In explaining the near collapse of John McCain’s presidential campaign, conservatives cite his positions on immigration, taxes, detainees, the media and campaign finance, not the Iraq war.
Although the press blames McCain’s troubles on his support for President Bush’s Iraq policy, other Republican candidates who support the policy are thriving. That’s because 59 percent of Republicans approve of Bush’s handling of Iraq, while only 33 percent disapprove, according to a recent CBS poll.
By contrast, CBS found that more Republicans disapprove of Bush’s immigration policy, which McCain supports, than approve.
“McCain’s problems do not stem from Iraq,” said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. “Iraq is a problem that, depending on how things unfold between now and next year, could hurt in the general election, but not in the primaries.”
Yet the media blame the Iraq war for McCain’s slide in the polls and lackluster fundraising. On Tuesday, most of McCain’s senior staffers quit or were fired as the campaign struggled to find its footing.
Hours later, NBC White House correspondent David Gregory reported that McCain’s”presidential campaign has been undermined by his support for the war.”
At CBS, anchorwoman Katie Couric added: “No public figure has supported the president’s Iraq policy more than Senator John McCain, and he’s paid a heavy price for that — his presidential campaign is struggling.”
Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, called this “an utter misconception.” He said journalists are reflecting their own opposition to McCain’s Iraq policy, not any opposition by conservatives who dominate the Republican primaries.
“McCain has in fact disenchanted a powerful segment of his base with his Iraq war policy,” Bozell said. “But that segment and that base is the media.”
As for conservatives, they oppose McCain’s immigration policy, which they regard as amnesty for illegal immigrants, and his campaign finance regulations, which they consider an infringement of free speech. They also remember that he voted against Bush’s tax cuts and locked horns with Vice President Dick Cheney over the treatment of terrorism detainees.
“Conservative activists see McCain as a turncoat,” Keene said, “a man who once cared about their values, but then became so enamored of the media that his constituency consisted not of conservatives, but of reporters.”
