There’s a great argument going on at Ankle Biting Pundits about John McCain. Bull Dog Pundit has argued that conservatives will never trust McCain because of campaign finance and a set of other issues. But like many activists, his real bile is about BCRA. (it really does make my life harder)
Patrick Hynes, who does work for Straight Talk, says that his issues are abortion and GWOT and that, of the serious candidates — and I note that he excludes Newt from this list — he has to support McCain. I have argued that these will be, loosely, the most important positions for the GOP electorate in 08.
So let’s look at this argument. BDP takes BCRA/CFR as McCain’s great apostasy:
The McCain-Feingold CFR Act is quite simply the biggest assault on our 1st Amendment right of free speech in the history of the country. Why John McCain and the people who voted for this disgraceful bill (and President Bush who signed it) are so damned afraid of being criticized before an election is beyond me.
Now, BDP makes the argument that there are other issues:
But there’s much about McCain’s positions that give me pause. His proposal for illegal alien amnesty (and that’s what it is) …. His joining the “Gang of 14″ …. His refusal to go along with extending the Bush tax-cuts….
However, he argues that these aren’t show stoppers:
However, all of those disagreements are basically “political” in nature.
So his position is that CFR/BCRA is really a show stopper:
But his “signature” bill - CFR - cuts to the very core of our most basic freedom. That is simply unforgivable.
Are voters really going to vote this as a single-issue, like they do with abortion and other moral issues? CFR was clearly an issue in the 2000 election, but mainly as a way to motivate groups like the Christian Coalition and RTL to attack McCain on those issues.
Tags: Campaign Finance, Candidates, McCain
