GOP Embraces McCain, Discards Bush

Reuters ^ | June 15, 2008

[Free ThinkerNY]

John McCain has cursed and bullied fellow Senate Republicans on a host of issues over the years. Yet McCain's colleagues are setting aside any hard feelings to embrace his White House bid -- for their own good.

In doing so, many are also distancing themselves from Republican President George W. Bush, widely derided for the unpopular Iraq war, ailing economy and soaring gas prices.

"We are going from rallying around one of the most disliked guys in the world, to a guy who is very well liked in America, but not so popular in the Senate," a Senate Republican leadership aide said. "We'll take that."

Republicans hope McCain, long popular among independents, will give them a boost and hold down anticipated Democratic gains in the November congressional elections.

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll found that Democrats enjoy a 19-percentage-point lead over Republicans, 52-33, when voters are asked which party they want to control Congress.

By contrast, polls show Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama holding, on average, about a 5-point lead over McCain.

"McCain is running well ahead of his party," said Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center, which conducts polls on the congressional and presidential contests.

While Bush's approval rating has dipped below 30 percent, a recent Pew poll found 48 percent of respondents have a favorable opinion of McCain, with about 45 percent unfavorable, despite his dogged support of the Iraq war.

"Republicans have a stake in McCain," said Stephen Hess, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution. "They hope he helps energize their party."

[Polybius]

All McCain wants is another war where he is CIC to prove something because he was not an achiever.

So, indylindy, why don't you tell us how many bombing missions you have flown and how much ordnance you delivered on target so we can see an example of what REAL achievement in a war looks like.

on October 26, 1967, he launched in his A-4E "Skyhawk", Bureau #149959, attack aircraft as the number three aircraft in the first division of a strike group against the Hanoi Thermal Power Plant. As part of the Attack Squadron 163, it was McCain’s 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam. .... McCain's flight met with considerable resistance in the form of anti-aircraft fire and surface-to-air missiles (SAM) approaching the target. As McCain rolled into his dive, his aircraft was observed by his wingman to take a direct hit by a Soviet-made SA-2

"Although his aircraft was severely damaged, he continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs on the target. When the aircraft would not recover from the dive, Commander McCain was forced to eject over the target." ... The citation for McCain's Distinguished Flying Cross

[McGruff]

GOP Embraces McCain, Discards Bush

Bull shit!

[Free ThinkerNY]

You’re right. The title needed a Big Barf Alert.

[y6162]

When Julius Caesar was asked why it took him so long to conquer the Gauls, he said, there was a great number of them.

[dforest]

You sound like a Democrat. I am a 50 year old female. No, I did not serve. My two grandfathers, my two husbands, my father, and my son is serving now.

Just because I did not serve is not a valid reason for me to not assess my opinion of McCain. I never said I did not appreciate his service in Vietnam. This is a lib tactic you are using and I really resent it.

McCain graduated at the bottom of his class in college, that is what I was referring to. I do not think McCain is bright enough to act as POTUS. Neither is Obama. McCain may have honorable service behind him but that does not make him, with his lib socialist ways, a good GOP candidate for POTUS.

I am not going to get nasty with you, but your argument is weak at best.

[TXnMA]

"Republican President George W. Bush, widely derided for the unpopular Iraq war, ailing economy and soaring gas prices."

Yes, "widely derided" -- over and over, like a neverending drumbeat -- by YOU, Rooters, and the rest of the DAMNEDMSMDBMCNNABCBSNBCBSPBSMSNBCREUTERSMARXISTMEDIA!!!!!!!

Without the endless self-fulfilling prophecy/repetitive slandering of Bush by the libmedia, he would be "WIDELY ACCLAIMED" as the President who saved the U.S. from innumerable repeats of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

[Polybius]

All McCain wants is another war where he is CIC to prove something because he was not an achiever. .... indylindy

So, indylindy, why don't you tell us how many bombing missions you have flown and how much ordnance you delivered on target so we can see an example of what REAL achievement in a war looks like. ... Polybius

You sound like a Democrat. .... indylindy

So, let me get this straight. You have never served in the military. John McCain flew A-4 Skyhawk dive bombing mission 23 times into the teeth of North Vietnamese air defenses. You accuse him of being "not an achiever" in war. Then you accuse ME of sounding "like a Democrat".

Are you on crack?

I am a 50 year old female. No, I did not serve.

Then you should put that information on your home page so that the rest of us can consider the source the next time you mock a combat veteran's war record.

[dforest]

Nothing I said mocked his war record. I dare you to point it out. You cannot. Can you? I stand by my opinion of McCain and if you don’t like my opinion, I guess you will have to live with it. Sorry.

YOU are delusional. You are crazed. Geesh.

[dforest]

Crickets are chirping..................and chirping........

[SuziQ]

Reuters, like all the media, is under the mistaken impression that the President is universally disliked. They make it sound like no Republican can win because he’s just going to drag them down. Isn’t is odd that they never mention that Congress has a lower job approval rating than the President, and it’s been controlled by Democrats for the last two years? Why wouldn’t the Democrat candidate be dragged down because of that?

[dragnet2]

McCain couldn’t energize a dead slug. What disease has infected these dimwits?

Partyitis?

[SuziQ]

The RNC has already conceded they will lose Senate and House seats. And in the smoke-filled back rooms, they are contemplating that they very probably will lose the White House, too.

Much as they might want to blame the President for the decline, the RNC should be looking at the House and Senate as a major reason why the Republicans have gotten into trouble in the last 2 years. They've acted in many ways indistinguishable from the Democrats, and conservatives were disgusted by that.

[SuziQ]

So do you think Obama, who holds opposite views from McCain on almost everything, would be better for the country?

[roamer_1]

Crickets are chirping..................and chirping........

Are you talking about November? It sounds like you are talking about November... ;) :D

[EternalVigilance]

I think you’re going to get a lot of use of that graphic for awhile.

[WOSG]

“I think the main reason his numbers are low is due to the BDS in the MSM.”

I agree, but what made it toxic was that the conservative base felt too disenchanted to help stop the media bleeding by defending Bush.

It’s like the media are like gangs of roving thugs.. if we stick together we can fend them off, if not, then they attack someone and take them down.

I call it the ‘wounded zebra’ phenomenon. The lions dont have to kill a zebra, just wound it enough to get it separated from the herd.

NOW is the time to rally to Bush’s defense, to point out how bush has been overall a good president, and to make the case for his good conservative actions. If we dont, then the repudiation of Bush will be a wholesale media attack on conservatives, Republicans, fighting the GWOT, prolifers, Bush SCOTUS picks, his energy positions, his opposition to Kyoto,his antistemcell position, etc.

In other words, the media wants to defeat conservative ideas by defeating Bush. we should not let that happen.

[WOSG]

“As for Bush, in general the GOP still loves him. I think he has been and still is a great president.” Me too. Too bad we aren’t doing the body count thing. W has put the hurt on al Qaeda. Moreover, I hope there is a full historical review of how we got into Iraq. W will be vindicated.

I agree, but we are going to have to make the case for Bush or the Liberals will be the ones writing the history to disfavor Bush.

[EDINVA]

“McCain graduated at the bottom of his class in college, that is what I was referring to.”

So, McCain’s failure to graduate at the top of his class shows he’s not an achiever and capable of being POTUS/CiC? Then, by God, let’s elect Wesley Clark who did graduate at the top of his West Point class.

[clintonh8r]

Your premise is flawed, but I'm not one to choose the lesser of two evils. Sometimes the sacred right of the vote is better served by not using it.

My concerns about McCain speak for themselves. I don't trust him to deliver on what few conservative policies he claims to support. The fact is that he holds many views that are similar to the Democrats'. For instance, he has boxed himself in with his hardheaded refusal to drill for our own petroleum reserves, and to support a policy of de facto amnesty for illegal invaders across our borders, even though he represents a state adversely affected by his intransigence.

I absolutely will not vote for Obama, but it doesn't necessarily follow that I would vote for McCain. I certainly will not contribute to his campaign or to the party, but I may contribute to individual candidates.

If he pledges to be a one term president (thus freeing him from his tendencies to pander to the left and to the press) and if he chooses a bona fide conservative running mate (hint: that would not include his pals Crist, Huckabee, Graham, Giuliani or Lieberman) I would vote for him. Right now that looks like a very long shot.

We wouldn't be in this fix if it weren't for all the "moderates" in the GOP, and if we had closed primaries. But those are the cards we've been dealt. Some of us will fold this hand.

[SuziQ]

Sometimes the sacred right of the vote is better served by not using it.

Sounds good, except for the reality that will follow. I don't particularly like McCain; I'm a Fredhead. McCain may not be conservative enough for me, but he's a heck of a lot MORE conservative than Obama, and I trust him to govern accordingly. He may hold some views in common with Democrats, but there are at least three, that are extremely important to me, where he's as different as night and day from the Democrats. Those issues are the War on Terror, his pledge to appoint Justices to the Supremes who are NOT judicial activists, and the abortion issue. He has made noises about supporting embryonic stem cell research, but with the enormous successes by those doing research with adult stem cells, I think the embryonic stem cell issue will be come a moot point, so it isn't as important to me.