|
By Mira Oberman, Agence France-Presse
ST. PAUL, Minnesota: Republican presidential
hopeful John McCain has finally energized his base with the pick of
a socially conservative ticket mate, but the question remains
whether his shift to the right has lost him the center.
The Arizona senator and war hero has cherished
his reputation as a maverick willing to break with his paty on
critical issues.
But McCain has made significant shifts to the
right after his failed bid to win the party’s nomination in 2000,
something Democratic rival Barack Obama has used to paint him as
being in lock-step with unpopular President George W. Bush.
McCain has been criticized for proposing that
temporary tax cuts he initially opposed be made permanent, hardening
his views on immigration, gay marriage and abortion, and embracing
evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, whom he had once called an
“agent of intolerance.”
“He’s doing what any politician trying to
get elected from a major party has to do—first assure his base is
sound and then move on to get people who may for some reason or
another be wavering,” said Stephen Hess, a senior fellow at the
conservative Brookings Institute.
McCain is “probably as far outside their orbit
as you can find and be able to get the nomination,” Hess told AFP,
explaining the shifts were merely aimed at bringing McCain closer to
the Republican mainstream.
“He understands he can’t possibly get
elected if his own rank and file are lukewarm.”
Several prominent leaders among the party’s
conservative wing who had publicly opposed McCain were won over by
his choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
The self-described “hockey mom” is an avid
hunter and an evangelical who opposes abortion except in cases where
a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. She also believes
creationism should be taught in schools.
“It was as if the whole Republican convention
had started drinking Red Bull,” Richard Land of the Southern
Baptist Church said of the reaction to Palin’s unveiling.
But Palin has not been the only concession:
McCain has also allowed the party’s conservative base to develop a
party platform considered its most hardline in recent history.
“We do have the most conservative platform
that we ever had,” said Colorado delegate Kendal Unruh who served
on the party’s platform committee.
“There is stronger language on border
security, stronger language on the environment . . . we were very,
very strong on the pro-life stance on the current platform.”
The party “has been where we have always been,
but John McCain listened to us and he responded to where we were at.
We haven’t moved,” Unruh told AFP.
But Palin—best known nationally for
challenging corruption in her own party—was also selected with the
hopes that she can help McCain draw in independents and disgruntled
supporters of Hillary Clinton’s failed bid for the Democratic
nomination.
“They’re hoping he can achieve two things at
once by embracing conservative positions on issues that motivate the
base, but still have a leadership that’s maverick,” said Michael
Dimock, assistant director of the Pew Research Center.
“Fewer Americans identify as Republicans today
that the pressure is even more extreme for McCain to make that
balance,” he said, noting that a recent poll found 51 percent of
Americans identify themselves as Democrats or independents who lean
to the Democrats.
The problem for McCain is that the social issues
which drew many “Regan Democrats” to the Republican Party are
being superseded by economic concerns.
“The ability of a social conservative like
Palin to draw those conservative Democrats is a tougher thing to do
than it was four years ago,” Dimock said in a telephone interview.
|
