In his native Michigan, Mitt Romney finally found a place where he could buy affection, but I am willing to bet that the national Republican Party’s heart belongs to Senator John McCain. Only six months ago, McCain seemed to have imploded. Then he staged a spectacular comeback by winning the New Hampshire primary. In the last CBS/New York Times poll taken Jan. 9-12 after the New Hampshire primary, McCain was the choice of 33 percent of Republican primary voters.
Despite his Michigan setback, McCain should win the major test in South Carolina and wrap up the nomination in the flurry of March 4th primaries. McCain’s strength is his elect-ability. In the current poll, 41 percent of Republicans now view McCain as the most elect-able. Importantly, McCain leads among self-described conservatives with 31 percent to Huckabee’s 17 percent.
McCain, a maverick’s maverick, often delights in brawling with his friends and allies. His past displays of bipartisan principle on immigration reform, tougher gun controls and campaign finance legislation bruised and embittered some conservative activists. His February 2000 blast at Pat Robertson as an “agent of intolerance” is still remembered. That followed Karl Rove’s savage ambush of McCain in the South Carolina primary, which gave Bush the nomination.
Today, the economy is the number one issue. McCain told voters Monday he thought focusing on "green technology" could revive Michigan's economy and that switching to alternative fuel sources is an issue of national security, CNN reports.
"We are sending $400 billion of your dollars a year to oil-producing countries and look at those countries. They're not our friends," McCain said in Kalamazoo. "Some of that money's going to end up in the hands of terrorist organizations." McCain also said it's unrealistic to think all jobs can be restored, and he instead focuses on the retraining of workers.
"I would be ashamed to tell the people of Michigan or South Carolina that all of these jobs are coming back. I won the New Hampshire primary because I told people the truth…. These people know that a lot of these jobs aren't coming back."
McCain is the closest thing the Republicans have to “another Reagan,” but he has yet to gain the inner serenity that Reagan achieved. I served Reagan in three campaigns, and I remember how his intensely personal 1976 defeat by “accidental President” Jerry Ford bothered Reagan. Everything changed when Reagan realized soon afterward that he was lucky to lose to Ford and that he would then have a clear track to the presidency against Carter in 1980.
If McCain wins South Carolina, he will enjoy that “presidential moment.”
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