WP,pg1: McCain Tests New Road to Nomination (from rebel to Bush supporter)

[DeepModem Mom]

Analysis
McCain Tests New Road to Nomination
2000's GOP Rebel Incorporates Support for Bush Into Quest for Change
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 12, 2006; Page A01


MEMPHIS, March 11 -- No one stole the show at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference here this weekend, but Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) demonstrated why every other prospective 2008 presidential candidate must figure out how to get around him.

More than any of his potential rivals, McCain found a way to balance embracing a weakened President Bush -- at a time when many Republicans are running away from the president -- while appealing to those in and out of his party who believe Bush and other Washington Republicans have lost their way. No other candidate could claim to offer continuity and change almost simultaneously.

The Arizona senator was full-throated in his support for Bush on Iraq, Iran and even the now-defunct Dubai seaports deal. In doing so, he continued to establish his bona fides as the Republican most likely to defend and extend the president's controversial foreign policy record. At the same time, McCain delivered a stern condemnation of fiscal profligacy and corruption in Washington that was rooted in his reputation as an advocate of change and an antagonist of pork-barrel spending.

McCain was one of six potential presidential candidates who came here to give activists a peek into the future of their troubled party. His Friday night speech offered a vivid illustration of the evolution that his advisers hope could take McCain from crusading outsider in 2000 -- whose campaign crashed when he picked one too many fights with pillars of the GOP coalition -- to the leader of all Republicans in 2008....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/11/AR2006031101411.html?sub=AR

[physioex]

1. McCain....

One of the biggest sellouts in WA. He was destroyed by Shrub Co in 2000. And now sits around kissing ass......

[The Magistrate]

2. He Is A Reptile, Ma'am, Pure And Simple

Why anyone views him as an honorable, or even honest, man, is beyond me.

[mdmc]

6. He doesn't really mean his mean-ness

just like Ray-gun. McCain's 'support' for w. in the straw poll is good politics. While wimpy pukes are running from their savior w., McCain remains steadfast. Sure he cracked some w. jokes on the daily show. Other then that, he has been mad loyal to w.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. I don't understand why he didn't stand up for his wife and child...

after the South Carolina primary. That is my biggest issue with McCain. For a husband and father to embrace a man who attacked his family so viciously is incomprehensible to me.

[expatriot]

10. My biggest issue with McCain is...

...hes voted against every minimum wage increase. He has a deplorable voting scorecard with unions, he voted to abolish the National Endowment for the arts a number of times, he is for the privatization of the entire public sector... he is anti-working family big t ime, he is pro-corporate... just as evil as Bush... just smarter.

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Good points. I've just found it hard to get past his persona...

in order to focus on his policy positions.

[chieftain]

14. The willingness to embrace W after what was said about his

wife and child during the SC Primary tells you all you need to know about McCain. He is willing to sacrifice anything to become President.Ambition before family; victory instead of integrity.

[rpannier]

3. If a Democrat was trying to strike the same balance...

the MSM would be accusing him of pandering, or talking out of both sides of his mouth, or trying to have his cake and eat it too.

[babylonsister]

4. He honestly makes me gag now. I know what he went through as

a prisoner, but he's a sell-out. I'm so done with him.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. This says it all:

If he gets the nomination, that picture will haunt his ass. As it should.

[napi21]

7. WP can portrey this anyway they want, but McCain LOST!

I don't think any of the others there won anything difinitively either, but I think McCain is makeing a BIG mistake sideing so closely with Shrub!

I don't want to see him win the nomination, so I guess I'm happy he's doing that, but Shrub is the kiss of death...at least for now.

[MuseRider]

8. And he thinks this will work?

With the approval ratings that Bush** is pulling? Is he nuts? Don't answer that.

[NastyRiffraff]

12. Here we go again...the media LUVS McCain

More than any of his potential rivals, McCain found a way to balance embracing a weakened President Bush -- at a time when many Republicans are running away from the president -- while appealing to those in and out of his party who believe Bush and other Washington Republicans have lost their way. No other candidate could claim to offer continuity and change almost simultaneously.

If anyone...Repub or Dem did this same thing, they'd be sneering at them. If anyone else had hugged Bush like lover, they'd be all over it. But St. John can get away with almost anything, because he sucks up to reporters just like he sucks up to Bush.

[zulchzulu]

13. How McCain can support Bush after the 2000 primary season tricks...

...he indeed must be thinking more about the Repug Party than his own legacy.

Bush would just as quickly destroy McCain in 2008 with the lies that Rove used in him in 2000000000000000022222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222