John McCain’s victory in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary Saturday doesn’t assure him of the party’s nomination. It does, however, make the Arizona senator the clear front-runner. It also continues a remarkable political comeback for a man who long has earned respect across partisan and ideological lines for both his “straight talk” approach and his leadership on difficult issues.
Polling data indicate that Sen. McCain again did well among independents Saturday. That follows the pattern he established while attracting a considerable number of independent and even Democratic votes during his unsuccessful bid for the 2000 GOP presidential nomination, a pattern that resumed with his victory in the New Hampshire primary earlier this month.
That ability to draw non-Republican votes would be a crucial asset in November if Sen. McCain, a mainstream conservative, goes on to capture the nomination. So would his no-nonsense style, as well as his knowledge and experience on the domestic and international fronts
Will it be McCain/Huckabee now?
How can the press that has described McCain as a “maverick” for years, now call him “mainstream conservative”. He’s not conservative on anything but defense. His economic policies are hardly to the right of H. Clinton. OK, and I am still mad at him about McCain/Feingold that lessened our free speech rights, and gave us the likes of “Move-On.org”! Don’t EVEN get me started on M. Huckabee.
#1, please God not!
I too choked over this: ” Sen. McCain, a mainstream conservative,”
John McCain, is a “liberal” in conservative clothing. I’d have had more respect for him IF he had run as himself, not some “re-constituted conservative”.
As is it now, its difficult to believe anything he says, after his ‘conversion” a couple of months ago.
Gloria
I dunno, McCain has a liftime ACU rating of something like 82%, not what one would call “liberal.” He’s really stepped in it on a few big issues, though.
Jeffersonian,
unfortunately for him, these are the key issues in this race: National security, illegal immigration, and campaign finance reform.