Conservative Pulse » John McCain

Posted on 05.16.08 by Stephen Covington @ 4:21 pm

We’ve heard a lot about Ron Paul in the last year…huge rallies, fanatical supporters, oddly place highway banners. Paul has run as a Republican in the primaries, and has so far not given a clear indication as to how, or whether, he will run in the general election.

A candidate is now vying for the Libertarian Party nomination, and it’s not Paul. Bob Barr, an ex-GOPer and former Congressman from Georgia, has announced that he is seeking top billing by the LP. This is obviously a source of consternation for the McCain camp - it means further vote siphoning, another alternative, and a potential headache should Barr attempt to split the GOP on issues ranging from the Iraq War to McCain’s record on campaign finance reform.

More importantly, what does it mean for Ron Paul?

Paul depends on attention from Libertarians and sympathetic elements of the Republican Party to make his splash. If he eventually decides to run as an Independent, this will be at least somewhat of a diversion from his efforts. After all the hype, could this represent the slow sputtering out of the Paul campaign?

Drudge Report Starts a McCain Myth

Posted on 05.07.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 2:26 pm

The media is trying to build some sort of myth about unhappy Republican voters based on yesterday’s primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. In each contest, presumtive nominee John McCain won 3 out of 4 votes that were cast… with the remainder split up among Mick Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Alan Keyes.

The Drudge Report announced the following headline last night…

26% OF REPUBLICAN VOTERS AGAINST MCCAIN IN NORTH CAROLINA…
22% GO AGAINST MCCAIN IN INDIANA…

Then the popular Politics1.com picked up on the numbers…

Here is a set of Tuesday election numbers you’re not hearing discussed, but which seem significant. John McCain won the NC primary with 74% — meaning that 26% of North Carolina Republicans showed up at the polls and voted against McCain. In Indiana, 22% of Republicans voted against McCain in the primary. Looks like McCain still has a ways to go to shore up his base for November.

What do those figures mean? Is a fifth or more of the party unhappy with McCain as the nominee? Could this mean disaster come November?

No. It’s a media myth.

These are normal results. Once the nominee has been selected, turnout in primaries drops like a rock. The people who do turn out tend to be uphappy with the establishment and eager to cast a protest vote.

On May 23, 2000 the Idaho Republican primary gave only 73% of the vote to George W. Bush, 19% voted for Alan Keyes, and 7% voted for None of the Above. Similar results in Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakotka, and other late primary states.

These results are completely in line with history and suggest absolutely nothing about John McCain’s ability to unite Republicans.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and John McCain
Comments: 4 Comments

McCain campaign has $11.6 million

Posted on 04.20.08 by Stephen Covington @ 10:53 pm

Arizona Senator John McCain filed a report today showing that his campaign has $11.6 million in the bank. This is still significantly less than Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have been locked in an extremely competitive primary. There has been some discussion about McCain accepting public funds, a step which might prevent having to deal with quite so many of the heavily-demonized donors and lobbyists and also jive with McCain’s preference towards campaign finance reform. However, it may also rankle free-market conservatives who constitute a significant portion of the base. McCain may have a decent chance of selling conservatives on the idea if he starts early.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and John McCain
Comments: 1 Comment

Romney now campaigning for McCain

Posted on 04.11.08 by Stephen Covington @ 2:34 am

GOP nominee-apparent John McCain has picked up his former rival, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, as an apparent ally. Romney, who is helping McCain campaign for the top spot, has been traveling with and raising money for the Arizona senator. The effort puts Romney in a strategically favorable position: he is a competitive candidate for the vice-presidency, and even if McCain loses, Romney has still kept up a decent amount of momentum for a second shot in 2012. In a sense, he’s almost running against Huckabee, who is essentially doing the same thing, but with a different flavor.

Although Romney won’t bring in any specific states - Massachusetts is widely expected to vote solidly Democrat, and Utah will unerringly vote Republican - he might be instrumental in getting out the base of conservative voters who may still be distrustful of McCain in swing states like Florida and Ohio. Romney can also bring money, already having pledged to deliver $15 million, and may be able to supply more as the campaign heats up.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and John McCain and Uncategorized
Comments: 1 Comment

McCain keeps things civil

Posted on 02.27.08 by Stephen Covington @ 8:23 am

During a recent McCain stop in Cincinnati, pre-show speaker Bill Cunningham, a nationally syndicated talkshow host, repeatedly pointed out that “Hussein” is Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s middle name. McCain later denounced Cunningham’s statements, saying that he wanted to keep the discourse focused on the issues.

“A comment disparaging of Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is totally inappropriate. I have never done that in any of my campaigns,” the Arizona senator told reporters after the rally.

“And I absolutely repudiate such comments and, again, I will take responsibility,” he said, describing the two Democrats as “honorable Americans.”

One would think that Cunningham would have learned his lesson. But no…

“He just threw me under the bus to the national media. I’ve had it with McCain,” he said. “I want Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States.”

It seems that Cunningham is less hurt by having been “thrown under the bus,” and more stung by the fact that he was taken to task for his childish and irrelevant comments, which too often go overlooked by candidates. McCain himself has had experience with such mistakes, such as his 1998 public comment about Chelsea Clinton, which he quickly found himself apologizing for.

It’s refreshing to see a candidate who, so far at least, has shown a commitment to keeping an issues-focused public debate, and not wandering off onto underhanded detours. Hopefully Bill “Clever Pig” Cunningham will eventually see the light, as well.

Filed under: Barack Obama and John McCain and Talk Radio
Comments: 2 Comments

Meet the McCain Blogette…

Posted on 02.19.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 10:00 pm

Meghan McCain graduated in May of 2007 from Columbia University with a major in Art History. Her previous job experiences include working at “Saturday Night Live” and “Newsweek”.

Now, the 24 year-old daughter of Senator John McCain maintains her own blog along with two of her friends. It’s an entertaining read that gives you a real backstage feeling.

Together they post reports and photos (lots of photos) from the campaign trail. Not idea if Miss McCain is dating anyone at the moment, but she’s a very cute girl and it would be easy to imagine her at the center of a big White House wedding someday. For now, we’ll just have to settle for pictures of cold pizza and campaign signs.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and John McCain
Comments: None

H.W. endorses McCain

Posted on 02.18.08 by Stephen Covington @ 7:30 pm

Former President George H.W. Bush, father of current president George W. Bush, has endorsed McCain, saying that he is “a remarkable patriot” and dismissing concerns about his conservative credentials.

Asked about conservative unease with McCain, the 41st president read from the diaries of former President Ronald Reagan, who was also assailed by the Right during his presidency for being “a turncoat.” Bush dismissed conservative criticism of McCain as “an unfair attack,” and said the Arizona senator has “a sound conservative record but not above reaching out to the other side,”

This, along with the earlier announcement of Nancy Reagan’s tacit support, Jeb Bush’s direct endorsement and even an endorsement by McCain’s former competitor, Mitt Romney, sends a strong message that the conservative establishment is rallying around McCain to defeat whoever might emerge as the challenger for the Democrats.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee remains as the only serious challenge to McCain, although so far the rhetoric between the two has been amicable. Huckabee is widely considered to be “running for vice-president” - staying on good terms with McCain, while using the opportunity to show that he can campaign strongly and draw in socially conservative voters.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and John McCain and Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney
Comments: 7 Comments

Romney’s Endorsement Seals the Republican Nomination for John McCain

Posted on 02.14.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 6:54 pm

Mitt Romney will today announce that he’s throwing his endorsement and support behind Senator John McCain to be the next Republican nominee for President. This isn’t much of a surprise, ever since Romney suspended his campaign at the CPAC meeting it’s been expected he would throw in behind McCain. But now that it’s actually happened, the pressure on Mike Huckabee to get out of the race will become overwhelming.

I would expect Huckabee to abandon his campaign within days. Certainly following next Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary.

By most recent counts, John McCain has secured 827 of the 1,191 delegates he needs to lock the Republican nomination. Huckabee has been insisting that he will continue on until one candidate has the delegates needed to make it official.

By dropping out, Romney is releasing his delegates and asking them to now support Senator McCain. Not every one of them will do it, but most probably will. Romney’s 286 delegates will push McCain to the verge of the official 1,191 he needs.

Hopefully Huckabee sees the writing on the wall and pulls out soon, he can use his delegates to put McCain over the top and complete the GOP’s unification behind the nominee.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and John McCain and Mitt Romney
Comments: 4 Comments

McCain, Obama Sweep Potomac Primaries

Posted on 02.13.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 12:09 am

The polls have just closed in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. With only exit polls and a few scattered early results in, it looks clear that Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will sweep their respective contests.

Obama, in particular, has built some very big wins over Hillary Clinton tonight. Not a surprise in D.C. and Maryland… but the Virginia contest is one that Hillary’s camp had hoped would be a little bit closer. This pads Obama’s slim delegate lead by a little bit.

John McCain appears to have taken all three of tonight’s contests, though Mike Huckabee gave him a tough run for his money in Virginia. We’ll have to watch the results and see how things finally break out.

Filed under: Barack Obama and Campaign 2008 and Election Results and John McCain
Comments: 5 Comments

Ron Paul Will Not Support McCain

Posted on 02.12.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 4:24 am

Well, so much for party unity. Long-shot libertarian Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has stated that he will not back John McCain if he is the Republican nominee this year.

“I can not support anybody with the foreign policy he advocates, you know, perpetual war. That is just so disturbing to me,” Paul said. “I think it’s un-American, un-Constitutional, immoral, and not Republican.”

At the same time, however, he has also ruled out running as a third party candidate himself. He’s instead focusing on a tough re-election battle against a local city councilman who is running on a platform that is more in-line with the mainstream of the Republican Party. If Ron Paul is defeated in that primary, then all bets are probably off and we could see him going after the Libertarian nomination or something along those lines.

Either way, it appears that there will not be a unanimous vote at the Republican National Convention this September. Ron Paul has accumulated at least 25 delegates, and that number will at least double before all is said and done.

Filed under: Campaign 2008 and Endorsements and John McCain and Ron Paul
Comments: 9 Comments