The surprising thing is that John McCain’s candidacy for president is dying on the vine. It may be his position on Iraq that has turned even conservatives (who are increasingly critical of the quagmire in the Middle East) against him, or they merely believe McCain’s pro-war stand threatened his viability as a “winning” candidate.Regardless, the man who championed campaign finance reform is suffering from poor contributions and poorer campaign strategies.
McCain was once considered a front runner. He’s now a mere announcement away from checking it in for 2008.
Is this a bad thing? Maybe. McCain is labeled a populist conservative. On some issues he is right in step with middle America. He also has this Goldwater-esqe way of taking a path not always in step with his party. Must be something in the Arizona water.
McCain is anti-abortion, so much that he advocates over-turning Roe v. Wade. But he’s also not homophobic, endorsing the military “don’t ask don’t tell policy” and stating gay marriage should be an issue left to individual states. He thinks local school boards should decide whether to teach creationism in their districts, but he personally believes in evolution. He advocates investing oil profits in nuclear power, but voted against drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He has voted for greater environmental controls over the oil and gas industry. McCain voted for protections of gun manufacturers from lawsuits, but also voted to ban certain assault weapons.
And as the only member of Congress who has ever been tortured (while a prisoner of North Vietnam), McCain is against CIA torture of suspected terrorists to get information. He knows first hand it is a flawed method of obtaining intelligence, and just plain un-American.
McCain doesn’t buy into the chicken little approach some Republicans have to immigration. He does not support an official language (English), noting that some native Americans speak their tribal language and that hasn’t threatened our white-bread culture. He has been critical of the witch-hunt some conservatives have toward illegal aliens.
He voted yes to increasing the minimum wage, knowing that the only people that will affect are a few McDonalds drive-through workers and some college students. But the union bosses say McCain has an anti-labor voting record.
McCain voted in favor of allowing re-importation of low cost prescription drugs from Canada. I am sure that did not endear him to the pharmaceutical lobby, which might account for his recent poor showing in the campaign contribution race.
All in all, McCain is one of those candidates whose populist approach to issues is appealing to many Americans (and consequently a threat to Democrat candidates). Unfortunately for him, the Republican party has been hijacked by extremists. The Republican voting base is being unduly influenced by the conservative shock jocks of cable TV and radio – pushing them farther and farther to extreme positions away from McCain on issues like immigration or sensible positions on the environment and energy.
McCain is now in third place among Republican candidates. Unless this ol' Navy man can right the ship, his campaign will get mothballed soon. That is good news for Democrats.
