The Individualist: McCain Is No Shoo In

Posted by Joe Rivett on 03.14.2006

Not so fast...

All of the pundits seem to agree that if John McCain can survive the Republican Primary then he will easily win the presidency. All I can say is not so fast.

Firstly, John McCain is a senator. What do senators do? They vote. They vote a lot. John Kerry is not the only senator to vote for and against something; they all do it. They all vote trade, which means that conservatives will vote for liberal measures in return for their pet projects passing. While a governor can pick and choose how they feel about the Iraq War, senators vote on it. As Bush said about Kerry in the 2004 campaign, "You can run but you can't hide." The last senator to be elected to the presidency was JFK and he only won because he was attractive on television which tipped the scale slightly in his favor.

Second, John McCain is a pussy. If there is one thing that Kerry and McCain have in common is that they are terrible at defending themselves. In the 2000 Republican Primary campaign McCain allowed a whispering campaign to spread lies about his adopted kid and his mental unstableness as a result of serving. While John McCain privately let Bush know that he did not appreciate the slander, he didn't fight the military charges hard enough. Instead of attacking Bush, he attacked Jerry Falwell. Now, John McCain embraces Bush. I'm sorry but any man lies about my military service and spreads rumors about my children is a piece of shit to me. McCain is obviously embracing Bush because he wants to attract Bush supporters in the primaries. Therefore, McCain is not doing what people tend to like about him, being an independent straight shooter. He's acting like a sell out.

Third, John McCain supports an unpopular war and an unpopular president. According to John Dickerson who was at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, "No one talked much about Bush's ambitious freedom agenda. Speakers praised the military and his determination to defeat the terrorists, but only John McCain embraced the idea Bush has put at the center of his presidency: spreading democracy through the Middle East." Call me crazy but I think most Americans are not into the idea of spreading democracy in the Middle East. Most Americans want the Iraq War to end. They don't give a shit about the Iraqi people.

On the unpopular president, McCain should stay away. His approval rating is in the thirties. The more Americans see McCain kissing Bush's ass, the more turned off they will get. The man is as lame as a duck can be. McCain already saved Bush at the Republican convention, made fun of Michael Moore, and chose not to join forces with John Kerry. He has done enough with Bush to impress the few supporters Bush still has.

Forth, John McCain is too focused on winning his primary. By running to the far right to win his primary, McCain might alienate his supporters from the center like myself. I don't understand why he is worried because his opponents are weak. I hear a lot about George Allen but this guy wants a balanced budget amendment. What the hell? We are running a huge deficit, how the hell does this guy plan on balancing the budget and reducing taxes? What if we are attacked and our economy sputters, any economist will tell you to use deficit spending. I'm sorry but Bill Frist, Mike Huckabee, George Allen, and Mitt Romney do not impress me and McCain should not run to the far right to beat these guys. You may be wondering why I did not mention Newt Gingrich or Rudi. Well, the guys have been divorced and cheated on a spouse. Sorry, but you can't preach family values while you are banging a mistress WHILE your wife is dying of cancer, Newt. I also don't see an abortion rights man winning a GOP primary. If the Republicans have litmus tests, they are abortion and taxes.

I'm not saying that John McCain can't win, I'm simply stating that it is not automatic. He still will have problems winning his primary because I believe Republican primary voters do not vote as strategic as Democrat primary voters do. Democrats seem to care more about electability which is why they chose Kerry over Dean. His party is less popular and is experiencing great difficulties. He is getting old and Americans may not be comfortable with that. He is going to struggle sounding independent while strongly supporting the Bush doctrine, especially if civil war breaks out in Iraq. While independents like him for his straight talk, they will learn about his voting record which is very conservative. He could face an insurgent third party candidate that steals conservative votes. A lot can happen between now and 2008 so I would not assume President McCain to be a shoo in.