Here's the Beef:
Conservatives' Problems With John McCain
By Richard A. Viguerie

John McCain is a hero for his service in Vietnam. Most conservatives would be thrilled to support him, if only he would give them reason to.

Why is it that conservatives have such a hard time lining up behind John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president? Is it, as some liberals suggest, just "pique" -- that we didn't get our way, and now we're throwing a tantrum? Or are the differences between McCain and conservatives very real, very serious matters that go to the heart of the principles of conservatism?

The truth is that the differences with McCain are real. They involve matters of policy, of personnel ("Who will make decisions in a McCain administration?"), and of insights into the Senator's thinking about conservatives and the issues important to conservatives.

The biggest complaints expressed by conservatives are these:

SUPREME COURT: Perhaps conservatives' biggest issue is whether future appointments to the Supreme Court and lower courts will be in the mold of Justices David Souter, John Paul Stevens, and William Brennan -- left-wingers appointed by Republican presidents -- or in the mold of distinguished conservatives such as Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia.

It may be that even a moderate conservative such as Samuel Alito would be "too" conservative for John McCain. According to John Fund of The Wall Street Journal, McCain, in private conversations with lawyers, "indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito because 'he [Alito] wore his conservatism on his sleeve.'"

And, although McCain has promised to appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court, that's highly unlikely, because conservative judges would overturn the Senator's proudest achievement, McCain-Feingold.

RIGHT TO LIFE: Closely related to the issue of judicial appointments is that of the right to life of unborn children. McCain professes to be pro-life, but he has supported continued taxpayer funding for the largest abortion lobby, Planned Parenthood.

In addition, McCain opposed even the modest limitations that President Bush put on embryonic stem cell research. In supporting taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research, he joined with those trying to make political and financial gain by playing on the fears and unrealistic hopes of people with serious diseases, and those taking advantage of public confusion regarding different types of stem cells.

TAXES: McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, and joined the Left in falsely labeling them "tax cuts for the rich." (That charge was proven false when, after the cuts, the percentage of taxes paid by the rich went up, not down.)

FIRST AMENDMENT: McCain is, of course, co-sponsor of the infamous McCain-Feingold law, which shields incumbent officeholders from criticism and improves the political advantage of wealthy candidates ("self-financers") and of persons like radical billionaire George Soros. And, to promote campaign finance "reform," McCain co-founded the anti-First Amendment "Reform Institute," which served as a sort of interim campaign committee for McCain and which was funded by groups with ties to Soros, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and other radicals.

SECOND AMENDMENT: McCain appeared in ads for the anti-Second Amendment organization "Americans for Gun Safety" in 2002, and, in 2003-04 and 2005-06, earned "F minus minus" ratings from the Gun Owners of America.

"GAY MARRIAGE": He opposes a constitutional amendment to reserve legal marriage for couples consisting of a man and a woman.

AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS: He co-sponsored, with Senator Edward Kennedy, legislation providing for amnesty for many people who came to this county illegally.

"GLOBAL WARMING": Just as scientists began to revolt against Al Gore and his allies, McCain declared that the debate is over. He claimed to have seen evidence of global warming with his own eyes -- a scientific impossibility, given the pace of the alleged warming. He co-sponsored the McCain-Lieberman bill, which, in the name of fighting global warming, would create countless burdensome regulations and would impoverish regular Americans while enriching Big Business. He opposes oil drilling in the Alaskan wasteland (ANWR).

BIG GOVERNMENT: Perhaps the one topic on which Senator McCain sings the song conservatives like to hear is on earmarks. That's an important issue, but we could eliminate all earmarks tomorrow and the federal government would not be noticeably smaller. McCain has not put forth any plan to refocus and restructure the government, to eliminate unnecessary and counterproductive programs, and to significantly reduce the size of the bureaucracy and the burden of regulations.

PERSONNEL: As they say: Show me who you walk with and I'll show you who you are. McCain recently brought on board his campaign two key figures in the Bush devolution of the Republican Party, Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove.

He named, as his National Campaign Finance Chair, Jerry Perenchio, a major funder of various left-wing causes ranging from the Natural Resources Defense Council and the campaign for "bilingual education" to the campaign of former California Governor Gray Davis.

He named, as his campaign's Hispanic outreach director, Juan Hernandez, a prominent defender of illegal aliens and a former advisor to Mexican President Vicente Fox.

To run the Republican National Convention this summer, he selected Bobbie Kilberg, one of the founders of the left-wing National Women's Political Caucus and a longtime nemesis of cultural conservatives. In the 1970s, Kilberg led the fight for racist and sexist quotas for Republican convention delegates.

In addition, McCain's lieutenants seem to take delight in insulting conservatives.

For example, Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain's strongest supporter in the Senate, called opponents of illegal immigration "bigots," and former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, representing the McCain campaign, called religious conservatives the "Far Right" (i.e., like Nazis) and said they were "a serious problem" in the GOP. McCain did not repudiate either comment, though he was quick to denounce a talk-show host and supporter who referred repeatedly to Barack Obama's middle name.

ATTITUDE TOWARD CONSERVATIVES: In 2000, he declared Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, two leaders of religious conservatives, to be "agents of intolerance," and he said that their influence over the GOP was "evil." (In contrast, he recently defended Barack Obama after Obama's pastor and mentor was exposed as a racist hatemonger.)

In 2004, McCain supported false allegations made against the Swift Boat Veterans group, and, in 2007, he joined liberals in the false "phony soldiers" attack on Rush Limbaugh. In 2007, he declined to appear at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation's largest annual gathering of conservatives; David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said McCain "dissed" CPAC.

Recently, McCain responded to conservatives' concerns about him by telling them to "Calm down," as if they were petulant children. In March, he spoke before a meeting of top conservatives and appeared unprepared for questions -- on issues ranging from personnel to his relationship with God -- that he should have known were coming.

He seems determined not to associate too closely with conservatives, as if he were afraid that conservatism is contagious.

McCAIN AS A RINO (REPUBLICAN IN NAME ONLY): No one in modern history has received a major party nomination after showing the level of disloyalty that McCain has shown to his own party. Putting aside his frequent alliances with liberals and Democrats, consider the times he has negotiated to leave the party.

According to The New York Times, the Washington newspaper The Hill, Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal, and other sources, he seriously considered switching parties in 2001, engaging in months of negotiations with Democratic Party leaders. (Such a switch would have given control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats despite the fact that Republicans had won the election. As it happened, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont made the party-switching deal, beating McCain to the punch.)

In 2004, McCain discussed with John Kerry the possibility of being Kerry's running mate, according to The New York Times and other sources. Kerry, arguably the most left-wing major-party nominee since vice presidential candidate Henry Wallace in 1940, "wooed" McCain, according to The New Republic, which noted: "The reported half-dozen conversations the two held on the topic are about a half-dozen more than would have been needed if McCain truly was a dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republican."

There is simply no way to reconcile McCain's flirting with Democrats in 2001-2004 and his claim that he is, and has been, a conservative, Reaganite Republican.

Those aren't McCain's only sins from a conservative perspective.

He has made a point of attacking the creators and manufacturers of medicine, even suggesting that Canadian price controls, which delay or prevent the development of new drugs, be effectively imported to the U.S.

He has supported and continues to support "normal" U.S. trade with Vietnam and China, despite the fact that those countries are still ruled by communist dictatorships. Regarding the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), which President Reagan strongly opposed and which conservatives abhor for its violation of U.S. sovereignty, McCain said the U.S. should "fix it, don't sink it."

Finally, there's the Dog That Didn't Bark -- the event that should have happened, but didn't.

McCain wrapped up the nomination more than two months ago, when Mitt Romney dropped out. He has had a long time to reach out to conservatives. But he has done nothing of significance in that regard.

He desperately needs conservatives to unite behind his candidacy, but seems content to rely on his status as the presumed lesser-of-two-evils. And that fact alone tells you everything you need to know about John "I'm a conservative" McCain.

You can add your comments on this article, and your thoughts on Senator McCain, in Richard Viguerie’s blog on this website at http://conservativehq.com/blog/conserva ... hn_mccain/

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