be filibustered.

And frankly, a lot of the right is not happy with Huck either. I STRONGLY suspect it wont be Huck.

Anonymous,  2:04 PM  

and this post relates to Illinois politics....how?

Anonymous,  2:09 PM  

Huck may may not pass muster with the conservatives regardless of the Dobson annointment. I heard a sound alternative for VP: Haley Barbour.

Anonymous,  2:12 PM  

Pat, you back up what I'm saying--the right has become too right for rank and file members of the party. That's why so many members of the "base" are whining. Rank and file members of the party should just jetisen these people; hang 'em out to dry, throw them under the bus, whatever; for saying they're gonna back the Demo nominee. That IS the talk of six year olds.

Bill Baar 2:14 PM  

I added Morgantheler to try and give it an Illinois twist.

I doubt McCain knows who the VP candidate will be, so it's total speculation.

I'm betting not Huckabee....

If you want to bring it around to Illinois, I'm still sticking with my original Gore-Obama prediction which doesn't seem so far-out given the past few weeks..

Who are the superdelegates from Illinois?

Pat Collins 2:21 PM  

Well, I AM a right winger :)

I wanted Thompson, then Romney.

I would NOT have voted for Huck, I will vote for McCain.

Do I hope that he's "grown" on immigration? Sure I do.

Am I "OK" that he'll put more Roberts on the SC? You bet.

Do i think Camp. finance is a chimera that will never work? Sure.

Do I want a guy with a lifetime 85% ACU rating as pres? You bet!

steve schnorf 3:13 PM  

I look forward to voting for McCain, unless he bends too far to the right, in which case he may well lose me and many other R moderates. Everyone except the hard right understands how much the right hurts R candidates by forcing them to take positions that decrease their electability in general elections.

Like many moderates, R and D, I'm very uncomfortable with the hard right's social issues positions; gay marriages, gun ownership, abortion, school prayer, to me these just aren't the pressing issues of the day, and it causes me to be skeptical of people who believe they are.

JBP 4:23 PM  

So Steve,

How about the reverse? There are certainly a group of wingnuts out there that are pro-gay marriage, pro gun confiscation etc that are at least as aggressive as the social conservatives.

Shouldn't a vast majority be out there against the extremists regardless of their position on the social spectrum?

JBP

Marathon Pundit 5:10 PM  

YWD...Nervous about those hypothetical McCain matchups, huh?

If Obama get the nomination, look for his pal Rezko to be a household name.

Anonymous,  5:40 PM  

Mr. Ruberry, let me introduce you to Charles Keating -- a former pal of John McCain. Enjoy.

Marathon Pundit 6:21 PM  

Good luck with that one...it's a dead issue.

An October 20 indictment of Blago would be so nice...

Anonymous,  7:11 PM  

I don't think too many Democrats are nervous about the McCain matchups. All we need to do is run TV ads of McCain himself, in his own words. He's said enough bone-headed things in the last six months to bury any hope he had of victory.

"100 years in Iraq," "I need to be educated on the economy," "Barbara Ann," those are three pretty devastating ads off the top of my head. For once I agree with John, we don't need to rehash Keating. McCain will beat McCain. And Coulter, Dobson and Limbaugh will help us for once.

YDD, good post. I'll join you in feeling sorry for McCain right after I stop laughing so hard.

And John, please, why don't you and Bill Baar keep spewing your Rezko "what-if" and "you-wait-and-see" scenarios. The rest of us will wait for the trial and continue following the investigation until, you know, the facts are known. But by all means, if you want to further reduce your credibility on Illinoize, keep speculating. I only ask that you try to keep it interesting and original too. I read here.

Marathon Pundit 7:57 PM  

....until, you know, the facts are known

That's the last thing Blago and Rezko want.

I'm gonna bookmark this one

Bill Baar 4:36 AM  

You never want to back a candidate where you're waiting for anoter guy in jail to testify on the facts.

Look what Rezko's already done to the Gov. The Gov can no longer go before the press without Rezko question.

That's what awaits Obama unless he follows Zorn's adivce or Rezko gets the facts out a lot faster than expected.

Anonymous,  9:30 AM  

The flaw in your argument, Yellow Dog, is that you assume that the conservative wing of the GOP would re-elect George W. Bush if he were able to run again. It would "not" happen. Many of us conservatives are very disappointed in how Bush has chosen to run the country. We made a mistake back then. We don't want to follow it up by making another one.

Will we support McCain in November even though he has a fair amount of flaws? Most likely. It becomes (once again) casting our vote for the lesser of two evils.

Anonymous,  10:00 AM  

Of course it is a "dead issue" to you John. You want to see the voters kept in the dark because many don't remember, or are not old enough to be aware of the savings and loan scandle in the 1980's.

I encourage voters go google the Senate Select Committee on Ethics final report (November 20, 1991) and decide for themselves about McCain's conduct in taking contributions and intervening on Mr. Keating behalf.

For those of us who really care about cleaning up government, McCain doesn't deserve a free pass any more than Blago or Obama.

Anonymous,  2:44 PM  

When was Dobson a presidential candidate?

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