February 08, 2008
McCain & Conservatives: It's Not Love, But It'll Do
Conservative activists still haven't forgiven John McCain for thumbing his nose at them in 2000, when he challenged their candidate, George W. Bush, for the Republican nomination. That's evident this week, as thousands of the conservative grassroots convene at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington for the 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference.
Eleven months ago, as the 2008 presidential race was kicking into gear, there was zero support for McCain at CPAC. Though Mitt Romney emerged the CPAC straw poll winner, support for him at the time seemed to be borne of resignation. The conservative base was agonizing over its choices for the nominee, and at its dim hopes of hanging on to the White House in the wake of a tremendously unpopular Republican presidency. The ennui prompted Mike Huckabee to quip that the conference ought to be renamed, "Dude, where's my candidate?"
With no offense intended to Huckabee, who still remains in this contest, it's now pretty clear that, dude, your candidate is John McCain.
"I hope you will pardon my absence last year, and understand that I intended no personal insult to any of you. I was merely preoccupied with the business of trying to escape the distinction of preseason front-runner for the Republican nomination which, I'm sure some of you observed, I managed to do in fairly short order," McCain said at the conference yesterday, using humor as he often does to defuse an awkward situation.
It worked, and not just because the room was packed with the McCainiacs who were totally absent at last year's CPAC. Just hours before, Mitt Romney informed attendees he was dropping out of the race. Romney supporters were also on hand to hear from McCain, in an irony-laden, fresh-start introduction to the GOP's presumptive nominee.
"I don't know what he can say to win over this crowd, and me personally, but we'll see," said Patrick Nee, a 28-year-old financial advisor from Rhode Island. "He has to say, 'Listen, I was wrong.'"
Nee was standing in line outside the ballroom where McCain was to speak. He'd just watched Romney announcing he was dropping out of the race.
"It's like breaking up with your first girlfriend," said Nee, who described the former Massachusetts governor as the first politician he'd ever been excited about.
Also waiting in line was Bethany Betts, a 22-year-old University of Dayton student and McCain supporter. She blamed an overloaded exam schedule for her absence at last year's CPAC.
"I hope people can be classy about it," Betts said, knowing McCain would be booed. "He's a good conservative. I've never seen a patriot like John McCain."
McCain was introduced by former Virginia Sen. George Allen, who this time two years ago was thought to be the presumptive 2008 Reagan Revolution candidate. A YouTube-worthy flameout during the 2006 midterm elections cost him his Senate seat and his hopes for a presidential run.
Like many of McCain's somewhat reluctant backers -- Allen had served as Fred Thompson's campaign co-chair -- he tried to persuade hostile attendees that the choice between McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama wasn't a choice at all.
"[During] the opposition to the war in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, to the surge strategy, John McCain resolutely and patriotically stated, 'I'd rather lose a political campaign than see America lose a war.' That's character. That's a real leader," Allen said, to deafening applause.
"You are absolutely essential teammates in our cause," Allen told the crowd of activists. "This November, the choice before the American people will be between on one side a politician who would surrender in Iraq, create more wasteful spending programs and dependency on government, one who will increase taxes and burdensome regulation, and nominate activist judges who will invent the law..." The "versus" was, of course, John McCain.
When McCain finally walked on stage, he was greeted with fanatical cheering and a healthy dose of boos. Among those booing McCain was John Curtain, a 22-year-old student from East Stroudsburg, Pa.
"My problem with him is he's not reliable," Curtain said after McCain spoke. "I understand what Ann Coulter is saying when she suggests she would vote for Hillary Clinton before him, because at least you know where you stand with" the New York senator.
Curtain has another problem with McCain: his follow-them-to-the-gates-
of-hell hawkishness.
"We're going bankrupt in Iraq," he said. "And hostility toward Iran is so dangerous right now.... He's the one who said we should stay in Iraq for 100 years if need be, and that's just scary."
Curtain's criticism raises a good point: Do McCain's backers understand how hawkish he is, and what that might mean for a McCain presidency? McCain has a lot of support from Republicans and independents who oppose the war in Iraq, exit polling shows, because he's believed to have sound judgment on defense matters. When asked whether invading Iraq was a good idea or necessary, McCain's consistent response is yes, because the surge is working. Logically, B doesn't follow A here, and no one's called McCain on it during any of the televised debates held thus far.
Curtain, who backs both Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee, said he would vote for Huckabee when Pennsylvania holds its primaries on April 22.
But the consensus among CPAC attendees seemed to be that, like it or not, McCain was the best choice to go up against Clinton or Obama.
"These guys, I think they're missing the bigger picture," said Graham Scott, of a group of anti-McCain protesters hanging out in the hotel lobby. Scott, a 19-year-old ROTC student at the University of Virginia, said he planned to join the Army after college.
"I'm going to want the person who knows what it's like to be a soldier guiding what I'm doing," said Scott, a self-described conservative independent who is backing McCain.
"You have to look at the big picture, not just one issue" echoed Taylor Oswald, a 21-year-old University of Toledo student, following McCain's address. He was still recovering from the "shock" of hearing Romney drop out.
Oswald said he would switch his vote for McCain despite misgivings on his immigration platform: "He's man enough to admit he was wrong about certain things. A lot of politicians aren't willing to do that, and I think that's respectable. It doesn't make up for some of the things [he's done], but he has the nerve to do it."
But has McCain admitted he was wrong about compromise immigration reform, the No. 1 reason for conservatives' ire? Not really, and that fact's not been lost on his detractors.
Art Harmon, a conservative activist from Virginia, loudly booed and heckled McCain throughout his address.
"Even after all of the opposition by conservatives to amnesty, he wouldn't rule it out. He simply says he'll protect the borders first," a riled-up Harmon said following the speech. "What that means is he'll do a few little token things, a few more border patrol guards, but he's not going to build a 2,000-mile fence or really protect the border. Then he'll give us his... immigrant amnesty bill, the same one he wrote with Ted Kennedy. What's the diff? What's changed?"
Apparently nothing, at least for Harmon and his ilk.
McCain made no dramatic overtures for reconciliation during his speech, and no one should expect him to tack far to the right to please those discontented with his candidacy. A few awkward gestures to evangelicals last year aside, history suggests it's simply not his style.
Instead of trying to make nice, McCain simply offered what he and the conservative base have, at their cores, in common.
"I began my comments today to you by assuring you that we share a conception of liberty that is the bedrock of our beliefs as conservatives," McCain said. "As you know, I was deprived of liberty for a time in my life, and while my love of liberty is no greater than yours, you can be confident that mine is the equal of any American's. It is a deep and unwavering love."
The crowd, for the first time during McCain's address, fell silent. McCain has been mocked for frequently harping on his time as a POW during the Vietnam War, but his message here was clear: On freedom and liberty, I get it. I really do get it.
It was the single most winning moment of his address.
Posted at 5:07 PM
Posted to:
Barack Obama, Campaigns, Democrats, Fred Thompson, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Ron Paul, WH 2008
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