The animosity between George W. Bush and John McCain merely proves that, sometimes, the tiniest differences are the hardest to smooth over. Fact is, 18 months ago, if you’d asked me for an opinion on Bush and McCain, I’d have said both were admirably moderate conservatives who’d make strong Presidential candidates, and maybe even a strong ticket (never mind who was on top and who was the Veep).
Odd, isn’t it, how two guys who agreed on virtually every important issue (news flash: campaign finance reform, the only issue on which they had real differences , is NOT an important issue) wound up so far apart. Bush wound up running as the candidate of the far right (which his record clearly shows he is NOT), and McCain became the hero of the far left (though his record clearly shows he isn’t one of them).
A year ago, I’d gladly have voted for McCain, but he lost my respect in a hurry. Like most conservative Republicans, McCain secretly longs to be loved and admired by the press, and was only too eager to kiss media backsides, and cave in on every important Republican issue, in order to win the love of the press boys on the bus.
To those who ask “How could Republicans vote for Bush,” I say WAKE UP! The very things you LIKE about McCain are precisely the reasons he couldn’t possibly win the GOP nomination. There’s ALREADY a party for people who support abortion, high taxes, and the demonization of Christianity: it’s called the Democrats!!! And, not surprisingly, the only people voting for McCain in the primaries WERE Democrats!
McCain completely caved in on every issue that mattered to Republicans. That made him very popular among liberals (who, incidentally, would NEVER have voted for him in November), but it guaranteed he couldn’t appeal to the people he really NEEDED.
I’d have been happy to vote for John McCain a year ago. I’d STILL be happy to vote for him, if I thought I was going to get the man who compiled that admirably conservative record in the Senate. But the guy I saw sucking up to Tim Russert was not for me.