Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Monday, July 07, 2008 10:32:49 PM
September's national convention for Republicans won't be a bed of roses for Sen. John McCain. There's at least one impediment to keep him from his party's nomination — a probable fight over the platform.
At issue are his stances on such explosive issues as global warming, immigration, stem-cell research and campaign finance. The Washington Post reports that, "Virtually the entire platform will have to be rewritten to lessen the imprint" of President Bush, whose name appears on nearly every page."
Although McCain has yet to reveal how he plans to alter the strongly conservative platform, the Post reports that many conservatives fear he'll want the platform to reflect his own views that in many instances diverge from those of most conservatives.
McCain is "really out of step with the strong majority of his party," Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute told the Post. The Institute opposes McCain's positions on climate change.
GOP officials in the Republican National Committee, as well as those in McCain's campaign, told the Post they have much in common with conservatives. They say their conversations as they approach the convention suggest there will not be a nasty platform fight.
"We are confident that this process will produce a platform that all Republicans will enthusiastically support," said Joe Pounder, a spokesman for McCain. "Our party is united, and will continue to work together to elect John McCain in November."
Our party is united? Exactly which political party is McCain spokesmouth Joe Pounder talking about? What country is Joe Pounder talking about for that matter? Conservatives are not united with the RNC and McCain on global warming, ANWR, amnesty for illegal aliens, and campaign finance. The first of three of those being the most immediate and detrimental to McCain's campaign. While I hardly believe there will be a "nasty" fight, the policies conservatives take issue with are core to the already extremely disenfranchised coalition. Those of us still voting are only doing so because Barack Obama is a Marxist, and we'll take a moderate Democrat like McCain over a Marxist retreat-monger.
Virtually none of us are supporting McCain or the RNC with money and/or time. He has our vote and that's about it. All due to the fact that Barack Obama scares the living crap out of us. We would actually like a country left intact when we come home from work every day. John McCain has been a downright embarrassing choice for conservatives and will remain so. However, McCain taking a good 90-degree turn to the right along with choosing an energetic and truly conservative running-mate wouldn't hurt matters.