The story of John McCain's life has always been full of drama, but now that McCain seems to be the clear frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination, some people are determined to turn it into a Shakespearean tragedy. Namely, Julius Caesar. Frightened by the thought of an ambitious, moderate Senator like John McCain seizing the leadership of the American Empire, a veritable who's who of the conservative movement has gathered to plunge their verbal daggers into McCain's political chest.
The first stab came from Rush Limbaugh, who proclaimed that a McCain nomination would spell the end of the Republican party as we know it. Ann Coulter, refusing to be outdone, proclaimed that she would campaign for Hillary if McCain became the Republican nominee. Talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingrahm have openly endorsed Mitt Romney, a step that blogger/talk show host Hugh Hewitt had already taken months ago.
All of them cite the same reason for their fervent opposition: John McCain is a Kennedy-hugging liberal.
There's nothing wrong with opposing a candidate you disagree with, but the recent flurry of anti-McCain vitriol has a disingenuous ring to it. For eight years, the same conservative commentators who are currently heaping contempt on John McCain have continuously defended a man with strikingly similar positions: George W. Bush.
The notorious McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law? Bush signed it.
The even-more-notorious McCain-Kennedy immigration reform law? Bush supported it.
On the issue of taxes, it's true that McCain sided with the Democrats against Bush's tax cut packages in 2001 and 2003 -- but it's also true that McCain has a strong history of battling pork barrel spending, while President Bush has passed hundreds of pork-laden bills without the slightest threat of a veto. That's not to mention the fact that John McCain now supports making the Bush tax cuts permanent. It may be a flip-flop, but Mitt Romney, McCain's only viable opponent at this point, has more than a few of those in his recent past.
And yes, John McCain vehemently opposes torture -- something he personally endured in Vietnam. But if conservatives have become so out of touch with basic decency that support for torture is considered a positive thing, call me a liberal.
The reality of the situation is that when you look at the respective political records of President Bush and Presidential candidate McCain, they both have roughly the same number of liberal and conservative positions. If conservatives want to raise a ruckus about a moderate Republican getting a shot at the White House, they ought to apply the same standards to the moderate Republican who already occupies the place.
Unfortunately, if Romney does pull off a miraculous victory, we'll all have to suffer through hours of talk radio gloating on the subject. No matter who wins, America always seems to lose.
There's nothing wrong with opposing a candidate you disagree with, but the recent flurry of anti-McCain vitriol has a disingenuous ring to it. For eight years, the same conservative commentators who are currently heaping contempt on John McCain have continuously defended a man with strikingly similar positions: George W. Bush.
The notorious McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law? Bush signed it.
The even-more-notorious McCain-Kennedy immigration reform law? Bush supported it.
On the issue of taxes, it's true that McCain sided with the Democrats against Bush's tax cut packages in 2001 and 2003 -- but it's also true that McCain has a strong history of battling pork barrel spending, while President Bush has passed hundreds of pork-laden bills without the slightest threat of a veto. That's not to mention the fact that John McCain now supports making the Bush tax cuts permanent. It may be a flip-flop, but Mitt Romney, McCain's only viable opponent at this point, has more than a few of those in his recent past.
Today, Republicans in 24 states will decide for themselves who they want to represent their party on election day. If Mitt Romney goes down in flames, a score of vocal conservative commentators will have two courses of action to choose from: they can swallow their pride and support a Republican they detest in order to stop the Democratic nominee, or they can keep beating up on John McCain and pave the way for President Hillary or Obama. Something tells me that there'll be more than a few talk show hosts eating crow on February 6th.
No comments:
Post a Comment