Dean Barnett: Tack right left, McCain!
posted at 2:59 pm on February 6, 2008 by Allahpundit
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“Will McCain make nice to the right?” wonders the Journal. “What for?” counters Barnett. No one this side of Victor Davis Hanson believes him when he says he gets it now on, say, immigration (which, incidentally, he doesn’t). Hence the folly of offering him tips on how to win over conservatives at CPAC. He can’t and won’t, so he might as well start positioning himself for the general by easing away now from his Reagan revolution charade and inching back towards the middle. Let Maverick be Maverick:
When a candidate gets the nomination, he’s supposed to tack to the middle. Insisting that McCain make a mad dash to the right to soothe bruised feelings of the past is insane. If McCain follows that path, he’ll turn his underdog campaign into a hopeless one. It may pain conservatives to admit this, but McCain’s positions on water-boarding and global warming are more popular than those held by the Republican mainstream. Unless we want McCain to diminish his chances at victory, we should be encouraging him further into the middle.
Also, it’s not like McCain can find an olive branch long enough to appease his more vehement critics. The estimable Victor Davis Hanson came to McCain’s defense yesterday, arguing, “The McCain animus apparently transcends ideology. He has admitted his mistakes on immigration, and would not raise taxes, while his ACU ratings are good, and his ADA/ACLU scores are lousy.”
As usual, Hanson’s analysis is spot on. McCain’s critics on the right don’t trust him. There’s nothing that McCain can say or do in the next nine months that will make them trust him. A John McCain guarantee not to raise taxes will always be greeted with derisive grins in many corners. And there’s nothing the senator can do to change that dynamic.
Exit question: How’s McCain supposed to do this when Dean’s guy and Huckabee haven’t folded their tents yet? If he reverts to form too soon, he risks either taking his boot off of their necks or building up so much ill will among conservatives on his way to the convention that he fatally wounds himself in terms of Republican turnout in the general.
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McCain doesn’t need instructions on how to be a moderate…..
he invented the term.
Mcguyver on February 6, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Expect a booing concert at CPAC.
Mcguyver on February 6, 2008 at 3:03 PM
It’s curious that the potential Republican nominee ever has to tack “right.” Curious and distressing.
geckomon on February 6, 2008 at 3:03 PM
“I’ll go to the goddamned Center if they want me to go to the goddamned Center.”
Mr. Bingley on February 6, 2008 at 3:03 PM
What, so he wants Her Thighness to be the Center Right choice?
Maybe we should focus on less depressing topics like the Congressional elections.
Iblis on February 6, 2008 at 3:04 PM
Sen. Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative senators in the senate, who vehemently opposed the amnesty bill, believes McCain when he says that he will secure the border.
Complete7 on February 6, 2008 at 3:05 PM
He’ll ’secure’ the border by effectively eliminating it.
Mr. Bingley on February 6, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Too bad I don’t. Duncan Hunter endorsed Huckabee. I liked Duncan, but I don’t trust Huckabee.
amerpundit on February 6, 2008 at 3:08 PM
Which will further marginalize CPAC.
bnelson44 on February 6, 2008 at 3:08 PM
He doesn’t. Not yet anyway.
bnelson44 on February 6, 2008 at 3:09 PM
Have fun paying that 50 cent per gallon gas tax he proposed.
“Reagan, Reagan, Reagan” “Reagan Revolution” “Foot soldier in the Reagan….” “Reagan economics…”
That, no doubt, is the lip service we are going to get from that snake in the grass John McCain.
1854—2008 Rest in Peace GOP.
CABE on February 6, 2008 at 3:10 PM
I’m sure McCain will be able to fix that with legislation. Perhaps a ban against booing a specific federal candidate within 60 days of an election.
amerpundit on February 6, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Is CPAC televised anywhere? (C-span i.e.?)
stenwin77 on February 6, 2008 at 3:10 PM
HAR!
RushBaby on February 6, 2008 at 3:11 PM
If he gets enough independents, he doesn’t need us. Sad, but true. If Hill is the nominee, Mac will rule the middle. He’ll have a tougher go with Obama, which is so very counter-intuitive given that Hill is a moderate and Obama is a socialist, but there ya go.
RW Wacko on February 6, 2008 at 3:12 PM
He’ll secure the border all right.
But…he sees the people coming across it as a seperate matter.
Their entrance to the US will be facilitated and accelerated.
pseudonominus on February 6, 2008 at 3:13 PM
ROFL
It will take every fiber of his self control to not blow a gasket at CPAC. With clenched teeth and barely controlled rage, he says, “my friends”.
BacaDog on February 6, 2008 at 3:14 PM
McCain needs to enlist Thompson as his VP right away. That would at least be a balanced ticket. Huck’s credibiity amongst everyone apart from evangelicals is too low, and Romney has ruled out the possibility. Huck should be bought off with Secretary of Agriculture or something – he would be a turn off to independents as VP.
Pax americana on February 6, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Hah! Yeah, I hate how he and Pat Buchanan always say “my friends” every two seconds.
RW Wacko on February 6, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Tacking right on immigration won’t just help him with the base, it’ll help him win the effing election. What other issues does he have to distinguish himself from the Dems in the general (besides his strong support for the war, which is sadly a wash for him at best)?
Yeah, I know immigration turned out to be a “paper tiger” in the primary, for a number of reasons. But a strong stand on immigration can help him with a lot of people who weren’t gonna vote in a republican primary.
BuzzCrutcher on February 6, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Yeah, Vietnam logic: We had to destroy the party in order to save the party.
It’ll be a classic.
Ali-Bubba on February 6, 2008 at 3:18 PM
What do you mean, these are the same thing.
“The Middle” is to the right of McCain anyhow. So moving to the middle or moving to the right, they’re the same direction.
gekkobear on February 6, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Oh that’s right it’s already done… it’s called McCain/Feingold……
My bad.
Mcguyver on February 6, 2008 at 3:24 PM
Pucker up you McShamnesty shills. There is plenty of conservative butts to go around.
csdeven on February 6, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Talk is cheap and even if he does “say” he will be stronger on immigration, there is no proof to believe him. Mav=Dole part deu, which equates to a “has been and wash up” and maybe even out of congress come next go around.
TOPV on February 6, 2008 at 3:25 PM
It should be interesting. When the media turns on McCain will he realize that he has been had and come back to conservatives? Probably to some extent he will, but he will bang the gong for global warming and waterboarding, and this and that he’ll try and have it both ways getting neither…
Theworldisnotenough on February 6, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Is a ‘draft Fred at the convention’ thing to far fetched? It would seem that a lot of coservatives are really, really disillusoned with Juanito and his crappy RINO ways. How come they can’t get the vote out in the primaries for Willard? And I seriously wonder if Fred can be drafted, whether he wants it or not? It’s just to ‘far out’ and late isn’t it.
countywolf on February 6, 2008 at 3:32 PM
You may be onto something there, Paxi. I’d sure as hell vote for McCain if I knew Thomspon was his Veep. After all, the Veep is only a heartbeat away from the Oval Office and McCain, who is 72 years old, could assume room temperature at any time (an hour after his inauguration would be ideal).
NemoParticularis on February 6, 2008 at 3:33 PM
Independants are, by definition, people who don’t know what to believe. And as soon as McCain has the Republican nomination sewn up, they will stop being told to believe ANYTHING about him.
Last Monday I overheard some of the dimwits “debating” whom they would vote for the next day. They were torn between either Obama or McCain, with no regard to – or, as near as I could tell, knowledge of – which political party either candidate belonged to.
Basically, the support of the soft and squishy middle portion of the electorate is solely a question of who has been on TV most often in the past week. And once the liberal media pulls the plug on McCain, his “hard-core moderate” supporters will instantly forget that he ever existed.
logis on February 6, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Thus we understand how snakes survive in the wild and in politics.
They’re livelihood depends on food they take from those most useful.
Minus narcissistic symbiosis snakes cannot exist.
Speakup on February 6, 2008 at 3:40 PM
I seriously want to know what that golf ball-sized thing is on the left side of his face. Why is the media ignoring it? Why are they almost always shooting his pic from the right?
PoliticallyIncorrectSandy on February 6, 2008 at 3:41 PM
My guess is that McCain will go evangical over the conservative base. I have twenty bucks that says McCain in the end starts to attack the conservatives to woo the left and independents.
jukin on February 6, 2008 at 3:43 PM
CSPAN usually carries the major speeches and some of the roundtables, I think. And last year a lot of it surfaced on the web after the fact.
TX Mom on February 6, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Someone at CPAC tell the McCain people to make their VP selection NOW dont wait till the ocnvention !
Pick a conservative Southerner that will appeal to areas where McCain is weak and will also kill off the huckabeast.
Its in McCain’s best interest to move fast on this rather than wait !
William Amos on February 6, 2008 at 3:43 PM
It’s time for a third party or a write in campaign.
Steele/Bolton anyone? anyone?
PappaMac on February 6, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Excellent point. No need in crying over spilled milk. The base needs to START NOW. We have to mobilize and concentrate on promoting those conservatives for congress and the senate. That’s the only reprive we have if Hillary/Obama or McCain are elected. McCain may think he is God now, but he has to have the house and the senate to get his BS through.
kcd on February 6, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Already occured – Check!
SkinnerVic on February 6, 2008 at 3:46 PM
See, right there is where I apparently differ from Dean.
Clark1 on February 6, 2008 at 3:46 PM
A skin tumor, most likely.
Because they want to portray him in the best possible light. Not to worry. Once he has been officially nominated, the camera angle will change and ALL pics will be taken of the left side of his face in the least flattering light, accompanied by feature-length articles in all the MS print media rhetorically inquiring if the obviously malignant hyper-tumor has spread its icky tentacles into his already super-annuated brain.
NemoParticularis on February 6, 2008 at 3:47 PM
For conservatives, the only winning move is not to play.
doubleplusundead on February 6, 2008 at 3:48 PM
If you have a conservative Gov and a dim in the house or senate, start flooding your Gov’s office w/e-mails. Ask him to challenge the scoudrel Dim for their seat!
kcd on February 6, 2008 at 3:49 PM
I did my conservative duty by voting Romney yesterday. But it’s over people, get over it. We need to face reality and do our Republican duty now as Reagen did in 76 with Ford. It’s either Hill, Barry or McCain. I for one do not want to give our country over without a fight to a flaming socialist or a flaming liberal because I didn’t get my way. That’s childish.
misterspork on February 6, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Sorry, ¡McCain! is gonna have to earn my vote.
doubleplusundead on February 6, 2008 at 3:58 PM
Exactly right.
HebrewToYou on February 6, 2008 at 3:59 PM
That link was friggin’ hilarious! Haha…
Nineball on February 6, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Agreed. He ought to take Fred. Huck can be bought off with some appropriate department like Secretary of Agriculture or Human and Health services.
Pax americana on February 6, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Tom Coburn is one of my Senators and I’ve always supported him but not this time and never again. McCain went way off the reservation after his loss in 2000. In 2004 he tried to jump parties and link up with Hanoi John Kerry. He’s been the Democrats fan boy on socialist bill after bill after bill and still people are acting like he is a conservative???????? The Democrats run him out front on all the stuff too nasty for even them and he laps it up like the new punk in the prison yard. You all do realize that your nominee is the one chosen for you by the liberal media and funded by George Soros don’t you? You all do realize he doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning don’t you? That’s why every liberal media source in the country endorsed him.
The GOP is dead, infiltrated and infested by undercover Democrats and folks who think government should represent corporations not citizens. It’s time for a new party.
Buzzy on February 6, 2008 at 4:04 PM
How insulting is this little comment. As if Juan McCain was right and the conservatives are petulant little children who have “bruised” feelings. I, for one, wouldn’t describe the rift between the McCain faction of the GOP and the conservative faction as “bruised feelings.” McCain and the RINOs won, the party is in ashes. All that needs to happen now is sit back, vote Democrat, and endure four years of utter misery……
All because McCain was able to build a coalition of liberals to counter the conservative influence.
highhopes on February 6, 2008 at 4:08 PM
I like your style highhopes …… and you aren’t alone in that assessment.
David in ATL on February 6, 2008 at 4:17 PM
I don’t know much about Steele but he has been cheerleading for McCain recently on Fox News.
FloatingRock on February 6, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Wrong. If he doesn’t pick HuckaBigot, he will know McLiar lied to him and he will withdrawal and all his support goes to Mitt.
Huck is a disgusting vile gibot and is only in this for his own power. The minute he realizes what the rest of us already know, it’ll be too late and HuckaFool will have given the presidency to the dems.
csdeven on February 6, 2008 at 4:21 PM
If McCain invokes Reagan at CPAC I think it will make people puke. He should not do that as we know it is a pander and an insult to our intelligence. That is what I hate about him most other than his views, is that he thinks he can bullshit us.
echosyst on February 6, 2008 at 4:35 PM
Of course, that would involve a move to the right.
steveegg on February 6, 2008 at 4:49 PM
McCain seriously thought about publicly taking on Rush back in 2000.
I am praying he uses CPAC as a Sister Souljah moment.
It would just make his divorce with conservatism official.
It might wake up the almost half of you who will pull the lever for him in November as to who he really is.
Valiant on February 6, 2008 at 5:06 PM
He’s arguably done that already.
In any case, Dean’s basic point is correct: Republicans like myself are not for the wooing. Whatever McCain says, or doesn’t say, is of no consequence to us. We don’t trust him, and we’re not going to start trusting him in the next few months.
So McCain doesn’t need to worry about voters like me. He needs to worry about how he’ll replace voters like me. And since our replacements will be independents or Democrats, he should indeed tact to the left. (Which is where he wants to go anyway.)
Of course, that old codger will be up against Obama, so it doesn’t really matter what he does. The American people will never pick old and crabby over young and hopeful.
paul006 on February 6, 2008 at 5:10 PM
“When a candidate gets the nomination, he’s supposed to tack to the middle.”
That’s assuming he already has the support of his base. McCain has shown the base nothing but contempt, so that support is lacking. Not a good situation for a standard-bearer to be in.
piraticalbob on February 6, 2008 at 5:12 PM
There are some simple fact-like predictions that are very difficult to disprove:
-McCain will HAVE to make Huck his VP, because Huck has already said he wants the job and Huck will have the delegates McCain needs to win the magic number.
-McCain WILL NOT win the general election no matter what he does and you can see it by comparing the number of votes in the Dem primaries vs. the Pubby primaries.
-Whoever wins the general WILL legalize the illegals. The illegals WILL bring their families over. This WILL result in the permanent (meaning the lifetimes of anyone reading this) Democratic majority.
Now enjoy the rest of the primary season.
Igor R. on February 6, 2008 at 5:14 PM
You give Huck too much credit. He is in this not to win, but to ensure his bigotry is secure.
He knows he has no chance to win the nomination but he’ll be damned before he allows a Mormon to get it. And he will run his whole campaign that was as well – just not right in peoples’ faces.
Huck will stay in as long as Romney is in, regardless of what McCain has or has not offered. It is his duty as Teh TrUe ChRiStiAn LeAdEr ya know.
Voidseeker on February 6, 2008 at 5:42 PM
Actually YOU give Huck too much credit. He does hate Romney personally, but other than that he is just a political prostitute with no natural leanings. He will do whatever it takes to win as big of a prize as he can.
Igor R. on February 6, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Sorry, but I have to disagree. The hatred is not just personal, his anti-Mormon actions did not start during the primaries.
He was already setup to get whatever he wanted before Super Tuesday, and even more so now. He cannot overcome either of the other two, so has zero chance to win. He will only win in the South where he can play on the bigot votes. So there is almost nothing else for him to gain by staying in, yet he will.
I would bet money he is out less than an hour after Mitt drops. That is what is left for him to gain – getting the Mormon out.
Voidseeker on February 6, 2008 at 5:53 PM
What’s left for him to gain is the leverage to make McCain select him as his VP. If Romney drops out now, Huck is gone in an instant, Mac doesn’t need him any more.
Igor R. on February 6, 2008 at 5:58 PM
I’m just consoling myself in the decent history McAmensty has in respecting the Second Amendment. It’s going to take a Well Regulated Militia to fend off the Mexican hordes that will swamp the southern border beginning January 20, 2009.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the rifle range.
Bigtime1 on February 6, 2008 at 7:48 PM
“I kicked you in the nuts over and over again for eight years, my friends, but now you just have to get over it and calm down and join me, because, like Lucy holding Charlie Brown’s football, I’ll never trick you from this day forward, or ever kick you in the nuts again, my friends. I promise, honest to gosh, no kidding, really.”
And some people buy this tranbsparent b.s.
tH E mAC WHO cRIED wOLF.
One time too many.
profitsbeard on February 6, 2008 at 8:46 PM
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