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Senator McCain may have an uphill climb no matter which candidate the Democrats eventually nominate, however, he might do well not to get personally involved in the process.
Jay Homnick at The American Spectator writes on this topic:
Speaking of sports, an odd-couple tag team has been pounding Barack Obama over the last two weeks, privately citing contradictory reasons for the onslaught. On one side we have Hillary Rodham Clinton hammering away at his putative elitism; she sugarcoats her poison pills by earnestly asserting to fellow Dems that she must save the party from the inevitable election loss that would ensue upon an Obama nomination. Her unlikely sidekick is John McCain, who tends to echo Hillary’s critique du jour. He in turn tells his colleagues that he expects that Mrs. Clinton would be an easier opponent to rout.
Me thinks this is a case of trying to do too much on the part of Senator McCain. It is generally good advice to politicians that they should not be diverted into trying to interfere with the other side in its candidate selection. More often than not, these attempts at mischief and manipulation come back to bite one in the end. Trying to divine the relative strengths of potential opponents is a mystical pursuit that not only undermines good faith, it often sabotages good works. This is a hiatus in the process where McCain can be totally positive while the Democrat contenders are forced to be mean; he should be building up his nice-guy cred now and let the other guys come off as hyenas.[Emphasis, mine]
Senator McCain has his own set of difficulties on which he should be focusing. First and foremost he must work to solidify a base which continues to teeter on the brink due just to his nomination. Many continue to look daily for reasons those in the GOP should reject their nominee and at times with good cause.
McCain may well be correct. Mrs. Clinton might be the easier opponent to defeat, after all, many Republicans will go to the polls not to vote for the Arizona Senator but against the one from New York,
which on its face is no consolation.
Then again that old cliche “be careful what you wish for” might just rear its ugly head.
Written by Sue
~J~ Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pmVisit ~J~
Republicans should stay quiet on the Democrats’ nominating system just as Democrats should stay quiet on the Republican nominating system.
We don’t get to pick our opponents in politics. The good voters from each party will pick their own, thank you.
David M. Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 3:24 pmVisit David M.
After reading RCP this week-end, Senator McCain should concern himself with assuaging the doubts that may arise about his ability to control his temper in a crisis. The RCP article was full of comments about his abusive language towards fellow Republicans and interference in Arizona Republican politics. It concerned me when I read it. Most of these folks support him now, but it’s token support at the best.
Sue Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 4:38 pmVisit Sue
David:
I think you stated it on the money by saying the support for Senator McCain is token at best.
It is not only those with whom he has had these heated disagreements but the citizen who has either witnessed at some point or read of these outbursts who will vote for him only to see Clinton or Obama kept from the White House.
~J~ has said often that the lesser of two evils is still evil. At this point it appears, at least for some of us, that we will have no alternative.
Sue Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 4:50 pmVisit Sue
Here is a link of Senator McCains wife on “The View” addressing the question of his temper.
She sounds sincere but then what is it really that she can say?
David M. Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 7:46 pmVisit David M.
I also felt Mrs. McCain could not say anything else. The other significant problem that Senator McCain must face, with great difficulty, is his repeated statements that he is weak on economic issues. I know many presidents have been in that same situation. One cannot expect the president to be an expert on every issue and one also expects the president to rely on specialists. The problem here is that McCain’s words will have to come back to bite him on the economy. The housing crisis is not as bad as people believe. I recieved a federal report today that shows the actual home prices have declined only in Ca., Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Mass., Rhode Island, New Jersey and Florida. However, the federal report does not note that homes are not selling. Home prices are up 7% in my state, 2.8% in Pa., 4.9% in N. Carolina and 3.8% in S. Carolina. However, construction is stagnant here and gas prices are about $3.40/gal. It’s the gas prices that Americans will notice and it will reflect on tourism. McCain’s suggestion to eliminate gas taxes for the summer is not feasible given our deficit. The decline in tourism will have a heavy impact here during the summer. The point of these statistics is to show McCain must come forward with an economic stimulus package that counters his repeated statements that he is weak on economic issues. It can’t be a stimulus for a 3 month period. This election will once again be focused on the economy and Senator McCain–to quote Desi’s remarks to Lucy–has some “’splainin’ to do.” It’s was unwise to admit economic weakness and then to reassert it again and again.
Sue Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 8:05 pmVisit Sue
I think the economy is a catch 22 situation for McCain. It goes all the way back to him originally voting against the Bush tax cut package. He will be hammered on that point alone in the general election as he attempts to paint the Democrats as tax and spend. Given the deficit, he will have difficulty on the spending side too. The one strong point he has going for him is his adversion to earmarks. At least he has never waivered on that issue but it is one that I am not certain will resonate with voters as many people like the perks their Representatives provide for their states.
Your gas prices and ours are running about the same and we do see backlash beginning here in the retail industry. Homes in our immediate area are selling within about a 6 month period and it seems they are maintaining the prices of 2007. There is nowhere near the construction there has been over the past 5 or so years here either.
Senator McCain will have to either select a Vice Presidential candidate who is strong on the economy (which may or may not be a selling point) or have leading economists at his side at every turn to provide the electorate comfort in that area. I do not know how he will handle a debate when questioned in depth on the current economic situation.
The larger problem is that I do not believe any of the three is really prepared or qualified to handle many of the difficulties facing the US today. While I agree that every President learns his craft while in office, at least most have entered into it with some actual executive experience. This is sorely lacking in our current election cycle.
~J~ Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 amVisit ~J~
The larger problem is that I do not believe any of the three is really prepared or qualified to handle many of the difficulties facing the US today. While I agree that every President learns his craft while in office, at least most have entered into it with some actual executive experience. This is sorely lacking in our current election cycle.
This is exactly the reason we have not traditionally elected Senators to the White House.
Hopefully, McCain will surround himself with the best economists available from either party if he wins. The job of the president is to oversee the government but to also have a basic knowledge of it.
There’s not much any of them can do about gas prices as those prices are set in the market and if we pay $114 per barrel of oil, then have to refine it and ship it, I see it as a problem of what we are willing to pay for oil as opposed to the price. If we cut back on consumption maybe we wouldn’t have to buy at such high prices and pay through the nose.
We have plenty of oil in our own country that we can get and do it environmentally safe, but the governors of Florida and California (two of the driving-est states) do not want an oil rig in their part of the oceans.
On the other hand, the people of Alaska would love for us to drill in ANWR but our short-sighted congress won’t allow that because they think we’ll hurt the caribou. The caribou have plenty of tundra to roam even if we do drill and do it environmentally safely.
Regarding McCain’s temper: we have had presidents in the not distant past who have had terrible tempers. Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon come to mind, but neither bombed the world because of their tempers. I doubt McCain would either. Someone would be there to remind him he’s just angry if his temper is that bad. Hold me like an animal in a cage for six years and my temper would be bad too, but not to the extent I cannot see reason at the same time.
Hillary Clinton is said to have thrown things at President
Clinton. Is she an alternative if we are talking about any of the topics? She and Obama are socialists who are trying to see who can be the best socialist available to the Democrats, who are a socialistic party.
We don’t have a good choice, but we do have a choice on some things. I don’t want a socialist country. If we want those jobs back it’s going to take capitalism and relieving ourselves of Chinese debt to do it.