Not so fast, John McCain
Daniel J. Williams
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Opinion
A year ago, few political observers would have constructed the American presidential race as it stands now. Hillary Clinton, assumed by many the inevitable Democratic nominee for whom the primaries were but a formality, is now trying to stop the Obama wave from washing away her entitled destiny of power.
Fred Thompson waited too long; when his campaign finally sputtered to life, it lacked a candidate with any fire.
Rudy Giuliani's political star rose out of fallen towers and lingered briefly over the political landscape, yet dimmed and faded among brighter lights.
Mitt Romney's Conservatism was thoughtful but nascent. And despite an efficient campaign and enormous war chest, he fell victim to the delegate count and the withering attacks of his rivals.
And John McCain - the left-leaning moderate whose candidacy imploded just last summer from debt, staff shakeups and political fire from conservatives - is now the GOP front runner.
For Republicans, the conventional political wisdom is to unite, to put differences aside and open wide the doors of our big tent and keep a Democrat out of the White House. This "wisdom" sounds from the mouths of those typically interested in little more than keeping themselves ensconced in their positions of influence - notables such as Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard, William Kristol of Fox News and The New York Times and Newt Gingrich, who recently said conservatives "need to shrug off McCain" and unite behind the party's best chance to beat Clinton.
Perhaps McCain has reincarnated himself as a different lawmaker than the one who teamed with Ted Kennedy last summer to support amnesty (literally) for illegal aliens. Maybe it was a different Arizona senator who was one of only two Republicans to vote against President Bush's tax cuts. And perhaps the McCain in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill of 2002, which codified unconstitutional suppression of free speech, refers to another John McCain. But I seriously doubt it.
Fred Thompson waited too long; when his campaign finally sputtered to life, it lacked a candidate with any fire.
Rudy Giuliani's political star rose out of fallen towers and lingered briefly over the political landscape, yet dimmed and faded among brighter lights.
Mitt Romney's Conservatism was thoughtful but nascent. And despite an efficient campaign and enormous war chest, he fell victim to the delegate count and the withering attacks of his rivals.
And John McCain - the left-leaning moderate whose candidacy imploded just last summer from debt, staff shakeups and political fire from conservatives - is now the GOP front runner.
For Republicans, the conventional political wisdom is to unite, to put differences aside and open wide the doors of our big tent and keep a Democrat out of the White House. This "wisdom" sounds from the mouths of those typically interested in little more than keeping themselves ensconced in their positions of influence - notables such as Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard, William Kristol of Fox News and The New York Times and Newt Gingrich, who recently said conservatives "need to shrug off McCain" and unite behind the party's best chance to beat Clinton.
Perhaps McCain has reincarnated himself as a different lawmaker than the one who teamed with Ted Kennedy last summer to support amnesty (literally) for illegal aliens. Maybe it was a different Arizona senator who was one of only two Republicans to vote against President Bush's tax cuts. And perhaps the McCain in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill of 2002, which codified unconstitutional suppression of free speech, refers to another John McCain. But I seriously doubt it.
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Arlene Williams
posted 2/15/08 @ 11:38 AM EST
Insightful! Extremely well thought out and written. What Daniel has expressed is right on.
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