Posted on 05/15/2008 5:51:06 AM PDT by webschooner
Soul searching Republicans are turning to an unlikely savior, one-time party heretic and now presumptive White House nominee John McCain, as they try to stave off an electoral disaster. Stung by the Democratic seizure of three staunch conservative seats in Congress, Republican lawmakers fear a shellacking in November's general election, after losing control of both chambers of Congress in 2006.
The rise of McCain as their champion is not without irony, since the 71-year-old Arizona senator has quarreled with his own party for years on issues as diverse as immigration, campaign finance reform and global warming.
But it is precisely that independent streak that is drawing Republicans to his coattails, hoping he can cleanse them of the stain of gridlocked Washington.
Eric Cantor, Republican chief deputy whip in the House of Representatives, told reporters that the McCain brand was healthier than that of his party.
"John McCain is a demonstrated vote getter among independents, and his message and what he will be able to do in this election is extremely important."
House Republican minority leader John Boehner told Fox News that with McCain at the top of the ticket, his demoralized party might spring a surprise in November.
"I think that we're going to do a lot better than people think," Boehner said.
"John McCain appeals to almost all Republicans. He also appeals to a wide array of independents and conservative Democrats."
Democrat Travis Childers on Tuesday won Mississippi's first congressional district, one of the safest Republican seats in the country, following his party's recent special election wins in Illinois and Louisiana.
The win was another triumph for the strategy of matching socially conservative Democrats, who often oppose abortion and back gun rights, to conservative districts, where Republicans would normally ease to victory.
As they surveyed the damage Wednesday, Republican House leaders rolled out the first elements of a new agenda, dubbed "The Change You Deserve," pinpointing the struggles of working families.
Significantly, a key player in their press conference was Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who is now one of McCain's most visible economic advisors.
Democrats see their win streak as a referendum on the unpopular president and dream of an electoral landslide after a Washington Post/ABC poll this week found eight in ten Americans think the country is on the wrong track.
Tom Cole, who heads Republican congressional campaign efforts, delivered an unusually stark warning, telling his party's candidates "to take stock of their campaigns and position themselves for challenging campaigns this fall."
But Adam Putnam, chairman of the House Republican conference, suggested Republicans could prosper without their president up for reelection.
"The President is not on the ballot," he said.
Top Democrats will not let them creep silently out of Bush's shadow.
"What happened in Mississippi was a day for reckoning for the failed policies of the Bush administration," said Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the House Democratic campaign committee.
And he said McCain, who recorded a message for the defeated Republican candidate in Mississippi, had failed to save his party.
"They thought he would be a life preserver, he wasn't -- he was an anchor."
Democratic House majority leader Steny Hoyer meanwhile mocked the new Republican slogan, "The Change You Deserve," saying it had already been used to market an anti-depressant medicine.
Democrats, who seized control of both chambers of Congress in 2006, are looking to expand their 37-seat majority in the House, and increase their tally in the 100-seat Senate from the current 51.
Republicans are particularly bracing for losses in the Senate, since in what was already shaping up as a bad year they have 23 seats up for reelection compared to only 12 for the Democrats.
They want to bail water INTO the sinking ship in an effort to save it. Huh?
Morons!! You go to the people, see what they want, not to what is causing the problems in the party!!
“Soul searching Republicans are turning to an unlikely savior, one-time party heretic and now presumptive White House nominee John McCain, as they try to stave off an electoral disaster. “
Bwahahahahahahaaa ... stop it - yer making my sides hurt.
Sorry, I have only one Savior, and he sure isn’t McCain.
Exactly, the republicans have done it to them selves....not being conservatives... every one of them should have called a press conference two days ago, and touted who voted for no drilling to ease the gas crunch.demanding what was the Pelosi common sense approach to the gas crisis... but I did not hear a word..Amnesty Mc Cain is not going to help.. he crosses the isle so much, has a path worn on the carpet..
The ship is sinking because they have abandoned conservatism and become Democrat Lite...
...I doubt that...the ship is sinking because the country has absolutely had it with the Bush administration, and anything associated with it...actually McCain is the only one they could nominate who has a good chance of winning the WH...
Pied Piper of feckless RINOs.
Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, this is getting nauseating.
I can’t believe that I, Bushbot and ridiculer extraordinare of third party types is saying this: Maybe it’s time for a third party.
Zzzzzzzz.
Hey GOP -- a conservative Congress was the "change we deserved"! Remember?!?!
LOL!!! You need a NEW CONTRACT WITH AMERICA that is CONSERVATIVE!!! Otherwise....you are LOSERS....BIG TIME!
Thats fact. Not happy about it, but its fact.
The solution is improve on the conservative GOP brand, and not tear down the McCain brand.
Reminds me of an IT salesman I met years ago. Instead of telling me how good his product was, he told me how bad his competition was. I was not impressed.
SPOT ON!!!
When even the likes of Gingrich buys into Algore’s globaloney warming idiocy then sits down with Nancy Pelousy for a TV spot..words fail me.
America is OVER!!!
Ditto. McCain was chosen as our "savior" long before I got a chance to vote in my state's (Wisconsin) primary. In fact I didnt' bother to vote. I'll vote for McCain holding my nose. If he brings that global warming nonsense up at the convention, I hope the delegates sit on their hands.
Okay, Mr. McCain will save us from evil global warming by opening the backdoor and letting in the UN communists to destroy our economy.
Got it.
That’ll give the troops coming back from fighting islam terrorists something to look forward to - fighting global warming fascists at home.
"John McCain appeals to almost all Republicans. He also appeals to a wide array of independents and conservative Democrats."
They REALLY don't have a clue...
Precisely. Conservativism lost its shelf space.
If this is “The Change You Deserve” for me, I must have been a very very bad boy.
AMEN
Repeat the lie enough......
Maybe they do.
How many conservatives are still “Republicans”?
I suspect the numbers are less today than they were last week...and so on.
If McCain becomes the ‘brand’ of the GOP, I’ll have to stop voting republican.
The GOP’s only hope is Obama - and we’re starting to rack up a string of losses to show Obama isn’t scary enough for most voters.
The GOP, just puttin’ out the fire with gasoline.
Someone needs to shake some sense into the shaken ones.
They really, really, truly don’t FReakin’ get it. Period.
That sound of hoofbeats you hear is that of a legion of ostriches that once was the Republican party running off a cliff.
McCain is more the second coming of Bob Dole than as Ronald Reagan.
Trooooooollllllll !
Unfortunately, the conservative GOP really let their brand get a very bad name. The reason McCain is doing well is that he has some separation from the GOP brand.
Thats sucks to say, but its the truth. The fault lies with Bush and the party leadership who let this happen - the GOP getting a bad name. Hell, the DEMOCRAT congress is in power and is getting blamed for nothing.
However, we need leaders to find the way ahead to sell conservatism and make the product good again.
All the Rats will need to do to keep McCain out of the White House will be to contantly repeat: “Voting for McCain means a third Bush term!”
AMEN TO THAT,,AND HANNITY AND RUSH HAVE BEEN SCREAMING THIS TO THE REPUBLICANS AT THE TOP OF THE LUNGS BUT NO ONE IS LISTENING TO THEM OR THE CALLERS WHO ARE SO FRUSTRATED WITH IT ALL..NOT ONLY WILL WE LOSE THE WH BUT THE HOUSE AND SENATE AS WELL AND THEN ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE. THE MARXISTS WILL INSTALL SOCIALISM WITHOUT A FIGHT..STANDBY..
Whoever came up with “The Change You Deserve” should tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail. “Have It Your Way” or “I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing” would be just as useful and make just as much sense.
"John McCain appeals to some almost all Republicans but few conservatives. He also appeals to a narrow wide array of independents and conservative Democrats."
BS. That's what the McCainiacs would like you to believe. By nominating McCain the Reps have taken a number of wedge issues off of the table in the general election, e.g., immigration, domestic oil exploration, debililtating global warming legislation, etc. Why? Because the party's standard bearer agrees with the Dem positions on these issues.
McCain became the presumptive nominee of the party with just 31% of the total primary vote. He couldn't even top 50% of the priary vote in his home state, the only top tier candidate of either party not to do so. McCain is going to depress Rep turnout and contributions. He is going to take a lot of Reps down with him.
And even if by some remote chance McCain wins, it will take the GOP further to the Left and fracture the party. John McCain is absolutely the worst person we could have nominated, which is why the MSM was pushing him so hard.
Then man the lifeboats.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I think the slogan makes perfect sense. The Republican establishment abandoned conservative principles and now they are getting the change they deserve.
Republican votors even in Mississippi are so demoralized by McCain and his ilk having hijacked the party that they never showed up to vote. They don’t feel that their vote means anything anymore, so they’re just gonna look after #1 and try to stay sane in a world gone mad.
We all feel like we’ve been pushed out of a perfectly good airplane at 20,000 feet without a parachute. Nothing to do but make peace with God and wait for the impact.
I doubt what you say is true. The Democrats are going to use “ With McCain you get Bush on steroids.”
Bush and McCain are quite similar on many things.
The things they are similar on are the dealbreakers for McCain. Democrats are not going to vote for a pro war democrat. They threw Lieberman off the bus for that.
McCain is trying to straddle the fence and he will be rejected by both sides. Right now we have 3 Democrats vying for the same voters. Soon there will be two.
Meanwhile all the others will go elsewhere and for good reason.
Not after the Dims and the media hang the label "Bush III" around his neck.
In fact, they've already started....and McCain is doing nothing to disabuse the public of the label with his outrageously liberal speeches.
Leni
The only thing that compels me to vote for McCain is the necessity of keeping Obama out of the White House.
Doing well? Let's wait until after the Dem convention and see how well he is doing. The Dems will be campaigning to stop a third Bush term. The one position that McCain garners the most support from his GOP base is the Iraq War and the WOT. Unfortunately, most of the American people believe it is a costly mistake and we should pull out. On this issue, McCain is just an extension of the Bush policy, which will not help him among independents and Dems.
I do find it interesting that McCain will announce today in Columbus that he sees the US troops out by 2013. I guess he has set a timetable of sorts to try to move away from the Bush policy.
They see ‘Rats winning and their response is to act like the ‘Rats! Talk about clueless. If they want to actually WIN seats instead of losing them, they need to adopt a Newt Gingrich style plan of CONSERVATIVE VALUES and a way to put them into place. They farther they go from the party of Reagan, the more they lose, yet they seem to be unable to grasp that simple concept.
Not to necessarily be a prophet of doom here, but It may be that we are witnessing the end of the Republic and that this current political season is simply an artifact of that end.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.