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McCain's Strengths

Submitted by Daniel Ruwe on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 20:04
in

Crossposted at Right Minds

The primary season ends tonight. As I write this, no one knows whether Hillary Clinton will concede or not—given her record, it seems reasonable to assume that she will not. But it is certain that Barack Obama will be the Democrat nominee. John McCain now knows who he will run against.
 
McCain hasn’t run much of a campaign thus far—since winning the nomination, he has preferred to let the two remaining Democrats slug it out (a safe strategy). Now he knows who his opponent is, and must start his general election campaign. Being the first candidate to win the nomination has disadvantages (the Democrats got huge amounts of media coverage, while McCain was mostly ignored), but there is at least one definite advantage—there is ample opportunity for him to set the tone of the first part of the election.
 
McCain must seize this chance. In a bad year for Republicans, he must attempt to steer the election towards the issues on which he is strongest. In an unpredictable election year, key issues may change, but there are two that McCain must focus on: Iraq and Obama’s inexperience.
 
Many things will change by November. The economy could improve or move into a recession, gas prices could go up or down, and the situation in Iraq could worsen. One thing will stay the same—Barack Obama will be perhaps the most inexperienced many ever to make a serious run for President. It is possible to base a whole campaign around that fact—and McCain should.
 
It is almost impossible to write about Barack Obama’s Senate career—there’s just nothing there. Obama’s biggest legislative compliment was the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. While this bill is a good and much-needed bill, which was hardly Obama’s brainchild, as Republican Tom Coburn was the bill’s primary sponsor. With the exception of this bill, Obama has done almost nothing of importance in the Senate.
 
He has been a Senator for three years—and definitely not made the most of them. Were it not for his race and his silver tongue, he would be considered nothing more than a run-of-the-mill, inexperienced Senator.
 
Whatever one’s feelings about Senator McCain, it is impossible to deny his experience. He has served in the U.S. government over thirty years. He has made some mistakes during his tenure in the Senate—the Keating Five affair springs to mind, as does the McCain-Kennedy act. But he does know Washington, and he knows the world in which we live—indeed, as one of the key movers of the most powerful nation in the world, he has had a hand in shaping it. Obama, in contrast, is three years removed from a career in the Illinois State Senate, which, while no doubt an honorable post, is not quite suitable for training the leader of the free world.
 
The other issue which McCain must focus on is Iraq. A year ago, the situation in Iraq looked very, very grim. Some on the right believed that a quick withdrawal was the only legitimate option—and almost everyone on the left thought so. Then came the surge. Now, Baghdad has been pacified, violence in the Anbar Providence is down, and U.S. combat deaths at at the lowest level since the war began. Clearly, the surge worked.
 
Unfortunately for Obama, he never thought it would. On January 30th of last year, he introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act, which was a direct response to President Bush’s surge. Obama displayed a clearly limited understanding of Middle Eastern politics when he declared that the bill was a “phased redeployment that can pressure the Iraqis to finally reach a political settlement and reduce the violence,” even though it is fairly obvious to most people that withdrawing troops isn’t the best way to apply pressure. Obama still believes the surge a failure. Ever since the beginning of the surge, Obama has been dead wrong on Iraq.
 
Americans are tired of the war, but they still want victory in Iraq. McCain can claim, truthfully, that he knows how to provide it. The best Obama can do is to outline a plan for retreat. If the situation in Iraq continues to get better, the war will give McCain the strongest possible issue (national security) with which to campaign against Obama. (If the situation in Iraq deteriorates, then McCain is finished. He has to try to make Iraq the campaign’s key issue).
 
When the 2008 presidential campaign started last year, things looked bleak for the GOP in general, and McCain in particular. But now the Democrats have chosen to nominate the most inexperienced (and one the most liberal) candidates in history, and McCain’s Iraq strategy is working well. Given the utter incompetence displayed recently by the GOP, McCain could not hope for a better situation going into the general campaign.

 

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Comments

"Friends, I may not be very

Submitted by Lisa on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 20:23.

"Friends, I may not be very eloquent. I may not have an Ivy-League education. I may not speak to thronging masses in football stadiums. But friends, I give you my word as an American that I love this country and I've spent my life trying to make her a better place - a safer place - for ourselves and our children. And I hope to continue to do that as President of the United States."

That's it. That's all he has to do. If he can just keep fudging the issues so that no one knows exactly where to pin him down, and keep up the kind of rhetoric above, he can watch the Democrats defeat themselves.

Well, there you have it.

Submitted by davidfarrar on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 20:29.

McCain is going to spend much of his time pandering to the left picking up the Independent vote. He won't waste too much time with the right of his party because where the hell else are they going to go? Besides, why should he spend time shoring up his right flank when Obama seems perfectly capable of doing that for him for free?

From now until election day you can expect to hear this kind of reframe coming from the McCain camp.

For those of us who believe controlling government growth and spending crucial to the survival of this Republic, all we can do now is support our Congressional conservative candidates, our state and local conservative candidates, pass on the presidential race, and party-build for 2012.

ex animo

davidfarrar

I can't vote for McCain. I

Submitted by Lisa on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 20:40.

I can't vote for McCain. I just can't do it. Of course, my state will go to McCain by about a 35 point margin.

I agree, Lisa.

Submitted by davidfarrar on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 21:06.

It's a shame, but a democracy depends on a responsible polis. Supporting a presidential candidate simply because he or she is the nearest thing on the ballot who shares your beliefs, is not a responsible thing to do if you care greatly about the direction your Republic is headed.

From now until election time the McCain people and his supporters are going to try and put forth the proposition that supporting the Republican candidate is the responsible thing to do, such is not the case. They will also spare us no peace in telling us four years of Obama will destroy this nation. Again, not true. This is simple fear-mongering, the oldest political trick in the book. You have to vote for me because of what the other candidate will do if you fail to vote for me.

Finally, this Republic needs to understand it is loosing it's sacred right of self-government, a government by the consent of the governed when it fails to understand the implications of a government that can hide our increasing tax burden by simply by printing money without the people's consent.  If you can do that, if you can print money without the peoples' consent, you are in fact, an imperial government ...a fascist state.

ex animo

davidfarrar

Okay David'I have a Ron Paul Facial Tattoo' Farrar

Submitted by Czarmangis (not verified) on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 21:19.

I think we all finally know Exactly where you are coming from, Friend. Now that we all know that you are fired up by the hot-hot heat of Ron ' ittery Meerkat' Paul, perhaps you could stop taking a piss on the GOP candidate every chance you get. We get it, seriously.

Johnny Mack isn't the perfect Republican candidate, but he is sure as hell good enough to clobber the two clowns the Moonbats have chosen to hoist up to fight him.

I began as a Fred head, then accepted Rudy, then Romney and now....well, Ole John suits me just fine at this juncture. I was just hoping that whoever the nominee, that Condoleezza Rice would have been chosen as VP.

 

Czar, Condi would be on

Submitted by Lisa on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 21:24.

Czar, Condi would be on anybody's short list excepting she's been emphatic that she doesn't want any part of the next administration...she wants to return to education reform.

Don't be surprised if Condi pops up in the End

Submitted by section9 on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 21:36.

The VP needs to be President. That will be one consideration that will be in her favor. She has enemies on the right and left who forget that. 

Which is perfect

Submitted by Czarmangis (not verified) on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 01:43.

People have accepted that line and when she is convinced to serve her country as VP, doing so against her will will be a HUGE Plus for the GOP ticket.

<Condi! If you're reading this, Please respond to my Emails! I just want to talk

I am not a Paul supporter

Submitted by davidfarrar on Tue, 06/03/2008 - 22:57.

As I have stated, Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who has actually called for a direct and complete surrender in Iraq, an insane policy. But his economic policies do serve as a wake-up call to all fiscal conservatives who care about the continued economic viability of our Republic.

In terms of a fiscal conservatives, neither Obama nor McCain are going to control government growth and spending, largely because neither can muster the political will to accomplish the task, even if they saw the danger.

 I am sorry if you don't like my message. I didn't deal the deck, but we still have to  play the hand. The only honorable course to follow, given the hand, is to pass. This is how democracy works.  It's called leadership.

But I am always amused at how quickly McCain supporters resort to infantile name-calling when they can't defend their own political commitment to him. It kind of makes me wonder...

ex animo

davidfarrar

-moved-

Submitted by Czarmangis (not verified) on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 01:42.

-deleted-