Adam Graham
Seven actions of highly ineffective conservatives that gave us John McCain
By Adam Graham
Okay, I'm a conservative, so I confess I'm part of the problem. Why is the GOP looking at McCain as a possible nominee? Let's take a look at the reasons. We're starting at the least important and counting down to the most important factor.
Being for no one: This field didn't excite conservatives terribly, which was a huge problem. Many of us Conservative writers, bloggers, and broadcasters knew who we were against, but not who we were for. The classic example is Club for Growth's War on Mike Huckabee. Club for Growth endorsed no one, but saturated South Carolina in anti-Huckabee ads. The result: John McCain. I wonder if Club Members felt their money was well-spent if Not Huckabee=John McCain.
In addition, Rush Limbaugh's Super Tuesday morning endorsement of Mitt Romney was a tad late. He refused to make a primary endorsement when it really mattered. Ditto: James Dobson who chose to endorse Mike Huckabee after Super Tuesday. While I have jokingly referred to Hugh Hewitt as "Baghdad Hugh" (after "Baghdad Bob" the Iraqi Minister of Information during the Iraq War) for his propagandistic support of Mitt Romney, at least he supported a candidate while his fellow talkers simply stood above it all until it was too late. The lesson: find a candidate who comes closest to you, back him.
Not becoming engaged sooner: Conservatives ignored the election for too long and worst yet, some campaign efforts, such as Huckabee's and Thompson's, had many "supporters" who never gave a dollar to their campaigns. Indeed, some people pledged to support candidates such as Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter "if they caught on" never pondering that if the candidates didn't receive financial support they'd never have the money to catch on. Despite all the disagreements with the Ron Paul supporters, when it came to money, they showed us all how to support a campaign. The lesson: If you want a better candidate in 2012 or 2016, I might suggest starting a savings account to put aside funds to support a real conservative, if your country's worth a few bucks to you.
Mitt Romney's campaign: Mitt Romney running in 2008 was all wrong, and it had nothing to do with his LDS faith. His father, George, was a frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 1968, and nobody alleged that stopped him from being the nominee. What stopped George Romney was his liberalism on the Vietnam War, and what stopped Mitt Romney was a sanctimonious campaign. The reason that Romney only received endorsement from Tom Tancredo among his rivals is that other rivals were ticked off at a campaign that hypocritically attacked others for holding positions he'd held only a few years before. Now some are talking about a 2012 repeat. The man spent tens of millions of dollars on his campaign, had big name endorsements, and was unable to get conservatives to trust him. What would he accomplish different if given a second chance?
Also, this is another reason to shrug your shoulders and say the Washington conservative establishment isn't worth a whole lot when it comes to endorsing presidential candidates. The candidate of the Washington conservative establishment was Mitt Romney. In 2000, it was Steve Forbes. One has to say that despite these men's good intentions and great service inside the beltway, they really don't know what plays outside the beltway.
The lesson: Mitt has a long way to go to sell conservatives and inside the beltway help won't do it for him.
Forced Unity: If I hear another, "It's time to unite behind McCain speech," I am going to lose my lunch. First, with Democrats in a neck and neck battle for the nomination, they're probably going to keep going until May, and the fall campaign can't begin until there's a Democratic candidate.
Secondly, John McCain doesn't have the delegates to win, though perhaps McCain supporters should borrow a line from the Borg, "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated," as I'm told that those of us in states that haven't voted really don't matter. This is despite the fact McCain has only won a majority of the vote in three states. To suggest after the Majority of his own home state's voters said John McCain should not be the GOP nominee that everyone else in the country has to accept him in the matter of 2-4 days is simply over-reaching and you'll get a backlash. Give people time, at least, to get used to the idea that someone who has knifed conservatives in the back at every opportunity for the past eight years is supposed to be our standard bearer.
The lesson: Please show some respect for the process. Most of the right will support McCain, eventually, if he's the nominee. What's happening now is counter-productive.
Fred '08: There were three key plays that went horribly wrong with the Thompson campaign. First, Thompson was oversold as the next Reagan. In reality, Fred was a fairly conservative former Senator who looked at running in 2000 and found a lack of interest. Fred wasn't as inspiring of a speaker (particularly at the beginning) but was solid on conservative issues. Ultimately, Fred Thompson the Candidate could never equal the expectations people had before he got in.
Secondly, Thompson waited until September to get into the race (rather than getting it on July 4th as many had expected), by which time many conservative operatives had chosen to support others. Finally, Fred Thompson, along with the "big three," skipped the Values Voter debate in Florida, at which point a lot of Christian conservatives began to peel off to Huckabee.
The lesson: If a candidate is unable to deal with the unfortunate realities of modern campaigning (such as September being too late to start a campaign), they're probably not going to work out.
Destroying Mike Huckabee: Americans woke up in late November to find the cash-strapped former Governor of Arkansas leading in polls in Iowa, in South Carolina, and other states as well. What came after that was the most vicious month-long political hatchet job a candidate has ever received. Certainly, there were legitimate issues: tax increases and spending in Arkansas, a large number of pardons and commutations (though 1100 people were not let out of jail as some talk show hosts claimed, most of those people had already served their time) and receiving too many gifts as Governor of Arkansas. Still, I have to look back on that era with a bit of embarrassment.
Conservative bloggers (myself included) illustrated why more good people don't run for office. With the exception of receiving too many gifts as governor, the other issues with Huckabee were based on his struggling to find a balance between justice and mercy, compassion and order. I can at least say that I defended Huckabee from the outrageous charges of floating crosses and the hyper-extreme rhetoric of the time. Huckabee was painted as akin to Jimmy Carter, when at worst he was a sequel to George W. Bush.
Looking back, I can see the mass manipulation that begin with the Thompson and Romney campaigns, as well as conservative establishment organs like National Review that had other agendas. For many of these organs, the problem was not what Huckabee said or did, but that Huckabee didn't fit into their campaign meme . Were Huckabee to win, a lot of media magazines that limited us to the Rudy McRomney trilemma would have egg on their faces. Huckabee didn't have the bona fides to be in their clubs, while Romney, who single-handedly brought gay marriage to Massachusetts, did.
The reality is Huckabee was pretty close to being your average Republican Governor. If you want absolutely consistent Republican presidential candidates, then start insisting on absolutely consistent conservative governors.
Now, the rush to coronate McCain has begun because many bloggers will still swear up and down that Huckabee is more liberal than a man who has averaged a 74% American Conservative Union Rating for the last decade.
The lesson: Put negative information about a candidate in perspective, ask why a blog swarm or an anti-this candidate storm are going before joining in the fun.
John McCain's Free Pass: John McCain was written off for dead in August. Indeed, I predicted he would drop out by Labor Day. At that point, it seemed there was no need to write about John McCain's dangerous record or how liberal he was. And while conservative media was busy savaging Huckabee in December, quietly John McCain moved into first place in New Hampshire and the rest is history.
The lesson: Never, ever, ever let up on a liberal Republican establishment campaign until they're gone. Pay attention to the whole field. If conservatives learn that lesson, they'll never be sacked by a John McCain again.
© Adam Graham
Okay, I'm a conservative, so I confess I'm part of the problem. Why is the GOP looking at McCain as a possible nominee? Let's take a look at the reasons. We're starting at the least important and counting down to the most important factor.
Being for no one: This field didn't excite conservatives terribly, which was a huge problem. Many of us Conservative writers, bloggers, and broadcasters knew who we were against, but not who we were for. The classic example is Club for Growth's War on Mike Huckabee. Club for Growth endorsed no one, but saturated South Carolina in anti-Huckabee ads. The result: John McCain. I wonder if Club Members felt their money was well-spent if Not Huckabee=John McCain.
In addition, Rush Limbaugh's Super Tuesday morning endorsement of Mitt Romney was a tad late. He refused to make a primary endorsement when it really mattered. Ditto: James Dobson who chose to endorse Mike Huckabee after Super Tuesday. While I have jokingly referred to Hugh Hewitt as "Baghdad Hugh" (after "Baghdad Bob" the Iraqi Minister of Information during the Iraq War) for his propagandistic support of Mitt Romney, at least he supported a candidate while his fellow talkers simply stood above it all until it was too late. The lesson: find a candidate who comes closest to you, back him.
Not becoming engaged sooner: Conservatives ignored the election for too long and worst yet, some campaign efforts, such as Huckabee's and Thompson's, had many "supporters" who never gave a dollar to their campaigns. Indeed, some people pledged to support candidates such as Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter "if they caught on" never pondering that if the candidates didn't receive financial support they'd never have the money to catch on. Despite all the disagreements with the Ron Paul supporters, when it came to money, they showed us all how to support a campaign. The lesson: If you want a better candidate in 2012 or 2016, I might suggest starting a savings account to put aside funds to support a real conservative, if your country's worth a few bucks to you.
Mitt Romney's campaign: Mitt Romney running in 2008 was all wrong, and it had nothing to do with his LDS faith. His father, George, was a frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 1968, and nobody alleged that stopped him from being the nominee. What stopped George Romney was his liberalism on the Vietnam War, and what stopped Mitt Romney was a sanctimonious campaign. The reason that Romney only received endorsement from Tom Tancredo among his rivals is that other rivals were ticked off at a campaign that hypocritically attacked others for holding positions he'd held only a few years before. Now some are talking about a 2012 repeat. The man spent tens of millions of dollars on his campaign, had big name endorsements, and was unable to get conservatives to trust him. What would he accomplish different if given a second chance?
Also, this is another reason to shrug your shoulders and say the Washington conservative establishment isn't worth a whole lot when it comes to endorsing presidential candidates. The candidate of the Washington conservative establishment was Mitt Romney. In 2000, it was Steve Forbes. One has to say that despite these men's good intentions and great service inside the beltway, they really don't know what plays outside the beltway.
The lesson: Mitt has a long way to go to sell conservatives and inside the beltway help won't do it for him.
Forced Unity: If I hear another, "It's time to unite behind McCain speech," I am going to lose my lunch. First, with Democrats in a neck and neck battle for the nomination, they're probably going to keep going until May, and the fall campaign can't begin until there's a Democratic candidate.
Secondly, John McCain doesn't have the delegates to win, though perhaps McCain supporters should borrow a line from the Borg, "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated," as I'm told that those of us in states that haven't voted really don't matter. This is despite the fact McCain has only won a majority of the vote in three states. To suggest after the Majority of his own home state's voters said John McCain should not be the GOP nominee that everyone else in the country has to accept him in the matter of 2-4 days is simply over-reaching and you'll get a backlash. Give people time, at least, to get used to the idea that someone who has knifed conservatives in the back at every opportunity for the past eight years is supposed to be our standard bearer.
The lesson: Please show some respect for the process. Most of the right will support McCain, eventually, if he's the nominee. What's happening now is counter-productive.
Fred '08: There were three key plays that went horribly wrong with the Thompson campaign. First, Thompson was oversold as the next Reagan. In reality, Fred was a fairly conservative former Senator who looked at running in 2000 and found a lack of interest. Fred wasn't as inspiring of a speaker (particularly at the beginning) but was solid on conservative issues. Ultimately, Fred Thompson the Candidate could never equal the expectations people had before he got in.
Secondly, Thompson waited until September to get into the race (rather than getting it on July 4th as many had expected), by which time many conservative operatives had chosen to support others. Finally, Fred Thompson, along with the "big three," skipped the Values Voter debate in Florida, at which point a lot of Christian conservatives began to peel off to Huckabee.
The lesson: If a candidate is unable to deal with the unfortunate realities of modern campaigning (such as September being too late to start a campaign), they're probably not going to work out.
Destroying Mike Huckabee: Americans woke up in late November to find the cash-strapped former Governor of Arkansas leading in polls in Iowa, in South Carolina, and other states as well. What came after that was the most vicious month-long political hatchet job a candidate has ever received. Certainly, there were legitimate issues: tax increases and spending in Arkansas, a large number of pardons and commutations (though 1100 people were not let out of jail as some talk show hosts claimed, most of those people had already served their time) and receiving too many gifts as Governor of Arkansas. Still, I have to look back on that era with a bit of embarrassment.
Conservative bloggers (myself included) illustrated why more good people don't run for office. With the exception of receiving too many gifts as governor, the other issues with Huckabee were based on his struggling to find a balance between justice and mercy, compassion and order. I can at least say that I defended Huckabee from the outrageous charges of floating crosses and the hyper-extreme rhetoric of the time. Huckabee was painted as akin to Jimmy Carter, when at worst he was a sequel to George W. Bush.
Looking back, I can see the mass manipulation that begin with the Thompson and Romney campaigns, as well as conservative establishment organs like National Review that had other agendas. For many of these organs, the problem was not what Huckabee said or did, but that Huckabee didn't fit into their campaign meme . Were Huckabee to win, a lot of media magazines that limited us to the Rudy McRomney trilemma would have egg on their faces. Huckabee didn't have the bona fides to be in their clubs, while Romney, who single-handedly brought gay marriage to Massachusetts, did.
The reality is Huckabee was pretty close to being your average Republican Governor. If you want absolutely consistent Republican presidential candidates, then start insisting on absolutely consistent conservative governors.
Now, the rush to coronate McCain has begun because many bloggers will still swear up and down that Huckabee is more liberal than a man who has averaged a 74% American Conservative Union Rating for the last decade.
The lesson: Put negative information about a candidate in perspective, ask why a blog swarm or an anti-this candidate storm are going before joining in the fun.
John McCain's Free Pass: John McCain was written off for dead in August. Indeed, I predicted he would drop out by Labor Day. At that point, it seemed there was no need to write about John McCain's dangerous record or how liberal he was. And while conservative media was busy savaging Huckabee in December, quietly John McCain moved into first place in New Hampshire and the rest is history.
The lesson: Never, ever, ever let up on a liberal Republican establishment campaign until they're gone. Pay attention to the whole field. If conservatives learn that lesson, they'll never be sacked by a John McCain again.
© Adam Graham
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