GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
The ongoing Clinton-Obama feud makes it appear that Democrats are going to throw the Presidency away and all McCain needs to do is show up looking ready.
However we can’t just rely on Democrats to self-destruct. What if somehow Democrats patch things up? Or what if a recession hurts McCain more than Democrat feuding helps him?
We need to be prepared for a tough campaign.
I’ve noticed a few areas where McCain has weaknesses.
Conservatives aren’t enthusiastically behind him. Now almost all Conservatives will vote for McCain out of anger towards Hillary or Barack. That isn’t enough. In 2004 Democrats were united by hatred of Bush but few of them liked Kerry. It’s harder to win when your base doesn’t really like you.
McCain needs to work to unify social conservatives and economic conservatives. He can do that without becoming just another Republican. He can do that without phony pandering.
McCain is vulnerable to being tied to Bush. He needs to reinforce his appeal to moderate and independent voters so that doesn’t happen. To do that he needs to boldly lead on “Democrat favored issues” like Healthcare and the Economy.
On Healthcare he needs to show the difference between where he stands and where the Democrats stand. His theme should be
Finally McCain is vulnerable on his past strong support for the War in Iraq. He needs to keep a pro-victory but not pro-war tone on Iraq. His theme should be:
McCain needs to position himself for the general election. If he runs as a candidate to unite conservatives and independents he’ll win in 2008. If he leaves either group out of the coalition we could suffer a defeat that puts Republicans out of power for more than just this election.
March 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
McCain is most vulnerable to his own head exploding from anger during a debate with Obama or Hillary.
March 13th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
If Obama is the Dem. candidate, McCain cannot simply talk about what to do from here on out. Obama repeatedly hammers Clinton about her “judgment” in voting to authorize the use of force. He will do so against McCain as well. To defend against that charge McCain needs to articulate, like he did at the 2004 R-Convention, why it was right to invade in the first place (i.e., the sanctions against Iraq were coming to an end, due to Saddam bribing our “allies” (remember Oil-for-Food), Saddam was trying to get WMD before sanctions were lifted, had the capability to start making them and was going to get WMD when the sanctions were lifted, and war was inevitable.)
March 13th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Terry Obama hammers Hillary because he’s in a primary dominated by the far left.
Most voters supported the war in Iraq at the beginning. If Obama questions McCain’s judgment he’s question 65% of American’s judgment. The only politicians who opposed Iraq from the beginning are politicians who are pacifists who opposed every war.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I agree with Terry on this one. Part of the reason we are in this political mess is that those on our side tried to appeal to Moderates by saying ‘it does not matter if our cause is just as long as we win the war.’ This makes no sence. The price of war is high. Sorry if I sound like a Hawk, but we need to defend our Pro-War position because we were morally correct. Our country paid the price for freedom and democracy not just to be Pro-Victory for the sake of it. Our cause was just and we should be proud instead of trying the soften it just to win over Moderates.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Given the surge in support for the war, McCain has some flexibility here.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9016.html
I still think it’s a mistake for him to parrot Bush talking points or dwell on what most people believe were mistakes.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Agreed, Doug F. McCain needs to respond something like, “if you had good judgment you wouldn’t be rushing to run the troops out of Iraq. If you had good judgment you would have joined me in calling for the surge. But you didn’t. I was out there alone pushing for the surge and I got hammered for it. But I stood up and finally I brought the administration and Republicans and Democrats around, and the country is better for it. I led, Barack, and you followed. And we all know the reason you opposed going after Saddam in the first place is that your instincts are on the Code Pink left. You’re anti-war. I’m pro-victory.”
March 13th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I wish Republicans would start framing the withdrawal deadline debates and all that as ‘Democrats running the troops out of Iraq” vs. “Republicans supporting the troops while they’re doing the job and welcoming them home when they’ve done it.”
March 14th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
#7 That will work for idiots. In reality, everyone knows the issue is much more complex than that. What about the people who wonder exactly what “the job” is and why it keeps changing or why it seems interminable?