I guess I will applaud him for standing by his words, but he has backpedaled on many others in the last 6 years.
This seems like a losing strategy. He will end up being the War Candidate at this rate. I suspect he will continue to flounder in the polls and slide backward.
Jim
But he is cutting out one core issue as his own: Support of the War. I’m surprised to discover that Republican rank and file support for the war is down as low as 75%, but that’s still a good chunk of the party to have in one’s pocket.
Meanwhile I guess he hopes that Romney and Giuliani implode from their internal contraditions. If he keeps hammering on the theme of support for the war while that happens, the Repub faithful will turn towards him. At least in his mind, I suppose.
It’s desperation. In order to get the Republican nomination, he knows he needs the support of the most troglodyte base of the party. The real knuckle draggers still support the war so MCain has to toe that line to have any shot at all.
I think Guiliani will have to do the same thing. It’s a bit of a double bind for GOP candidates. Most Americans want to get out of Iraq, but the base will demand nothing but unswerving commitment to the war, no matter how ugly things get there. The GOP really has no shot in '08. Iraq is going to kill them. A Republican could win on an anti-war stance but the grass roots morons will never allow an anti-war candidate to get the nomination. The pubs are going to have to nominate a hawk and get their asses kicked.
I think that is unlikely. You seem to be assuming that it is impossible to hold a principled stance that we need to continue fighting in Iraq. I see no reason to say that he doesn’t actually believe what he’s saying. Keep in mind that part of his concern is that an exit would create a much worse situation and then we’d be compelled to go back in. I might not agree with him, but I can understand that someone can reasonably think along those lines.
If he actually believes there’s any good reason to stay in Iraq then he’s a moron. I don’t believe he’s a moron. We also have some very recent evidence that he’s willing to lie about the situation in Iraq.
And the worse situation is going to happen regardless of when we leave there. McCain knows that.
Eh. Maybe he is a moron when it comes to this particular subject. Or maybe you just have a difficult time understanding how people can hold views that differ from yours. In fact, you’ve shown that to be the case many, many times on this board.
From what I’ve seen McCain say over the years; I think it’s clear that he truly believes that it is in America’s best interest to remain in Iraq and that a pull-out would be catastrophic. McCain has always been critical of the way the war was fought but not the war itself.
Looking at some of McCain’s speeches on Iraq, I think a subtext to them is that failure and pull-out in Iraq is the beginning of an irreversible decline for the Unites States; that it is the beginning of the end for America as a major power. I’m inclined to agree that Iraq is likely a fatal error for the US, although I don’t agree with McCain that the war as neither just nor necessary.
The Market speech was pretty compelling. He is at least lying to himself. I have seen Rudy do nothing like this so far. He still might not get this albatross around his neck. McCain seems to be getting more shrill lately. Six years ago I really liked him as a candidate, even last year, I thought Rudy had no chance and so I thought McCain would be the best of the Republicans that could win the nomination. This past year he has seemingly pandered to the religious right and Bush. Not positions I can support. He was the sweetheart of the center, democrats said they could vote for him. I suspect he is now losing even the ‘liberal’ (centrist) Republicans like myself.
It is sad to see. I am curious to see his poll number next month. I am expecting a drop for him.
Jim
I was a McCain fan when he ran against Bush because I admired his straightforward integrity. I still admire his level of service to the country but I just shake my head at what he’s doing now. Kissing up to Falwell and being dishonest for in pursuit of what? Is it ego? It’s not like he needs the job.
Can’t lie for dog. Tries to, fails. Toast.
(Note to John: maybe you are more open-minded and amenable to reason than friend DtC. Maybe. Wouldn’t bet on it, were I you. Shoes, you know.)
My vote goes to crazy. Trying to justify and defend this adventure would unhinge anyone. In McCain’s case it seems to have done what years as a POW couldn’t.
I have a friend who, for whatever reason, feels exactly like McCain. This person is liberal minded in just about every other area, but there’s something about Iraq that they just can’t concede we need to pull out (or at least regroup). My guess is that 9/11 awakened some kind of insecurity in my friend and now they believe that the only way for the world to be safe is if the muslim world is reduced to rubble.
McCain could probably gain a lot of traction with people if he actually presented a different plan for Iraq. It wouldn’t have to be one that got the troops out sooner, but if it just looked like something other than what the current administration is pushing now, people would probably flock to it. Certainly, I think that it would help the discussion if someone as prominent as him threw out an alternative to staying the course or pulling out.
This is what I thought in '04. :rolleyes:
Unfortunately you may be right this time. :smack:
McCain has always been a supporter of the war. He has criticized Bush for the execution of the war, but not for idea that it was the right thing to do. I don’t see what’s so odd about the fact that he continues to believe that we need to stay in to “win”. McCain is a politician, and I’ve never bought into the idea that he somehow has this super-integrity, but I don’t believe he would pretend to support a war that he doesn’t, in fact, support.
I agree with this. The darkly comic thing is that this support really is support for Bush. If Bush came out tomorrow to say that we needed to pull out of Iraq immediately, nearly every one of these morons would make an about face in unison. I believe that there is very little honest support for the war itself, independent from support for Bush.
The best description I’ve heard of McCain is that he’s been trying to sell his soul to those who have no interest in buying it. By moving sharply to the right, he’s offended those who used to admire his maverick nature and the tightie righties still have no use for him. On Iraq, he’s lashing himself to the mast of a sinking ship. Maybe he really believes that victory is possible. The trouble is, it’s no longer obvious what he really believes and that’s what is spelling doom for his campaign.
I thought that whole incident did a great deal of damage to the perception of his integrity and judgment. The photographs and stories about him going out with a phalanx of armed service personnel, a protective vest, and air support and then coming back and talking about having been out for a stroll in the neighborhood was compelling evidence, to me, that he is desperate and losing it.
I thought he looked foolish, and least like a statesman that I’ve ever seen during that incident.
That’s as may be, but doesn’t make your slam on Doggyknee’s board behavior relevent. Because it isn’t. You know that, right?
As I said, “I guess I will applaud him for standing by his words” but this war has become vastly unpopular. I do not believe publicly pronouncing continued support for it is a great campaign strategy. If he did not back pedal or should I say, swerve to the right on so many other issues in the last two years, I would at least still respect him. The “Market Speech” and making up with Jerry Falwell upon other things are bad signs.
elucidator, I have having a hard time understanding your posts, what do you mean by Doggyknee’s board behavior?
Jim
Emphasis mine.