McCain the Middleman

I'll be on The Martha Zoller Show at 8:20 a.m. Pacific time/11:20 a.m. Eastern this morning to talk about the presidential campaign here on out, specifically my hombre McCain. Listen live here!

Here's a little advice for McCain which won't appeal to some conservatives, but is necessary to win in November: Don't change. Be Mr. Maverick. No pandering to groups or people with whom you've never aligned before just to make CPAC happy.

Because the November win and the White House remaining in GOP control hinges on the middle. That big mass of moderates that seems to grow with every election, that group that stays in the polls' "undecided" column right up until Election Day. Buoyed by her wins, Hillary will now go after Obama at the kneecaps and their respective agendas won't long be shrouded in identity politics or feel-good, happy happy rallies. The left will be struggling to find its core, the left will be exposed, and the middle will be for the taking.

McCain will pick a more dyed-in-the-wool conservative VP. The angry Anybody But McCainers have already used up their 15 minutes of fame and  their calls to boycott the polls or vote for the Dem to teach the GOP a lesson will be regarded as more than silly by the voters in just a few months. Mac is back, and the more important thing he can do right now is not change. Heck, he should emphasize his compromise record. Stress that the real change is reaching across the aisle once in a while to get things done in D.C.

Be yourself, Mac, be yourself. Seize the middle!!

Comments

[Reaps]

I've got a few 'iffs' with Mac, but one that stands out is it often seems he's not so much reaching across the aisle but just wandering on over and agreeing with whatever they want.

That's 'compromise', but not quite the sort of 'compromise' that a president should look for.

[nash]

So what you're saying is that compromising with the conservatives is pandering, but compromise with the Democrats is a good thing. Yes, that's absolutely a winning strategy. I hope McCain runs with it.

[Karen]

Good for you for saying this. I completely agree.