Sen. John McCain is hoping electability trumps orthodoxy when it comes to assuaging conservatives who distrust the early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination of 2008.
“There is significant support out there amongst many conservatives, but I think there’s also some obvious differences of opinion,” McCain acknowledges to The Examiner in an interview this week. “But I don’t detect — except with a few — a real anger. There seems to be a pragmatic streak amongst many of our members.”
In other words, McCain says, conservatives may be willing to overlook their differences with the Arizona maverick if they see him as their best hope of retaining GOP control of the White House.
“I think that’s the case with many people,” he says while propping his feet on a coffee table in his Senate office.
This will be particularly true if McCain runs against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in the general election.
“While some Republicans may have concerns about McCain, the thought of Hillary Clinton just scares the hell out of them,” said columnist David Yepsen, of the Des Moines Register. “McCain’s biggest asset is that he can beat Hillary, according to the polls.”
Still, there are plenty of conservatives who seem unlikely to overcome their antipathy toward McCain.
“There is no Republican up on Capitol Hill more disliked by his own GOP brethren than John McCain,” said blogger John Hawkins, of Right Wing News. “That’s why, despite the size of his fan club in the mainstream media, McCain seems rather unlikely to capture the party’s nomination for president in 2008.”
Yet most polls show McCain at or near the top of a crowded field of hopefuls for the Republican nomination. He attributes this in part to his unsuccessful run against George W. Bush in 2000.
“Because we did run an honorable campaign, I think there is some residual goodwill associated with it,” he said. “When you go through a campaign, you learn a lot, and that’s why a lot of people the second time around are more successful.
“You learn about message delivery, you learn about organization. In the case of the Republican Party, especially, you understand the importance of the base,” he adds. “2000 was a tough campaign and there were, of course, people who felt that I was not nearly as appealing to the base as President Bush was.”
One of the most influential members of the Republicanbase is Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, who calls McCain nothing less than a “traitor” to the conservative cause.
“He’s told press people off the record that he would support a tax increase if elected,” says Norquist, a charge he repeats on his Tax Reform Web site. “So I think that it’s tough to get through the primaries with that going on.”
Asked whether it’s true that he has confided to reporters that he would raise taxes, McCain is rendered momentarily speechless.
“And Martians are going to land in Scottsdale tomorrow and pigs fly,” he finally says. “I don’t know how to respond to something like that.
“I mean, I have a clear record. I’ve never voted to raise taxes. Why in the world would I ever tell someone that I would do something which is in direct contradiction to my entire record?”
Yet McCain did vote against several of President Bush’s tax cuts, a move he now seems to regret.
“At the time I was very worried, with some legitimacy, about cutting taxes and not reining in spending,” he says. “I felt very strongly that we were in a war and were going to have to pay for the war.
“The reality is, and I would freely admit, that revenues have increased. And I think that tax cuts have had a major impact. Plus, they’ve helped the economy.”
McCain appears similarly penitent about his support for Bush’s guest-worker proposal, which would grant legal status to illegal aliens. Many conservatives vehemently oppose consideration of a guest-worker program until the U.S.-Mexico border is secured.
“I will freely admit to you that when I first got involved in this issue, I did not give enough emphasis, to the concern that people have,” he says before spelling out that concern. “We may just have a repeat of the 1980s, where you give amnesty, you don’t do enough to seal the borders and then, 10 years from now, there’s another 10 or 11or 12 million” illegal immigrants.
He adds: “From numerous town hall meetings, gatherings, etc. — I am much more aware of this concern.”
One area where there is little room for rapprochement between McCain and the conservative base is campaign finance reform. Along with liberal Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., McCain co-sponsored the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill of 2002, which conservative purists regard as a violation of their rights to political free speech.
“Is there some ill will about campaign finance reform? Yes,” McCain says. “And I understand that it’s just a strong difference of opinion.”
The same goes for McCain’s opposition to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which he concedes has “caused some controversy.” Although he opposes gay marriage, McCain believes an amendment should be used only to counter a Supreme Court ruling sanctioning such unions.
If that happened, “I would sign up for a constitutional amendment like that,” he says, snapping his fingers.
McCain also acknowledges “there’s still some ill will out there” over his role in the Gang of 14 — a bipartisan group of moderate senators that averted a showdown over Bush’s judicial nominees last year. Some conservatives said they would have preferred the fight so that they could strip Democrats, once and for all, of the power to filibuster judges.
Yet McCain’s compromise, which limited Democrats to invoking the filibuster only under “extraordinary circumstances,” resulted in the swift confirmation of several long-stalled nominees to the lower courts. A more far-reaching effect was the inability of Democrats to block Bush’s nominees to the Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
“I can stand on a record of what we’ve been able to achieve in getting President Bush’s judges to the courts, especially Alito and Roberts,” McCain says. “I think Roberts will stand as one of the great Supreme Court justices in history.”
One of the biggest reasons that conservatives don’t like McCain is that journalists do. Many conservatives believe the mainstream media has a liberal bias, so they are naturally suspicious of media darlings like McCain.
“Most public journalists that I know — I could tick them off: David Broder, David Ignatius, Tom Friedman; you know, the leading news media people in America. I couldn’t tell you whether they’re Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative,” McCain shrugs.
Yet the Republican base would never mistake such columnists for conservatives. To them, McCain’s failure to grasp these distinctions is yet another reason for the bad blood.
According to National Journal’s Hotline, McCain has spent more than 15 solid hours on television in the last year, more than any other presidential hopeful in either party.
“They tell me that they ask me on some of their programs because it’s good for their ratings,” he explains.
McCain’s love affair with the media blossomed during the 2000 presidential campaign, when he granted almost unlimited access to print and broadcast journalists on his campaign bus, dubbed the “Straight Talk Express.”
“We couldn’t buy the TV, we couldn’t buy the radio ads,” McCain recalls. “There was no way we were going to be able to pay for media, so we had to rely on earned, free media and that was part of our calculation.
“One of the reasons that media people spoke favorably of me in the year 2000 was because we gave them access,” McCain says. “Media people want access so they can write a story. But does that skew their reporting and judgment? I just think they’re too professional to do that. They have their reputations at stake.”
While conservatives may roll their eyes at such pronouncements, they grudgingly give McCain credit for remaining steadfast on perhaps the most important issue of all — the aggressive prosecution of the war against terrorism. Although McCain has had his disagreements with Bush over tactics, he supported the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and opposes a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Conservatives also deeply admire McCain’s status as a genuine war hero who was tortured for five years in a Vietnam prison. Unlike Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who ran for president in 2004 and is mulling over another run in 2008, McCain rarely mentions his Vietnam service without prompting.
As for abortion, the domestic issue of paramount importance to conservatives, McCain says, “I have a 24-year consistent pro-life record.”
Then there is his disarming bluntness, his self-effacing humor, his willingness to admit fault even before his detractors can point it out.
Moreover, the very characteristics that are viewed as deficiencies by conservatives, who dominate the presidential primary process, may be seen as virtues by the moderate masses who will vote in the general election.
If elected, McCain would be the oldest president ever to move into the White House, turning 72 before inauguration day (Ronald Reagan was 69). If he were to serve two full terms, McCain would leave office at age 80, making him the first octogenarian president.
And yet, he does not look or sound particularly old, despite the scars of a successful battle against skin cancer.
“I hiked the Grand Canyon with my son Jack the other day and lost 10 pounds while doing it,” he says of the three-day journey. “We went from rim to rim — Oh God, it almost killed me.”
He chuckles, but then turns serious.
“No, I have no question about it: My health is excellent. I’m still very vigorous. I work 18-hour days routinely,” he says. “I understand that that could be a concern, just as it was a concern about Ronald Reagan.
“But by showing you one of my weekly or monthly schedules, you would be favorably impressed with at least my activity level,” he deadpans. “If not my good sense.”
John Sidney McCain III
1936 » Born on a U.S. military base in Panama, son of a Navy admiral
1954 » Graduates from Episcopal High School, Alexandria.
1967 » Shot down over Vietnam,
tortured and imprisoned
1973 » Released from captivity
1974 » Navy flight instructor
1977 » Navy Senate Liaison Office
1980 » Divorced
1980 » Marries Cindy Hensley. The couple will eventually have three children and adopt a fourth.
1981 » Retires from Navy and moves to Phoenix
1982 » Elected to Congress
1986 » Elected to Senate, succeeding Barry Goldwater
1999 » Publishes memoir, “Faith of My Fathers”
2000 » Runs for GOP presidential nomination, losing to George W. Bush
2002 » Treated for skin cancer for third time in a decade
2002 » Co-sponsors McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation, signed by President Bush
2004 » Campaigns for Bush re-election
1958 » Graduates from Naval Academy, Annapolis.
1965 » Marries Carol Shepp and adopts her two sons. The couple will eventually have a daughter.
McCain’s positions on the issues
Abortion
Rated 67 percent pro-life by National Right to Life; zero percent pro-choice by NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Evolution
“I happen to believe in evolution, but when I stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon, I know that the hand of God was there somewhere.”
Gay Marriage
Opposes gay marriage, but also opposes a constitutional ban.
Immigration
Supports President Bush’s call for a guest-worker program that would grant legal status to illegal aliens.
Iraq
Supported the invasion; opposes a withdrawal timetable; critiques shortcomings in President Bush’s post-Saddam plans.
Taxes
Voted against several of President Bush’s tax cuts, but emphasizes: “I’ve never voted to raise taxes.”
Americans for Democratic Action rating (2005)
10 percent liberal
American Conservative Union rating (2005)
83 percent conservative
What observers are saying
David Yepsen
Political columnist
Des Moines Register
PRO » “Electability. While some Republicans may have concerns about McCain, the thought of Hillary Clinton just scares the hell out of them. McCain’s biggest asset is that he can beat Hillary, according to the polls.”
CON » “He may be a little old. He’s not the same vigorous guy that he was eight years ago — and you can see it in him.”
Charlie Cook
Editor
Cook Political Report
PRO » “Is recruiting some of the brightest lights in the world of GOP campaign talent, can raise substantial sums of money and is seen as someone who can reach beyond GOP base in a general election.”
CON » “Will turn 72 in August 2008, is seen by many as thin-skinned, won’t get the adoring press coverage that he enjoyed in 2000.”
Larry Sabato
Political scientist, University of Virginia
PRO » “His team has done a masterful job in lining up key Bush supporters, and despite hugging Bush on Iraq, he continues to be a press favorite.”
CON » “Still mistrusted by many conservatives, who are angry about his maverick status and support of a much-hated campaign finance reform package.”
After studying the polls, consulting the handicappers and interviewing the candidates themselves, The Examiner has winnowed a list of some 30 potential presidential contenders down to 10. The result is Meet the Next President, a two-week series of in-depth profiles of the 10 people most likely to become the next leader of the free world. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, front-runners and dark horses in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes – even before the 2006 midterms have been decided. With presidential campaigns starting earlier each election cycle, why wait?
