John McCain is now stumping for Bush’s Social Security “plan”. What the hell happened to him?
I have always liked McCain. His story is amazing, his independent streak welcome, but his appeal to me has always been his priorities. If there is one single thing that can improve the political structure of the USA, it is campaign finance reform. The influence of money is ubiquitous and pernicious. Witness the travesty of the recent bankruptcy bill, which blatantly screws everyone unlucky enough to be neither a corporation nor a millionaire. There has been no defense given to this bill because there is none. It is a blatant payoff to the credit card industry. This happens to be a particularly egregious example, but the effects go throughout the entire system. As long as that influence is there, it is next to impossible to get representatives who are there to serve the public.
At any rate, McCain has always been a proponent and a warrior for campaign finance reform. For this reason alone, I have always been in his corner. But. But. But I feel like he may have scored one too many negatives on my accounting sheet. His embrace of Bush’s worst ideas defies his public image. No one who is intellectually honest can stump for Bush’s “plan”. The “plan” such as it is, is riddled without distortions, inconsistencies, and outright lying. I still like to think McCain is basically honorable, but this can simply not be an honest presentation of McCain’s personal views.
I see a quid-pro-quo. Despite all the bad things that Bush did to McCain during the 2000 election primaries, McCain has agreed to play ball – and in return Bush will throw his support behind McCain in 2008. No other rationale adds up to me.
McCain in 2008, with the full support of the mainstream GOP and Bush administration. You read it here first.
I am a Democrat, and have never voted for a Republican (or come close to it) in a state-wide or national election. That being said, during the 2000 campaign, I had a hard time debating who I would vote for if McCain won the nomination. I looked forward to when I could have a president that was an actual hero that could be looked up to. Alas, the McCain bubble began to burst when he basically admitted to lying during the South Carolina state flag debate, and continues to deflate with his stumping for Bush in ’04 and continued support.
I agree with Muttrox that McCain will run in ’08, and with Jabley that he would almost certainly win a general election in a huge landslide. Our only hope is the religious right, who could throw their support behind some ultra-scary right-winger to beat him out for the nomination. Dems can only hope for such good fortune, as they’ve obviously forgotten how to run a solid campaign themselves.
It happened in NJ recently — moderate Franks got beaten out by scary Schundler for the Republican nomination for governor, and Schundler was so far right that he had no chance in the general election, even against the lightweight McGreevey.
But, as a last word, I still like McCain. He ain’t what he used to be, but give me him over most Republicans and even most Democrats who are presidential contenders in ’08. He may have lost his way in supporting Bush, but he’s still a genuine hero, and they don’t grow on trees.
To his credit, it sounds as if much of the talk centers around “negotiating,” not cramming the Bush plan down the country’s throat. It’s pretty much accepted that support for Bush’s plan as initially-conceived is insufficient to win approval; I perceive this effort to be more of an attempt to keep Social Security alive as a political issue rather than an attempt to win Bush’s precise plan. Clearly McCain understands that there will have to be a meaningful middle ground on this issue and I think the “come to the table with us” talk demonstrates as much. Plus, you better get used to McCain. I agree with you that he could get the nomination in 2008….and I’d also extend that line of thought to say that he would beat any Democrat out there in an electoral and popular landslide.