Legal Editor for The Minority and HinzSight Reports
By the most basic of criteria, John McCain is running a great campaign. He is defying history by either leading polls or being within the margin of error in July when past Dem losers led by from 7-14 points at this stage.
He is responding daily to attacks with speed reminiscent of the Cue ball Carville, Paul “the Forehead” Begala, and Hillary war room for Bill.
Today, he did something I have been praying for a republican to do, and that even Reagan didn’t do:
He not only pushed back on race card allegations, he leveled the race card charge against the Democrat. And Obama backed down.
McCain has been all over Obama’s gaffes on tire pressure, the surge, etc., and has obliterated Obama’s near dead cat Euro tour bounce.
So, it was with some distress that I saw several blogs that attacked McCain so harshly for kind words for Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and his “nothing off the table” remark re taxes in any future negotiations with Democrats in Congress to reform Social Security.
President Reagan was chummy with Tip O’Neil and signed off on a Social Security rescue package that included tax increases.
McCain buttered up a lady that he may have to deal with next year and simply made a generic statement about some future SSA issue that will become obligatory to deal with as a true crisis, if not before.
Republicans, especially fellow conservatives, McCain is our nominee. I have written many columns about the necessity of holding his feet to the fire given the proof that he can be moved. But these statements were not occasions for same, in my opinion.
I am thrilled with McCain’s campaign performance and as we get closer to Election Day we should be increasingly focused on victory and less on purity.
I will lead the We the People coalition beginning January 21, 2009 to make sure our hired hand does our will.
Let’s beat Obama now.
McCain is doing fine in that regard. Obama himself is doing a better job. Pray that Obama doesn’t get laryngitis.
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
Legal Editor for The Minority and HinzSight Reports
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” – The Chief Justice
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Dan McLaughlin
Moe Lane
Neil Stevens
Steve Maley
Thanks, GC. Excellent post.
NightTwister (Diary) Thursday, July 31st at 11:16PM EST (link)McCain & team are doing it right so far, and it’s working.
How refreshing to see a Republican standing up in the face of these kind of attacks. That’s been missing for a very long time.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. – Winston Churchill
Now GC-if only he could level the rest of Obama's liberalism with the same vitriol
BlackConservative (Diary) Thursday, July 31st at 11:58PM EST (link)If of course, there is something in McCain’s domestic agenda that he has to disagree with on Obama. Maybe he could rip Obama on ANW…oops; well maybe he could nail him on the global warm….argh; well maybe he can get him for wanting to raise tax…darnit! Ah well, there’s always the war that we will have won before GWB leaves office, negating McCain’s only conservative issue.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.-Jesus Christ
now BR? Now, and for many thens
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Friday, August 1st at 12:25AM EST (link)McCain’s econ platform calls for many specific tax cuts; said the $4/gal gas fact on the ground trumps MMGW for offshore drilling; and judges. Saying that in the context of a comprehensive SS reform nothing is off the table, was quite pedestrian.
He is conservative on many issues, and this week even came over to us on Ward Connerly and, struck a deadly blow against the dem/msm meme re race cards.
BR, put some air in your tires and get NOW.
luv ya man
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
offshore drilling in CA and FL, but not his precious Alaska
BlackConservative (Diary) Friday, August 1st at 12:38AM EST (link)He’ll listen to his friends on the other side of the aisle instead of the Republican governor of Alaska on ANWR drilling. His economic platform is moderate to be nice about it GC. SS doesn’t need to be reformed-it needs to die, and you know it as well as I do. I’m already paying out of my behind on payroll taxes for SS benefits that I as a 23 year old will never see in my life. You want a conservative approach to this-President Bush’s approach of allowing people my age to invest in private savings accounts instead of boosting the old folks retirement funds. But Bush got buried by the AARP and McCain doesn’t have the huevos to stand up for something that might offend his friends of course. As for race, I have a blog coming up on the context of race so we can discuss it there. Having said that, McCains embracing of Ward makes me do a cynical woohoo, considering his pandering to The Race earlier in the month. The way he talks to Mexicans is so similar of the way Democrats talk to Blacks its uncanny. It’s the same old patronizing, just a different minority group. Don’t worry GC, I’ll vote for the liberal Democrat least likely to screw us overseas, but you’ll get no cheerleading from me on McCain’s domestic agenda.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.-Jesus Christ
Great diary GC.....
Susannah (Diary) Friday, August 1st at 12:55AM EST (link)Yea Gamecock!! Highly recommended. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
OCS in Alaska is an issue too.
Achance (Diary) Friday, August 1st at 4:10AM EST (link)There’s not going to be a lot of love here for OCS drilling unless we can sort out the revenue piece. Likewise, FL and CA; it’s really all about the money.
We in the Western states especially don’t really have much faith in the federal government as landowner or landlord. We all endured a century or more of having our land raped by whomever could slip the right wad of bills in some Fed’s pocket.
Were I governor of FL, CA, AK, or any other state with offshore oil, there’s no way in Hell there’s going to be drilling until we have a deal on how much of the revenue goes to my state and how much goes to the federal treasury.
Even with ANWR, it really isn’t in Alaska’s interest to develop it unless it is a part of a US policy on oil production calculated to shift the World oil price paradigm. We will get little revenue from ANWR development, but it will help with throughput on the TAPS. The real objective of the envirowackos is to drive the Pipeline below economic viability since the enabling legislation requires that it be dismantled if it isn’t pumping oil. They know that ANWR is necessary to assure the continued viability of the TAPS, hence the vehement opposition. Why McCain opposes it, only God knows. If he’s a typical Senator, that firmly held opinion was based on the remarks of the last person he talked to before making said remark.
In Vino Veritas
Taxes and oil
Steph C (Diary) Friday, August 1st at 4:44AM EST (link)I’m not against raising SS taxes if they take it further and find absolute ways that Congress and Presidents can’t dip their greedy hands into it anytime they think they need to. One wonders if it would be as broke as it is, if they didn’t treat it like free money. It’s like taking donations out of the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time, except the SA bucket is more protected because if the thief gets caught he goes to jail. There are no such penalties for D.C. They just simply issue bonds they can never fulfill and make it all better.
As far as oil, here’s where I part ways with the federal government because it’s unConstitutional for it to determine a State’s commerce, which oil is as much a part of that as any other industry. It should be up to the states to decide.
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” –Candidus in the Boston Gazette, 1772
Hillbilly Politics
congress has the power to regulate
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Friday, August 1st at 1:34PM EST (link)interstate commerce.
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
A man of courage.
Wisecracker (Diary) Saturday, August 2nd at 9:35AM EST (link)You are right on! So few on the right defend McCain, as we see in some of the comments. I just don’t get it. Why didn’t the right get out and vote in the primaries and elect someone very conservative?
Voting matters!
Good post, GC.
skorrent Saturday, August 2nd at 3:59PM EST (link)Agree that BO is doing a great job of sinking his prospects, but McCain IS helping. :>)
Shame on you.
Mark Kilmer (Diary) Sunday, August 3rd at 6:52PM EST (link)Yes, shame on you for faulting Ronald Reagan for not fighting fire with fire, vis-a-vis any race card which might have been played against him. Remember that the racial climate in this country 20-30 years ago was much different from what it is today. Attitudes were different, reactions were different, and thus the political calculus was different.
Charges of racism never worked against Ronald Reagan because he plainly was not a racist. Today, the accusation has lost much of its force and gravity due to overuse and misuse. Obama is exploiting this, and that is why McCain had to fight back. And it is great that he did so, but don’t compare him to President Reagan on this score. The situations were different.
"Everything's on the table,"
Flagstaff (Diary) Monday, August 4th at 4:22PM EST (link)or something like that, means “I may feel like I have to give on something later, and I don’t want to be forced to eat my words.” He made a rookie mistake by answering the question directly.
The correct answer to the SS question is “Raising taxes is not the solution. We can’t tax our way out of that hole.”
If pressed for more details, he follows with, “Raising taxes just increases the deferred obligation. We’ll need cooperation from a heretofore intransigent bunch of Democrats to fix Social Security, because the only way to do it is to make the “trust fund” an income generating engine, and that means a new approach.”
“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964
Maverick needs to keep bucking!
Maggie_in_Indiana (Diary) Tuesday, August 5th at 11:53AM EST (link)The maverick side of McCain and his famous temper,which has as yet to be seen on this campaign, needs to keep up the fight for what he believes in passionately.Whether we agree with everthing he does it is his passion for them in spite of opposition that will get him elected. Passion and the guts to stick to his guns. Obama is a reed bending every time unfriendly winds blow. That will lose him this election. It is our job to make sure that his changing views are recorded and shared . From dog-catcher to the POTUS all these positions need to be filled with a conservative if we can get it done. We can with hard work. I’m dong my part within my means and the best I can. Redstate is my motivation to not let up.Thank you.
Maggie in Indiana
Nothing wrong with being chummy
JSobieski (Diary) Wednesday, August 6th at 11:10AM EST (link)Plenty wrong with throwing principles under the bus or not having them in the first place.
McCain has a lot of positive potential—but his comments on economic issues can vary widely.
I remain cautious optimistic. The aggressiveness of his recent campaign messages is a good sign that he at least intends to win (unlike say, Mr. Kemp’s efforts as the VP nominee in 1996).
My rules of the road for primary season.
Rule #1: Vote for YOUR first choice in the primaries
Rule #2: Vote for the R in the general.
Rule #3: Don’t let anyone convince you to violate Rule #1 or Rule #2
Rule #4: When in a center-right argument, reaffirm Rules #1-#3–it will help us all to get along better.
Rule #5: If you are using the language of the left, you probably aren’t furthering conservativism
Rule #6: The priority is issues first, candidates second, and supporters third. Nobody is bigger than the issues. Conversely, if you spend your time focusing on supporters, you are wasting everyone’s time.
STOP THE MADNESS!
A reduction in the rate of spending increases is NOT a cut!
In-state tuition for illegals is NOT amnesty!
Requiring someone to pay their medical bills is NOT an individual mandate!
Reducing tax rates is NOT a tax increase!