April 1, 2008: Sid Speaks Some Truth About McCain

Drudge predictably goes for the big headline from a Sid Blumenthal talk at Barnes and Nobel (Sid was promoting his new book) - Blumenthal Claims Inside Knowledge that McCain Flirted with Leaving GOP. My reaction to that is... zzz... so what if McCain flirted with leaving the GOP? Even if he did, we will never know how serious he was. Certainly Blumenthal doesn't and I will wager even McCain himself doesn't, since I imagine, like most of us, the depths of his decision making process are mysterious even to himself. I happen to admire McCain for trying to think things through and searching for truth, maybe changing his mind on occasion. I do and have. Everyone intelligent I know personally has. Consistency is the hobglobin of small, etc...

But that's not what's important in Blumenthal's comments. The concluding comments by the longtime Clintonista are far more significant:

Although McCain has disappointed some members of the conservative movement, Blumenthal said he did not think this would hurt McCain on Election Day.

"I think Republicans as a whole - even though they're suspicious, many of them of McCain and have been angry at him in the past - are much more disciplined as party members than Democrats are," Blumenthal said. "There’s the famous saying of Will Rogers, 'I'm not a member of an organized political party - I'm a Democrat.' So, I think Republicans will rally behind their candidate to a greater degree than people will recognize right now."

Blumenthal even supplied advice for McCain.

"So I do not think this will hurt him and if I were advising McCain right now, I would say he's slightly overreacting to his conservative base," Blumenthal said. "I don’t think he needs to do that so much. I think they don't have any choice right now."

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I disagree. I think that McCain has to be seen as making nice with conservatives. We're not worried about what the average conservative might do, we're worried that the 2-3% on the fringe will stay home. Elections are won and lost by very thin margins these days. Moreover, the excitement level is critical, too. Movement conservatives are your volunteers: they lick stamps, drive cars, stuff envelopes, cheer at events, direct traffic to events, work hard on election day to get out the vote and provide tons and tons of free labor. You can replace them with paid staffers, but they won't work as hard and take precious cash you could have spent elsewhere.

I don't doubt for a second that Blumenthal knows this. Right now, America's attention is fixed on Obama and Clinton. This is the PERFECT time for McCain to make his peace with conservatives (and libertarians), by emphasizing the things we have in common, warning about what EITHER democrat might do (especially in the war on terror) and generally getting people excited. The moderates and Left are distracted, so we can have a nice quiet conversation, he and us.

The thing is, there isn't much Democrats can do to interfere, other than what Sid is doing: tempting McCain to try to go it alone. The next month or two, everyone is focused on Democrat drama; you won't be heard over that din by the center or left anyway. In the fall, McCain will have to be focused on his precious moderates, plus trying to keep the Clinton/Obama bitterness alive. Democrats are eager to paint McCain as Bush III, or as a radical conservative, so they can't openly say things now that will come back later. Plus, conservatives aren't stupid: if they see Sid Blumenthal encouraging conservatives not to support McCain, they'll stand with him.

McCain needs to use the next month or two to consolidate his base precisely because his campaign strategy will NOT be directed at that later.

Posted by: Wellspring at April 2, 2008 4:15 AM

The thing that seems confusing to me, is Blumenthal's view of what "traditional Republican" positions are.

Traditionally, Republicans are interested in Small Governments with a balanced budget... not tax cuts at any cost. McCain's position on the Bush tax cuts fit with a traditional Republican view... don't cut taxes and increase spending... do one or the other. Since we were opening a war on two fronts, spending was bound to increase.

Traditionally, issues of torture, are neither Republican nor Democrat, but an issue of Nationalists (from any party) vs. Idealists (from any party). A Nationalist, would hold that the Nation's Needs outweigh the ideals we strive to live by, an Idealist would argue that no need outweighs the ideals our nation was founded upon. Not supporting torture doesn't make you a democrat, any more than supporting torture makes you a Republican.

The only areas where McCain has really separated himself from 'traditional Republicans' is in areas like McCain-Feingold. It's a horrific future, if Democrats and Republicans are defined by how often they agree with the loudest voices of their party, rather than how they deal with actual issues of conservative vs liberal thought.

Besides, I think we'd be far better off with more Independent Senators... like oh say 100 of them.

Let the parties have the House... those fools rarely accomplish anything other than screaming at each other and trying to pass insane legislation... so it seems a great fit.

Posted by: dclydew at April 2, 2008 8:50 AM

I am not sure if it is possible for anyone to really please the pure conservatives and still win the election. It is also not possible for Obama to really please the Jeremiah Wright/Ted Turner wing of the Democratic party and still win the election either.

So what is the point in sucking up to people who would rather stay home and let the other side win than compromise? What will you have to do later to keep those people?

Posted by: TerryeL at April 3, 2008 3:48 AM

Nice article... i'm a hugh McCain fan so give me more!

Lily s.

Posted by: I Love Zrii! at April 27, 2008 12:43 PM

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