McCain in Trouble?
CQ’s Craig Crawford has a quick piece touching on John McCain and the three-strike rule, which McCain has apparently violated. Crawford implies that each of these miscues possibly questions the viability of McCain as a presidential candidate.
Crawford lays out the three strikes as follows:
STRIKE ONE: McCain’s lackluster Jan. 21 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” was so bad that political junkies are still talking about it (and it didn’t help that aides tried to say it was because his skin condition prevents wearing makeup).
STRIKE TWO: Announcing his candidacy this week on David Letterman’s late-night CBS show, McCain said that American lives are being “wasted” in Iraq. It was bad enough when Sen. Barack Obama said it — but at least the Illinois Democrat, unlike McCain, was always opposed to the war.
STRIKE THREE: Snubbing the Conservative Political Action Conference under way in Washington this Thursday through Saturday might be the least of his recent goofs. But skipping this command performance for GOP White House hopefuls gets him the worst of both worlds — angering the conservatives he’s been so eagerly courting, while doing little to assure moderates who are mad at him for courting social conservatives.
If you’re a true conservative and not a faux-conservative in the brand of George W. Bush, then you may want to question the viability of a McCain presidency. To be considered, the pivoting he has exhibited on social issues and the pandering towards Christian leaders he once labeled the “agents of intolerance”.
Is trouble brewing? Former Senator Rick Santorum has made his views known publicly that he will not support a McCain candidacy, and in some ways this could be the beginning of true conservatives bleeding themselves of McCain.
The question remains to be seen whether conservatives remain tolerant of McCain or they will look elsewhere for a true conservative who will represent their agenda?
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