McCain steps up appeals to GOP conservatives
February 6th, 2008, 4:26 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
Sen. John McCain at Wednesday morning press conference (AP photo)
Call it the campaign to win back the faithful. Sen. John McCain hasn’t locked down the Republican nomination for president just yet. But he’s already reaching out to traditional conservatives who long have resented McCain’s willingness to oppose the agenda of the GOP base on key issues such as campaign finance reform, embryonic stem cell research, illegal immigration and a federal amendment to ban same-sex marriages.
During his Super Tuesday speech at a Phoenix campaign rally, McCain promised to defend the “conservative principles and policies” that have defined the national Republican platform ever since the Ronald Reagan years. He mentioned his support for appointing judges who enforce laws instead of making them. And he pledged to defend the nation’s freedom against all enemies, foreign and domestic, yet another reference to his prior career as a Navy aviation commander and Vietnam prisoner of war.
Then on Wednesday, he called out to the various right-wing talk show commentators who started thrashing McCain after his Florida victory moved him into the lead for the Republican nomination.
“I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there’s areas we can agree on,” he said according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, longtime McCain supporters are beginning to talk about their frustration that some conservatives are threatening to sit out the general election if McCain does claim the nomination.
Alberto Gutier is a Cuban refugee and naturalized U.S. citizen living in Phoenix who has been active with the Arizona Republican Party for more than 40 years and sits on the state party’s executive committee. But his Republican credentials have been questioned repeatedly, along with the state’s two at-large members on the Republican National Committee, because of their early backing of McCain over the other GOP contenders.
“It drives me crazy, this talk that we’re not going to come together behind one candidate,” Gutier said. “You want Hillary Clinton (or Barack Obama)? Fine, that’s what you are going to get.”
