A national television spot has been airing this past week for John McCain in which the words “True Conservative” appear in bold across the screen. With recent polls suggesting that Super Tuesday could clinch his Republican presidential nomination, McCain will potentially be left with the difficult task of uniting the party’s base, which has yet to collectively buy into to his advertising appeals.
Ann Coulter, who I believe needs to be institutionalized, recently claimed that she is prepared to campaign for Hillary Clinton over McCain because “she is more conservative than he is.” As crazy as she may be, she does represent a small part of a widespread backlash against the Arizona senator that is very real.
While questions of his ability to unite the Republican Party dominate discussion, it is easy to forget that just one month ago his name was barely being mentioned, and five months ago he was scoring his lowest polling numbers since announcing his candidacy in February 2007. The rapid pace of McCain’s emergence is even more likely to be overlooked because dramatic highs and lows are nothing new in the race for the Republican nomination.
In an August USA Today/Gallup Poll, Rudy Giuliani had the support of 34 percent of likely Republican voters, but his popularity never transcended to the party’s base who strongly disapproved of his liberal positions on social issues.
McCain now finds himself in the same predicament as Giuliani but for different reasons. How can he gain the support of the Republican base when he has had such a long history of pissing them off?
His work with Ted Kennedy on their proposed immigration reform has received the most criticism, because among other measures, it provided a path to legalization. He was one of only two Republican senators to vote against the “Bush tax-cuts” in 2001, and despite his pro-life voting record, has been quoted in the past as saying that he would not support a repeal of Roe v. Wade. His status as a political “maverick” has frequently been the source of conversation. In 2001, rumors surfaced that he was considering leaving the Republican Party, and in 2004 it was speculated that he would be John Kerry’s running mate. The McCain camp denied both claims, but his negative perception among conservatives has continued.
The good news for McCain is that his Republican opposition is out of time. Fred Thompson dropped out of the race earlier this month, and Mike Huckabee, who came from nowhere to win the Iowa caucuses, has been falling in the polls after his highly criticized comments on Pakistan caused a senior aide in his own campaign to admit that he had “no foreign policy credentials.” Despite his pledge to go “all nine innings,” most pundits are considering this to now be a two-person race between McCain and Mitt Romney, who in my opinion and according to statistics, has never been a serious contender.
So what do all of these see-sawing numbers mean for the Republican Party?
With record-high turnout in all of the early Democratic races and Bush ratings at an all-time low, things aren’t looking good, to say the least. The Republican Party is divided, and McCain’s re-entrance into the spotlight almost seems like an afterthought and a clear effect of an extensive field of unimpressive Republican candidates. While there is no doubt he has the most qualified resume of all the Republican nominees, he is often characterized by his age, boring speeches, a quick temper and the occasional racially charged remark. He has capitalized off his support of the troop surge in Iraq, but the majority of the country still views the war unfavorably.
While Republican hatred of Hillary Clinton is no secret, McCain is having trouble convincing his own party that he represents its values. If the general election becomes a question of whether conservatives dislike Clinton enough to go out and vote for someone else they don’t like, they better get used to the phrase Madame President.
About the writer:
Curtis Hill is a senior advertising major and can be reached for comment at curtishill@gmail.com
