McCain trying to suck up to Republican core

Post #247,595 by JayMehaffey 3/11/06 5:58:14 PM Reply	McCain trying to suck up to Republican core [link\|http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-11-GOP-conference_x.htm\|USA Today] Listening to Arizona Sen. John McCain at The Southern Republican Leadership Conference here you'd never suspect that he and President Bush once were rivals for the presidential nomination or that Bush is in a trough and having trouble keeping fellow Republicans by his side. [link\|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/11/AR2006031100015.html\|Washington Post] "Our most immediate political priority isn't the '08 presidential race, it's the '06 midterm elections," McCain told nearly 2,000 party activists from 26 states gathered in Memphis to plot strategy and hear from a half-dozen potential 2008 presidential contenders. The delegates at the conference will cast ballots for the 2008 candidates on Saturday in an informal preference poll, but McCain told his supporters to write in the name of President George W. Bush. "For the next three years, with our country at war, he's our president and the only one who needs our support," McCain said. The conference and straw poll will serve as a kick off to the 2008 campaign for a Republican Party beginning to contemplate its future after Bush leaves office. The gathering opened with Bush at the lowest point of his presidency in the polls, leaving party regulars uneasy heading into the 2006 congressional elections. McCain has a big problem as he puts together plans for a 2008 run. There is a big chunk of the party core that doesn't like him. And since one of his primary attractions is that he is a independent that doesn't follow the party line, the more he tries to suck up to the core Republicans the less he appeals to moderates and undecided voters. Personally I think McCain would be better off just ignoring the hard right. He isn't going to get much, if any, support from the hard right. They know he doesn't back either their neo-con politcal goals or their christian-right beliefs. Better to run towards the middle, play up his independent and moderate posistions and hope the hard right gets split during the primary. Because the hard right splitting is the only way he is going to win. Jay
Post #247,650 by jb4 3/12/06 1:09:32 PM Reply	ObSentientLRPD: Bork, bork, bork! I say: Berk, berk, berk! jb4 "Every Repbulican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'." &mdash an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
Post #247,723 by inthane-chan 3/13/06 12:27:51 PM Reply	McCain/Dean in 2008! Have them agree to take turns in the presidency, switching off every year. When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #247,732 by jb4 3/13/06 1:17:30 PM Reply	That'd piss off just about EVERYBODY at one point or another /me likes! jb4 "Every Repbulican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'." &mdash an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
Post #247,788 by scoenye 3/13/06 4:33:27 PM Reply	Hey, it's how Dean got to be Guvn'r of Vermont
Post #247,821 by ben_tilly 3/13/06 8:31:08 PM Reply	Dean is no longer eligible Since he took over the DNC, he can no longer be the Democratic candidate for President. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #247,822 by Another Scott 3/13/06 8:35:49 PM Reply	He could resign. But since he said [link\|http://politicalwire.com/archives/2005/05/23/dean_insists_he_wont_run_in_2008.html\|he won't run in 2008], that seems unnecessary. Cheers, Scott.
Post #247,826 by ben_tilly 3/13/06 9:00:55 PM Reply	I believe that the ban is permanent I seem to remember when he took the job that DNC bylaws permanently disqualified him from seeking the presidency as their candidate. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #247,833 by Another Scott 3/13/06 9:47:50 PM Reply	That sounds very strange... Most politicians don't look beyond the next election. It's hard to believe that anything in politics is permanent... This [link\|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_Democratic_candidates_in_the_2008_U.S._presidential_election\|Wikipedia] article says he would have to resign as DNC chair to run. I can't find anything in the [link\|http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/pdfs/20060119_charter.pdf\|DNC Bylaws] (26 page .pdf) that would indicate it's permanent. Article 5 on the National Chair says he must be impartial (Section 4). But I just skimmed it (it doesn't seem to be searchable). Cheers, Scott.
Post #247,849 by ben_tilly 3/13/06 11:19:03 PM Reply	I'd say that I was probably wrong As I said, it was a memory from stories that I saw then. You actually dug up references, and they disagree with me. I'd trust the references more than my memory. :-) Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #247,856 by broomberg 3/14/06 12:08:33 AM Reply	Interesting aspect - I usually trust "Another Scott" Has very good Google-Fu. Pulls sources very nicely. And seems to have enough time / incentive to do quality research.

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