John McCain

I can’t believe I’m actually asking this, but I’ve been asking conservative “players” behind the scenes what they think of McCain. It’s been very interesting to hear back from them, and these are people with very good conservative creds: McCain may not be all that bad. I bring up McCain-Feingold. Almost all agree that’s a big problem in regards to the First Amendment. Stem-cell? Appears Brownback has helped him see the light on the issue. Immigration? He realizes he was wrong earlier this year. Judges? Maybe not the greatest. Foreign policy/national defense? In this day and age, I’m not sure I want someone learning on the job. Abortion? McCain was pro-life before it was popular to be pro-life. Marriage? Maybe not the greatest. Limited government/reducing government spending? Very good. Taxes? I think his vote against Bush’s tax cuts were as much about 2000 elections than anything, because McCain has a pretty solid record on tax cuts. A chief of staff on the Hill, who has been around for years and there is no doubting of his conservatism, said, “Ned, McCain would probably be better than W. or H.W.” I’m sure people will castigate me for even bringing this topic up, but I’m looking for a silver-lining with the guy. If he wins Michigan, then goes to South Carolina and wins, he can win Florida and then forget all talk of a brokered convention. If Rudy loses Florida, he’s in serious trouble. If Romney loses Michigan, I’d say he’s pretty much done. If Huckabee loses South Carolina, he fades because he’s probably not going to get as good a dynamics again to try and pull off a win. And then it’s McCain. McCain can beat Hillary (her people are very worried about a McCain vs. Hillary match-up; my brother’s former next door neighbor is a high level staffer on the Clinton campaign).