Selling the Corporate John McCain

Is Senator John McCain the "inevitable" Republican nomination?

This concept will evoke snorts of disgust and eye-rolling from any "base" conservative -- but, in a way, it's an artifact of a certain strait-laced, corporate mentality that has guided the machinery of the Republican party through several election cycles. Whereas the Democrats brainlessly gravitate towards the next handsome-y populist (Obama, these days) - the Republicans have a tendency to default on the most recent old whitey in the line of succession, the vice president whose been at the firm long enough. It's the Dole Effect. And according to this line of thinking (opines Robert Novak, in a recent column) - McCain is the "corporate" choice.

Ed at Captains Quarters thinks that all of the corporate guys who earned the nomination in the past had one thing McCain does not, which is a reliability on the issues that inspires confidence among party elders, financiers, and roots. Mavericks make nice television viewing, but party folks want to know what they are buying - and McCain's track record is far too riddled with sudden bursts of defiance. McCain-Feingold, the Gang of 14, guest worker programs - heck, he even got all uppity about detention and torture (for some crazy reason).

Longtime readers know that Spacetropic has some interest in McCain, but it mostly manifests itself in wondering, on occasion, how much better the past eight years might have been if he won the nomination in 2000 instead of W. (Yeah, I said it.) These days I have been stunned by the degree of resentment that I have seen directed towards McCain by social conservatives. He has probably done irreparable harm to his relationship with these folks - and a speech at Fundamentalist University isn't going to bridge the gap.

McCain's campaign staff needs to know this: It's possible to circulate for a very long time in the rare air of the beltway establishment and media without knowing the real pulse of America. McCain still enjoys broad support among the military too; still, this isn't the base. It's true there is no strong social conservative alternative yet - but that doesn't make anyone inevitable.

Tags: John McCain, 2008 Election