Jonathan Martin has some very interesting speculation about some possibly forthcoming endorsements for the Maverick and the Mayor:
Showing at McCain’s swank shindig Wednesday at the Mandarin Oriental was Sen. Tom Coburn. Like McCain an outspoken critic of pork-barrel spending, the Okie from Muskogee also has considerable street cred with social conservatives. If he were to support his fellow maverick, Coburn, an obstetrician and vocal anti-abortion advocate, would probably become McCain’s top surrogate and validator with the pro-life community.
A Coburn aide told me that the senator is officially undecided but has great respect for Sen. McCain.
Keep an eye on this one.
Last night, at the gracious home of Bush Pioneer Peter Terpeluk in Chevy Chase, the big cameo for Rudy was made by Sen. Arlen Specter.
While hardly beloved like Coburn in the conservative movement (paging Mr. Toomey, paging Mr. Toomey), Specter would also bring assets to Rudy’s campaign. First off, he’s been in the Senate for over a quarter-century and would thus offer Rudy instant Beltway cred. While Hizzoner has picked up some support in the House, he has only a lone freshman in the upper chamber currently backing his campaign. Concurrently, getting Specter on board could help with fundraising. A senior member of the Appropriations Committee, the Pennsylvanian has the sort of deep K St contacts that enabled him to raise over $20 Million for his hard-fought 2004 reelection campaign. Lastly, Specter could also help in his hometown of Philadelphia. Giuliani’s team has been working the Keystone State hard and is confident that they could play there in a general election. Getting Specter early could help tap even more Philly money than Hizzoner already has access to.
The downside: Many true believers can’t stand Specter, wish he’d have lost to Toomey, never wanted him to be Judiciary Committee chairman and equate his name with moderate squishiness. In other words, he wouldn’t help Rudy’s case on the right.
Getting an endorsement from Sen. Coburn would certainly be a big boon to McCain’s efforts to woo the SoCons. Getting an endorsement from Specter would…give Rudy another notch up on the Endorsement Chart of Doom at least.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Damn, I really don’t want Specter’s endorsement for Rudy. Leads people to think Rudy is a wishy-washy moderate on everything, as Specter is. Rudy is very FAR to the right on economics and defense. They are at polar opposites of the GOP spectrum in that regard. And this is a constant source of confusion.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Endorsement Chart of Doom…lol
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Coburn’s a solid guy. Good get for McCain if true. Specter is….umm…well…better then Lincoln Chafee.
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:02 pm
What Matt said.
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I am a big believer in the big tent. If Giuliani gets Specter’s endorsement, so much the better for him.
Chafee never really stepped into the tent. He sat outside under the canopy with his back to the doorway and the people inside.
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Endorsement Chart of Doom,
That will be the next title…not really
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
The problem I have with Specter, isn’t really the same problem most Republicans have. I’m generally annoyed by his position of judicial and constitutional issues. It’s positively incoherent. Watch the Alito and Roberts hearings and you’ll see what I mean. I watched him assail the Congruence and Proportionality tests to both Alito and Roberts, on the basis that the court had just made it up out of whole cloth, ten minutes after he praised to high heaven Casey and its equally inane and arbitrary Undue Burden test. It was infuriating.
March 24th, 2007 at 1:03 am
I live in PA, and aside from how Specter is viewed nationally among Republicans in general, he’s rather popular in PA even after the Toomey matchup. He just announced he will run for a seventh term. Republicans in PA span from the conservative bible belt voters in the southern PA counties where I live to the more moderate suburban Philly voters to the industrial belt voters near Pittsburgh. A Specter endorsement in PA will definitely help Giuliani. Incidentally, my congressman, Todd Platts, himself somewhat of a maverick within the party, endorsed McCain today. McCain had campaigned for Platts in the ‘06 campaign. I’ve known Todd for several years, since his start as a state rep, and he is very well-liked and respected in the district.
March 24th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Second supporter to switch from Romney to Rudy this week:
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/032407/loc_endorse001.shtml
Before long, we’ll need a graphic to account for this phenomenon.
March 24th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Jake,
I think that is a good point. We tend to think of these endorsements as the effect they will have on the national blogosphere or the evening news. Really we should consider each endorsement and what it means with in the endorser’s sphere of influence.
March 26th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
[...] Will Coburn Favor in ‘08? So far, no word. However the Race 4 2008 has the Politico speculating about him possibly favoring McCain soon, and has him showing at a [...]