Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

John McCain's Trifecta on the Road to Victory
Townhall.com ^ | August 31, 2008 | Nina May

Posted on 08/31/2008 5:21:20 AM PDT by Kaslin

John McCain has just experienced a political Trifecta garnering the coveted conservative base that is absolutely necessary for any Republican to win an election. It is the very oxygen of the party i n much the same way liberals are the core of the Democratic Party.

The first win for Senator McCain that shook his slumbering base was the Saddleback Forum where his direct answers that revealed conviction and resolve stood in sharp contrast to Barack’s fumbled, arrogant, non-answer responses. So distraught was the left that=2 0they had to create an immediate spin that McCain had the answers before hand. Although that has totally been disproved, let’s run out that scenario and look at the idiocy of it.

First of all, you would have to be totally out of touch with reality to not think a question on abortion would be asked at a religious forum. Either get new advisors, or go into a different line of work that’s not above your pay grade. But let’s say that McCain did have knowledge that an abortion question would be asked. Advisors and handlers to politicians work diligently to make sure their candidate never answers a question directly, but handles it with obscure nuances that seem wonderful on the surface but when transcripts are read, there is no there there. If McCain’s advisors had seen that question they would have briefed him on a more eloquent answer, inste ad, he answered the question of when life begins, from his heart, when he simply said, “conception.”

So, if he had been alerted that, shock, there was going to be an abort ion question, he realized he didn’t have to spin an answer to appeal to a broad base of voters, he just had to answer it honestly and forthright, and that is what ticked the Obama people off. Heh wait, that’s not allowed . . . he didn’t do that obscure nuanced thing like our candidate does, and it gives him an unfair advantage, so we better spin it that he had the questions first. Talk about sore losers. But the real winners were not only McCain, but his base that finally saw the resolve they had been waiting for.

The second laurel wreath for McCain was the Republican platform that has in the past few election cycles, been a blood bath between the right to life group and the liberal, pro-abortion wing of the party. Always the life plank is at risk of being sawed off, and always a small remnant of determined warriors ride in to save the day. That was good news for conservatives and hope was once again in the air.

But the coup de grace, the Kentucky Derby, Wimbledon, Olympic Gold for John McCain was his selection of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

I just happened to be in the Petri dish of political experimentation with almost 300 conservative leaders from around the country who were gathered for a meeting. The speaker was interrupted to pipe in the live feed of the announcement. The discussion in the group for three days before the announcement concerned who the pick would be and what the response would be if it was x, y or z. The responses varied depending upon the possible choice from, “I refuse to vote for that ticket,” to “Is it too late to form a third party?” to, my own which was, “Let’s select a write-in candidate and do a protest vote.” If you have been reading my columns, you know that is what I have been saying.

So, imagine our surprise when not only Sarah Palin was announced as McCain’s VP candidate, but that the whole room erupted in thunderous, standing ovation support. It was as though everyone in the room had a horse in the race and that collective horse made it over the finish line as the clear winner. Women were crying, men were high-fiving, everyone was hugging and celebrating because now . . . they had a ticket they could get behind, they could believe in, and they could enthusiastically support.

Those leaders represent millions of people around the country and several, including me, have since made public announcements that they have switched from an adamant position of not supporting McCain to being excited about the race.

No wonder the trash machines were in the streets within minutes to dump on Governor Palin and declare she was not experienced enough to be Vice President, but they still can’t explain why Barack is experienced enough to be President when his resume total ly pales in comparison to hers. Even though she is not running against him, they seem more concerned about=2 0her than they are about McCain and for good reason. She is young, dynamic, effective, principled and tough. Several in that group of leaders likened her to Maggie Thatcher, which of course means the liberals, the feminists, the good ol’ boys, will do everything they can to destroy her, but the harder they try, the more entrenched her base will become because we will all see this as a unified attack on us. We will take those attacks personally and fight back in a phalanx of solidarity with a woman who could be destroyed by a hypocritical machine that pretends to want women and blacks to rise to levels of leadership . . . but only if they can be manipulated and exploited by that machine.

But, let’s look at other groups that have been sitting on the sidelines trying to decide if they should vote for Barack or McCain. There are millions and millions of people in rural America who share the same values with McCain but who are slowly being seduced b y the empty idea of change. The seduction is possible because there is nothin g substantive to hold them to the concept of status quo. What the Governor Palin nomination said in words louder than empty slogans was, “If change is what you want . . . change is who we are.”

Here is a young, hockey mom, turned PTA leader, local elected official turned mayor, turned Governor who has challenged the Democrat AND Republican status quo and brought ethics back into the equation. She is a card carrying member of the NRA and member of a union, both of which will appeal to the blue collar worker who always feels dissed by the liberal elite as they cling to their guns and Bibles. Now they can vote for someone just like them.

There are more guns in America than people and more gun owners than the total number of people who usually vote in presidential elections. They own guns for many reasons and are tired of being classified as right wing nuts by the liberal elite, when ironically, many gun owners are liberals. Protecting the Second Amendment is a key issue for many Americans and it could be the deciding factor in this election.

Millions of women who are upset with the way Hillary was treated, whether or not they would vote for her, are encouraged to see a young, articulate, attractive woman be selected by a man who could have chosen anyone to be his running mate, but chose a fellow maverick, who does what is right, not was is expedient, and pays the price for such principled decisions.

With over 55% of the population strongly in the pro-life camp, and over 90% agreeing that partial birth abortion should be illegal, it is going to be much easier for McCain to rally the troops and bring it over the finish line. But he has to keep moving forward, keeping his newly reconciled base around him at all times, and not back down or be intimida ted by the tiresome tactics of the left. It is like running a race . . . don’t look back, don’t look down . . . keep looking forward, looking ahead and moving closer to the finish line and to ultimate victory.


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008rncconvention; 2008veep; election08; mccain; mccainpalin; palin; rncplatform; saddleback; sarahpalin; vp

1 posted on 08/31/2008 5:21:20 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
I think the fourth may be how McCain is viewed in relation to Gustav. Let's face it, Bobby Jindal is the Gov. of Louisiana and he is already on it and I am sure McCain will be on the ground and in the know. If Gustav's evac and response is appropriate, Dems will have to keep talking about Katrina and look like they are living in the past.

Hopefully the storm will not be what Katrina was, because I think it is important for Gov Palin to address the delegation as well as Senator McCain, but this may give the American people an opportunity to see how both would react in a crisis, which may be more compelling than a teleprompter delivered speech.

2 posted on 08/31/2008 5:40:44 AM PDT by lt.america (Captain was already taken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Our pastor’s wife, (who had to be bailed out for an Operation Rescue), is just beside herself with enthusiasm for Palin.


3 posted on 08/31/2008 5:42:32 AM PDT by Mrs.Z ("...you're a Democrat. You're expected to complain and offer no solutions." Denny Crane)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

I’m going to be crushed if we lose in November. Freepers need to mobilize and help out in the battleground states. Obama has a great ground game, better then McCain’s so I’ve heard...


4 posted on 08/31/2008 5:44:29 AM PDT by KavMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: lt.america
We have a President, and his last name is Bush, not McCain. If Senator and presidential candidate McCain wants to do something to display leadership, he should call for a special session of Congress to pass some useful legislation to assist the victims.

Or maybe everybody should get out of the way and let the emergency people do their jobs.

5 posted on 08/31/2008 5:50:02 AM PDT by Bernard (If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember exactly what you said.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The Republican Party wanted a Conservative. The people of that party wanted a conservative. We now have a conservative before you....and she’s exactly what we ordered.


6 posted on 08/31/2008 6:03:57 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (I'm planting corn...Have to feed my car...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bernard
You're preaching to the choir, but for the rest of America, they don't see that FEMA is not a first responder (local governments are), the president can't call out the states National Guard, and that a large city mayor has a huge responsibility to his people during a local crisis (more so than a President). It is all perception and we lost that war during Katrina, because most people don't understand how government should work, and unfortunately with only 66 days until the election, you or I don't have enough time to educate them.
7 posted on 08/31/2008 6:20:14 AM PDT by lt.america (Captain was already taken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Protecting the Second Amendment is a key issue for many Americans and it could be the deciding factor in this election.

Yes, the Second Amendment is a key issue for many Americans. This election now offers a clear choice between two of the worst gungrabbers in the U.S. --- Senator Biden is the author of the Assault Weapons Ban, and Senator Obama has supported a ban of all semiautomatics --- and a Republican ticket that has a life member of the NRA.

With Obama and Biden in the White House, and Nancy Pelosi running the House, we would be facing constant attacks on the Second Amendment --- remember 1993, when Clinton and the Democrats were in control of the House? In that year, Biden's Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Bill were passed.

Yes, we did take the House after that, but had there been no sunset clause on the Assault Weapons Ban, it would still be law today.

8 posted on 08/31/2008 7:44:35 AM PDT by snowsislander (NRA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson