John McCain's bold agenda may recast his legacy
John McCain's bold agenda may recast his legacy
Dan Nowicki -
Feb. 20, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
During Sen. John McCain's long political career, he has been known both as the Republican presidential standard-bearer and a GOP "maverick" willing to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats on controversial big issues.
Now safely re-elected to a fifth and possibly final Senate term, the 74-year-old Arizona Republican is ready to work on an ambitious agenda focusing on economic, national-security and border issues as well as tackling politically explosive subjects such as Social Security reform.
And while few expect a full-fledged return of McCain the maverick - he famously denied last year that he ever considered himself one as he staved off a primary challenge from his party's right wing - McCain and others are optimistic that there may be certain occasions when he can work with President Barack Obama and other Democrats in a bipartisan way.
With his stature as a former presidential nominee and one of the best-known Republicans in the country, McCain is viewed as an essential component of any effort to fix Social Security or reform U.S. immigration policy. As ranking GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain could be a potential help to Obama on issues such as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. On issues where he and Obama disagree, McCain is expected to continue to play the role of the loyal opposition.
The next chapter in McCain's Capitol Hill tenure could figure prominently in his legacy.
"John is going to be in a place to really affect the course of the debate on national security and domestic policy because of all of his years of experience and the positions he has within the institution," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of McCain's closest political allies on Capitol Hill. "I think in many ways John McCain's best days are ahead of him."
McCain and Obama
Since losing the 2008 White House race to Obama, McCain took a hard-line stand against marquee Democratic agenda items such as the 2009 economic stimulus package and the 2010 health-care law. Critics charged that McCain either had personal animosity toward Obama or was trying to bolster his conservative credentials in response to the threat of a primary challenge from his party's right wing. McCain maintained that Obama and the Democrats commanded such big majorities in the House and Senate that they had little need to reach out to Republicans. Their large numbers allowed them to push through their liberal priorities without negotiating concessions or compromising, he said.
The 2010 congressional midterm elections changed that dynamic. The GOP took control of the House and made gains in the still Democratic-controlled Senate.
"The Democrats and the president are much more inclined towards working in a bipartisan fashion," McCain told The Arizona Republic. "They don't have the supermajorities that they have had in the past."
The Jan. 8 shooting spree near Tucson also may have had an impact on McCain and Obama's relationship. After Obama delivered a moving speech at a Jan. 12 memorial to the victims, McCain wrote a complimentary guest column in the Washington Post that resulted in a face-to-face Oval Office meeting in which the former 2008 combatants discussed working together on ways to grow the economy, confront federal debt, restrain spending and other topics.
"Obviously, jobs and the economy in Arizona are the most important issues," McCain said. "That means getting our fiscal house in order and getting spending under control and creating jobs in Arizona and keeping people in their homes."
Also on tap: Social Security reform.
In a Twitter message Thursday, McCain channeled Elvis Presley: "We need 'a little less conversation and a little more action' on reforming Social Security." In a follow-up, McCain said he would be introducing legislation soon to "restore long-term solvency."
Graham, who is working with McCain on entitlement reform, called the Social Security effort an example of "John McCain the problem solver" at work. McCain will step up the pressure to solve Social Security's financial dilemma and could attract Obama administration support, he said.
"I think when he (McCain) gets involved in the game, it really is an invitation to the president to jump in and do something," Graham said.
Border priority
McCain also continues to cast a giant shadow over discussions about possible comprehensive immigration reform. Although the political complexion of Congress makes such a legislative package an extreme long shot, supporters are cautiously optimistic that McCain, their one-time Republican champion, might return to the negotiating table to help forge a compromise. McCain was a big supporter of immigration-reform efforts in 2006 and 2007, but both failed. Opponents decried the bills as offering "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
"There's only one guy in the U.S. Senate who could make immigration reform go from 'not happening' to 'game on,' and that's John McCain," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a national group that advocates for comprehensive immigration reform. "He's the only one."
But as in the past few years, McCain is making border security and enforcement a top priority, one he says must be satisfied before he is willing to consider other proposals such as a guest-worker program or a pathway to legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants already in the country.
McCain, who also sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, suggested that some Democrats are coming around to his way of thinking about border security because of escalating violence in Mexico. Homeland Security Department statistics have signaled progress through increased seizures of drugs, guns and money and other indicators, but McCain says more needs to be done.
McCain said implementing the 10-point border-security plan that he and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., offered in 2010 provides the best opportunity for Obama to bust the political logjam. Among other provisions, the McCain-Kyl proposal would bring 3,000 National Guard troops to the Arizona border.
"If we do that, we can secure the border and we can move on to other aspects of illegal immigration," McCain said. "But first, we've got to get the border secured, as you've heard me say a thousand times."
Trafficking of guns to Mexico also is a concern for McCain, who a decade ago worked with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat who turned independent, on unsuccessful legislation to regulate gun shows and close a loophole that allows firearm sales at such events without background checks.
"I'd have to find out what the sentiment here is, but this export of weapons from the United States to Mexico is an issue and one that we need to address," McCain said when asked if he might revisit the gun-show issue.
Legacy at stake?
McCain has not said his fifth term will be his Senate swan song, though many political observers are assuming it is. He will turn 80 in 2016, the year he would next face re-election. Some observers believe McCain might be at a point where he is considering how history will remember his time in the Senate.
"I would imagine now that he isn't thinking about re-election for at least six years, if at all, there probably will be some movement back to the center to find a middle place," said Fred Solop, chairman of Northern Arizona University's politics and international-affairs department. "I think that's where his heart lies."
While it's unlikely McCain would ever get too far out of step with the conservative "tea party" movement and other Republican leaders, he can play a more diplomatic role on Capitol Hill, Solop said. "He can reach the higher ground on many issues," Solop said.
Jim Pederson, a former Arizona Democratic Party chairman and a 2006 candidate for the Senate, has observed McCain since he served in the House in the 1980s. He misses the maverick and said McCain can seal his legacy as a Senate statesman, and benefit both Arizona and the nation, by reviving those independent tendencies.
"He's always been known as somebody who stakes out a position that he really believes in - that's how he got the maverick label - and I would hope he gets back to that," Pederson said. "I see little signs that that seems to be happening. That's what the country needs."
But Kyl, who has served in the Senate with McCain since 1995 and who beat Pederson in 2006, scoffed at suggestions that McCain has somehow changed. As the former GOP presidential candidate, McCain remains "our most notorious member of our conference" who is looked to for assistance and support on a wide variety of issues, said Kyl, the Senate minority whip.
"If you mean by 'maverick' someone who is always in there fighting the good fight and not afraid to mix it up, as opposed to going along to get along, that's John McCain," Kyl said. "If you mean somebody who is a Republican taking liberal positions in order to please the New York Times, then no."
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