www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Is the "McCain Surge" a good thing?

I would argue "no".

Did anyone see the debate at the Reagan Library yesterday?

See the link below to start:



His rebuke of McCain's "facts" on Mitt's record was spectacular:



I think that it was clear that the only truly viable (sorry Huckabee and Paul supporters...they have no chance to win the party nod) conservative candidate is Mitt Romney. It is also clear that, between the two, he is the one that truly understands how to run a business. It was delightful to see him hand John McCain his hat on a number of occasions, especially when McCain was caught in a lie about timetables in Iraq...

Gordo

It seems pretty much a given that McCain will win the nomination. That is not a good thing. I don't think McCain can win a general election against either Clinton or Obama. I think they will win the debates against him, as he seems to fumble when asked tough questions. A lot of conservatives don't like him and the turn out on the Republican side will be low.

I don't know how that so suddenly became the conventional wisdom. He and Romney are neck-and-neck in national polls, they have won the same number of primaries, they have similar delegate counts. Why is everyone saying it's a done deal for McCain? (Perhaps because the pundits WANT it to be a done deal?)

Personally, I think McCain has a better chance in the general election than Romney. Romney comes across too much like a Republican Gore - a robotic "perfect" candidate. I don't think Romney could beat Obama and would struggle even against Clinton.

I think most of the Democratic leaning voters have respect for John McCain, unlike for Mitt Romney.

Dear Friends,

We had a local election up here a long time ago. The Liberal candidate was the front-runner until the last week of the election.

At that time, the spectre of immorality (and I won't get into that) that the candidate's party was supporting was brought up by the other side and the front-runner fell.

Should McCain win the nomination, he stands an excellent chance of becoming a "wartime president" in the face of the "unfit and the unstable."

Americans are at war and they know they are. And Americans always vote for solid backbone during wartime, if not at other times as well.

But we'll see.

Alex

I think it's a little early to say that McCain will get the nomination. Romney was very close to him in Florida, the senior vote could have swayed it to McCain. Where in other southern states that may not happen.

I hope he doesn't get the nomination.

The media does not always make clear how a candidate is nominated. They are not nominated like in the elections. The race is due to change temper as we come closer to the Republican National Convention.

Terry

If Huck drops out, Romney will be tough to beat.

It is amazing that out of the remaining candidates:

Two are very moderate Republicas.
One is neo-conservative now, but used to be a liberal Republican.
The one that no one is paying attention to is a paleo-conservative.

Image is everything. McCain looks and acts like a leader. The populace doesn't care if he had some very liberal bills that he wrote or voted for.

And even Ronald Reagan once took on a liberal vice-presidential candidate to appear less hardline conservative, one would suppose.

Alex

McCain is good on some issues, but certainly not all and his "reaching across the aisle" has always exclusively benefitted Democrats. Also, I do not believe he has the temperment to be the President, especially when some of the tough questions are asked.

Romney has the right fire in the belly to be the President, and he knows his "stuff" both in government and the private sector. The comparison to Gore is perplexing. Gore is stiff and lacking in personality and patronizing to those who listen to him drone on. (I feel like a 3rd grader whenever I hear him speak.) Romey is both polished and fast on his feet. He can conquer the nebulous platitudes of Obama's "Vague Hope" with concrete, workable solutions stated in a positive manner. But if Obama and McCain get the nod, a McCain establishment candidacy will sink in that tide of "change".

The only benefit that I could see to a McCain ticket is if it is McCain vs. Hillary. There is enough animosity against the Clintons on the Democrat side to cause them (and liberal Independents) to cross over to vote for McCain (or some 3rd Party wacko).

McCain would be better than Hillary, but not by much...

Not that I have strong opinions on the matter...

Gordo

Yes, because then Romney can scoop up all of the cultural conservatives.

I saw Wolf Blitzer interview Hugh Hewitt, and Hewitt can't stand McCain, does not consider him a conservative at all.

Lance,

I think Huck is holding out for a VP slot. If he can cause Mitt to lose the nomination, my guess is that he and McCain will strike up a deal for the #2.

Gordo

Can you imagine Huckabee as a VP? He'd be uncontrollable!

Regarding Hilary Clinton.. many people say they dislike her.. but then vote for her anyway. When she was running for NY Senator, the polls said that about 80% of people disliked or were not supporting her nomination - she ended up winning by a pretty strong margin.. it seems that many people are closet Hilary-fans despite not likig her.

I think Romney comes off as too polished - rich guy using his $$ to get into office comes to mind, even if untrue.. kind of how the John Corzine campaign went down.

In my opinion, McCain would make a fine President, even though I don't agree with much of his policies - it's a odd stand to take, but he has all the marks of a good leader, including experience where it counts.

Obama has charism and charism goes a long way - the problem I have is that he's just as experienced as GW Bush was, meaning not much at all. But as stated earlier, charism goes a long way in the USA, in addition, he seems sincere.

Ron Paul has no shot.

On the Dem side, Edwards is the Kingmaker.
On the Repub side: McCain gets the moderates (even though [or perhaps because] Limbaugh hates him).

Not true. Being Governor of a large state like Texas counts for far more experience than many years in the Senate!

Obama has charisma, but is full of platitudes.

Romney, if appearing polished (I certainly do not hold anything against a man for being wealthy), at least offers real solutions.

Gordo

"I think Romney comes off as too polished - rich guy using his $$ to get into office comes to mind, even if untrue.. kind of how the John Corzine campaign went down."

It's his money, why is it bad that he uses it for his campaign?

Terry

Yeah - and Kennedy comes off as a real man of the people, no?

Gordo