Posted by
Kenneth G. Davenport on Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:35:14 AM
I've been hearing a lot of sniping among conservatives about John McCain -- most particularly from the talking heads who have not been shy in telling the mainstream media about their dislike of the Senator from Arizona. Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, Hewitt -- all seem to think that McCain isn't a "real conservative" or will somehow sell-out the Republican party's dearly held principles.
This is specious at best. The Republican party has needed no help in abandoning its limited government roots -- just look at the debacle of the Republican-led Congress and its runaway spending . I'm not sure what universe many of the Republican intelligentsia are living in, but the fact is that the Republican party is reeling under the weight of its own largess. And, contrary to popular belief, John McCain has a record of fiscal discipline that is worthy of his Arizona forbear in the Senate, Barry Goldwater. McCain is a solid Conservative -- regardless of how his opponents attempt to paint his record on immigration and taxes.
Michael Medved has an interesting article that elaborates on some of these thoughts:
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MichaelMedved/2008/01/23/six_big_lies_about_john_mccainI've also heard those same pundits talk about the "myth of McCain's electability" against the Democrats. Sean Hannity is on record today as saying that he believes such statements are the product of McCain's "liberal friends in the mainstream media", and that Romney or Giuliani would be just as competitive against Hillary or Obama. Perhaps Hannity should take a look at the polling done by Real Clear Politics on head-to-head matches against the two potential Democratic candidates. Hands down, McCain is the most electable. And, while I recognize the inherent limitation of polling this far out from the general election in November, it is the comparative strength of McCain against the field that is important.
To view these polls for yourself, go to the following link:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/national.htmlThings might change after Florida if Rudy gets his campaign back on track. But for my money, McCain is the guy who can
win.