McCain Democrats
March 6th, 2008 at 06:34pm Geoff
Yuval Levin has an intriguing piece posted on National Review Online today regarding Sen. Obama’s potential weaknesses–and more importantly, Sen. McCain’s potential strengths–in a general election contest between the two. Here is a key excerpt:
Blue-collar Democrats, especially in the upper midwest, are the voters Republicans used to think of as Reagan Democrats. For several election cycles now they have been more or less just Democrats. But given Obama’s apparent vulnerability among them in the primaries, Republicans may find an unexpected opening this year.
John McCain is better suited than most Republicans would be to appeal to such voters, as his deeply felt patriotism and old-fashioned sense of honor would speak to them. But he will need more to win their votes. He will need a policy agenda that begins from their concerns, and appeals to blue-collar parents. McCain has at his disposal some of the elements of such an agenda, and it is not too late for him to gather more and to build his appeal to Reagan Democrats. He will get a fuller hearing than Republicans generally do, and Obama will get a colder shoulder than most Democrats do among these voters.
Entry Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain
8 Comments
1. Eric T | March 6th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Democrats up here in Michigan- Like good paying jobs with pensions and Social Security.
These two issues are the key.
2. Matt DiBari (Mattpat11) | March 6th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I think when it comes down to it, we’re all Americans. We can have different political views on a number of topics, but at the end of the day, we want the country to be safe more than anything, and yes, that includes Democratic politicians.
And Barack Obama may be completely well meaning. But his naive, quixotic view of the world scares the hell out of me. He’s the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st Century.
3. Seattle | March 6th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I think one of the reasons McCain won the nomination is that he has broad base appeal. As our nominee, McCain will put a whole range of states in play that wouldn’t have been otherwise, including Washington State! In fact, there was a Rasmussen Reports poll out recently that showed McCain beating both Obama and Clinton here.
4. KMorrison | March 7th, 2008 at 9:33 am
I think Senator McCain has an excellent chance at winning the middle particularly against Senator Obama. If voters do a basic resume comparison they’ll see that one is simply way more qualified than the other.
5. Pat Hickey | March 7th, 2008 at 10:27 am
John McCain has support from this old school Democrat ( 19th Ward Chicago) and he has the support of my neighbors -all blue collar, Irish, Polish, Italian,Lituanian, Czech, Croatian Catholics and African Americans - Tommy Hayes - Leo HS 2000 grad/Pro Heavyweight Boxer 27-1/Chicago Police candidate is a fine example.
Tommy is a 25 year old African American with a brother serving in Iraq and he believes that John McCain’s Leadership is the best way for a safe return from combat.
My Democratic Catholic neighbors - sneered by Keith Olbermann as ‘Archie Bunker’ voters - find John McCain to be much like themselves: anti-Abortion/School Choice/ Pro Death Penalty/ Common Sense Gun Laws/ Pro Law Enforcement/Pro American Patriots.
John McCain is the real Deal!
http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2008/03/john-mccain-steve-huntley-raises-bar.html
6. kjstrouble | March 7th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Matt,
You may be right about Obama. The problem seems to be that he sounds like JFK did. And so many people are buying into that right now. The question them becomes - how do we make them really hear the lack of substance, and see the lack of real experience?
7. Matt DiBari (Mattpat11) | March 7th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I almost think you’re going to have to drop the lack of real substance line of attack. If the Clinton Machine is unsuccessful in “Where’s the Beef”ing him, I’m not sure anyone can.
I’d try to compare his policies to McGovern and his campaign to Carter 76.
But I’d absolutely beat America over the head with this question
“Do you really want this man (Obama) with these foreign policy ideas (Chatting with Mad Men) protecting our country?”
8. Geoff | March 7th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Pointing out Sen. Obama’s alarming similarities to George McGovern and all of the other liberal notables in the Democratic Party will be a potent line of criticism, but I don’t think Sen. McCain should shy away from making an issue of the utter lack of substance the Obama campaign has been based on to date. That it hasn’t been an issue among Democratic primary voters does not mean it will not be an issue with Republican and independent voters in the fall, should he be the Democratic nominee.
Besides, as this article touches upon, his lack of substance has been an issue with many blue-collar Democrats in important states like Ohio.