MyDD :: McCain Pounds the Final Nail

McCain Pounds the Final Nail

by protothad, Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:29:57 PM EST

My girlfriend used to be a Republican. I don't really understand why considering how progressive most of her views are, but she claims she was. She now calls herself an Independent (a transition that was occurring even before the Bush years). She is presently a wavering McCain supporter... but possibly wavering no more. With McCain's recent statement about the supreme court habeas corpus ruling, he may have driven the final nail in the coffin of his support in this household.

More over the flip...

I've been an Obama supporter since Edwards dropped out. His stand on lobbyists sealed it for me. I think if anyone else had won the Republican nomination, my girlfriend would be on the Obama bandwagon with me, but she has been a McCain fan for some time. She has been troubled by McCain's recent flip-flopping on various issues, but tells herself it is just to calm the hardcore republican base and make it through the election. Once he is President, the theory goes, he will pivot back to his previous positions and go on to clean up the mess made by Bush. In short, she is looking for McCain to save the Republican party from itself.

I've countered not by attacking McCain himself (indeed, I've appreciated those times when he has moved to the center and worked with Democratic senators like Feingold), but I point out the neocon baggage he will drag along just by having to work within the Republican party. Up until now, I've been persuasive but not convincing. She has wavered, but not rejected McCain.

Now McCain may have finally done what I could not... convince my girlfriend to reject him and instead support Obama. It happened when we were visiting her family. We were all having a friendly discussion about politics. The subject of the recent habeas corpus ruling came up, and we all agreed it was a good thing. Then I mentioned McCain's statement regarding it.

My girlfriend became silent. Her eyes seemed on the verge of tears. It was as if someone had plunged a dagger into her chest. Knowing her as I do, I think I know what she must have been feeling. It was grief like finding out a dear friend had just died. The McCain she thought she knew was gone. The principled maverick, the sensible moderate... killed by an evil twin it seemed.

She hasn't said it. We haven't talked about it since. But I think her support for McCain died with that conversation.

Poll

Votes: 26
Results : Vote Link : Polls

Tags: John McCain, Barack Obama, habeas corpus (all tags)

Permalink :: 12 Comments :: Post a Comment

being a Republican (2.00 / 1)

should be an option

by Lakrosse on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:33:41 PM EST

Re: being a Republican (2.00 / 1)

You know I can't figure the guys strategy out. He also made an astounding statement I read on huffingtonpost.

I can't find it now (too lazy to hunt thru it there), but he said he approved of bill Clintons supreme court appointees. Really Ginsburg and who was it (I'm blanking out on the memory)..?

Seems like that is death wish statement to his much needed conservative base..

Rise / Repeat / But for god's sake don't spin!

by aliveandkickin on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:38:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: being a Republican (2.00 / 2)

McCain voted for both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. He's said repeatedly that he supports a president's prerogative to appoint any qualified candidate to the Court. Breyer and (particularly) Ginsburg were eminently qualified, so McCain voted to confirm. It's an honorable position, imo. The problem is that Alito and (particularly) Roberts were also well-qualified to sit on the Court. (Harriet Miers, not so much). The sturm und drang from the Democratic activist base over their confirmations was misplaced: no Senate was going to deny conservative but qualified judges.

For me, Court appointments are the biggest stake in every presidential election. There's a fantasy out there that a McCain presidency wouldn't be too bad because a Democratic Senate wouldn't confirm conservative McCain picks. Unfortunately, being a conservative and being a highly qualified judge are not mutually exclusive.

What is The October Protocol?

by Koan on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:52:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He is straddling a difficult fence (none / 0)

Shore up his base, and he scares away the moderates and conservative Dems. Go after those moderates, and he pisses off the rightwing base. Of course, in theory, a progressive candidate has a similar balancing act (so goes the centrist DLC philosophy anyway), by I don't think the usual rules apply this year. People are pissed off about the war and the economy. The field is tilted in the Democrats favor. The voters views (even among many conservatives) align much more to the left... our candidate just has he job of making the citizens recognize it.

That, I think, is the difference in the Obama strategy. It is not about running to the middle to find that mythical sweet spot where most of the voters 'think' they are... its about making the case for progressive values in language that convinces the voters and moves them in a positve direction.

Heck, when surveys show even a large slice of Republicans warming up to universal health care, you know the wind is blowing in our direction.

Peace

by protothad on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:59:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Pounds the Final Nail (2.00 / 1)

With McBushes 100 years in Iraq campaign by the time your girlfriend has children she could very well be seeing her children if they join the military go to Iraq. I think she ought to chew on that for awhile. Do you even think 100 years from now that the Iraqis will love us???

by Spanky on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:38:17 PM EST

Re: McCain Pounds the Final Nail (none / 0)

Well, we aren't planning to have kids, but the war is a big issue for her regardless. Her view on that is that McCain would be competent enough to untangle that mess where Bush has failed... the 'we owe it to Iraqis to fix our mess' argument. I of course see no positive outcome from us keeping a major military force there. It is like throwing gas on a fire and hoping if you just do it long enough you might eventually put it out. We can't abondon Iraq, but we also can't bomb or shoot our way to a resolution there.

by protothad on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 01:09:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Tip Jar... a bit late. (2.00 / 2)

as always, feedback welcome.

by protothad on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:42:49 PM EST

It's truly bizarre (2.00 / 3)

I'm not sure what country he lives in where we don't think habeas corpus is a good idea.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

That One/Another Fella '08

by Dracomicron on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:43:09 PM EST

I think he originates from the same country (2.00 / 4)

...where dehydrated babies need hot bottled water.

by PD1769 on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 12:51:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Dude... (none / 0)

Even my McCain supporting girlfriend had to laugh at that one.

by protothad on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 01:01:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It's truly bizarre (none / 0)

Of course the real problem is that many voters don't even understand what habeas corpus is. Even when you do explain it, you often still find people who think it is totally OK to deny due process to 'terrorists' (the whole concept of mistaken imprisonment or abuse of power is lost on them).

I wish every single person who thought that way would be incorrectly tagged as a terrorist by the DHS, scooped up by an unmarked van, and bundled off to Guantanamo for a few months without any access to an attorney. It might change their minds about the importance of due process.

by protothad on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 01:22:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Pounds the Final Nail (none / 0)

After six years of keeping these people in prison, the Supreme Court says we finally have to start the process of deciding which of them are being held for a good reason and which aren't.

McCain calls it one of the worst decisions in history.

This is crazy, extremist stuff.

"Another problem we have...is that in election years we behave somewhat as primitive peoples do at the time of the full moon." --Harry Truman

by Steve M on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 01:18:08 PM EST

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