MCCAIN: WHAT DOES HE STAND FOR?

Three months after (somehow) winning the GOP nomination for President, Senator John McCain has so far failed to put any flesh on his almost-bare political bones. In other words, McCain is an empty shell - or, as Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, "There is no there there."

With McCain, there is no "there there."

Here is a good test: take any successful politician and you can sum up their message or legacy in one easy sentence. For example:

Ronald Reagan: won the Cold War and limited the growth of government;
Abraham Lincoln: ended slavery and saved the nation;

FDR: kept the country hopeful through the Great Depression and fought Hitler and Tojo;

Or among current politicians:

Ted Kennedy: Big Government liberalism is the solution to everything;

Ron Paul: Libertarian conservatism is the only philosophy that works over the long haul;

Now, take John McCain and try to come up with his one-sentence message.

Is it:

John McCain: political reformer, fiscal conservative who took on run-away, out-of-control Big Spending GOP and who challenged the dominance of the Christian Conservatives;

Or is it:

John McCain: railed against the inherent corruption in DC but is, at the same time, surrounded by inside-the-beltway lobbyists, used clout to help Arizona political contributors;

Or is it:

John McCain: voted against Bush tax cuts, then voted to make them permanent; attacked concept of a withdrawal date from Iraq and then proposed his own 2013 withdrawal date; created Gang of 14 and then said he’d nominate ‘constructionist judges.’

Or is it:

John McCain: passionate advocate of amnesty for illegal aliens who then swore he would oppose amnesty for illegal aliens;

The contradiction of the above is one of McCain’s many problems: there is no consistent, constant John McCain.

He has tried to be all things to all people. The result is he is nothing to anyone.

And thus he inspires no positive emotion. If he is to win in the fall, it will be because his campaign demonizes the Democratic nominee and scares the voters into voting against that nominee. (No wonder the GOP wants to run against Obama. There is a vast, unmined trove of material to use to paint Obama so far out of the mainstream as to make his election almost impossible.)

But how many people will be voting for McCain?

And if he should win, how can a man who basically stands for nothing - and who heads a party with which he disagrees on almost everything from taxes to amnesty to global warming - run the Federal Government with an overwhelming Democrat House and Senate?

All of this makes McCain such a strange anomaly. No one knows him. What would he do? What does he really believe?

My guesses:

McCain is not a bright man. He knows very little about anything. He cannot expound on any topic for more than 20 seconds. His knowledge of business and economics is zip. His knowledge of foreign policy and history are equally weak.
He has devoted most of his life to hard-partying.

He is not a serious man; he was a lifelong, playboy play-around. While that may be great for a daring, dashing jet jockey, it is not good for a President.

He has terrible candidate skills. His speaking ability earns a D-minus; he cannot rouse an audience; he is terrible reading the TelePrompter and is not good on TV, either.

He looks 171 years old - not the 71 he is.

His attempts to make light of his age are backfiring. Unlike Reagan who defused the age issue, McCain actually seems to be aging right in front of our eyes.

His cosmetic attempts to change reality will not work. I.E., his recent removal of lobbyists from his campaign does not and cannot alter the fact that he hired them in the first place. He chose these people - and now that he sees it may hurt him he is canning them;

Same with Reverent Hagee’s endorsement brouhaha. McCain accepted the endorsement months ago and refused to budge until the heat grew to an unbearable degree. So now he has ‘rejected’ Hagee’s endorsement - and that will suffice? How can that be - any more than Obama trying to separate himself from Reverend Wright will not work either.

Conclusion: McCain is an empty suit - albeit wrapped in a POW’s prison uniform - who actually stands for nothing.

But he is running against an equally empty suit - Obama - with all sorts of political problems.

November is a long, long way off.

I will guarantee you of one thing: there will be a Big, Big Surprise before too long which will upset this race for the White House.

DISTRESS IN THE SYSTEM

Here is a question you hear all the time these days: "McCain...Obama...what a choice! How can this country survive four more years with either of these two as President?"

Ask most voters - Republican, Democrat or Independent - and they are unhappy about the state of the 2008 Presidential campaign today - with the exception of the legions of Obama supporters who adore him and see him as their Messianic Savior.

Hillary voters are aghast at the thought of their Democrat Party being taken over by Obama.

Republicans and Conservatives, too, are extremely lukewarm - at best - toward McCain; at worst at least 25% of Republican primary voters continue to traipse to the polls in Indiana, Pennsylvania and North Carolina to vote against McCain. And now we read that the Ron Paul forces plan to disrupt the GOP Convention in September as a protest against McCain.

Independent voters - by their nature - are not happy either with the two parties. That is why they have opted out of the two-party system.

So as we enter the final six months of this endless and seemingly aimless Presidential race, where are we? Let us take a look:

The GOP Situation:

McCain is incredibly weak in his own party. There is no enthusiasm for him at all. And there is genuine dislike for him among hard-core conservatives; their dislike has increased as this year has gone on;

As the economy sours, McCain’s numbers decline, too. In fact, his numbers are actually declining; in some recent head-to-head polls (meaningless as a predictor of the winner six months ahead but good to judge his strengths and weaknesses) he is under 40% now.

McCain the Candidate does not speak with passion or knowledge about the economy, job-creation, health care or any other domestic issue; his confidence is highest when he discusses military matters;

Do you ever find anyone who adores McCain? Who would die for McCain the way voters would die for a Nixon or a Reagan? No!
A McCain voter generally is someone who dislikes McCain less than he or she dislikes the alternative;

Technically, McCain looks old, is stiff on the stump, can’t read a TelePrompter, is not inspirational and has created a Gigantic Problem for himself on his Right;
But he still might win!

How? Because Obama is almost unelectable. Let us examine:

The Democrats:

A careful state-by-state analysis of the Battleground States shows that Hillary would run much better against McCain than Obama would. I.E. Florida: Hillary leads Mccain by 11; Obama loses by ten. I.E. Hillary runs much better in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arkansas than Obama does.

Michigan is a huge problem for the Democrats because of their indicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. His status has so divided Michigan that it is doubtful Obama could carry it in the fall;

No one has a clue what Hillary plans to do - or when. Is she still "in it to win it"? Or is she now looking to damage Obama so she can come back in 1012 in a "I told you so" campaign.

The Democrats are truly amazing. In a year they almost cannot lose, they may pick the one candidate - Obama - who cannot win.

Obama’s naivite and lack of international knowledge is a problem for us all. When the sycophant media praises him they only reinforce a false premise: Obama is actually as badly prepared for the Presidency as was G.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter;

There is still a feeling that there are other ‘skeletons’ or other ‘Reverend Wrights’ yet to be uncovered on Obama; the Clintons ain’t giving up yet;

Hillary knows this - and she also feels Obama would lose in November. So she will soldier on - hoping lightning strikes before Denver;

The Democratic infrastructure - from whence come the Super Delegates - is sick and tired of Hillary and Bill Clinton. "Payback is a bitch" - and the Clintons are getting their payback from costing their party the House, Senate (1994) and the (Gore) Presidency (2000) and for the embarrassment of the Lewinsky impeachment saga.

Obama is the Mirror Opposite of the Bushes and the Clintons - and he was against the war in Iraq. This is why he has almost won the nomination.


Conclusion: you get the feeling that ‘something’ is going to happen and shake up this race - perhaps on both sides.

PLEASE VOTE FOR GRANT AND FARBER

By John LeBoutillier

The Radio Hall of Fame is conducting an election for its new class of inductees. Two of Talk Radio's pioneers are on the ballot - Bob Grant and Barry Farber - and they should both be elected with 100% of the vote!

Why?

These two radio greats have given us what we today take for granted (no pun intended): conservative thought translated into entertaining radio all across our nation - 24/7.

It wasn't always this way.

Fifty years ago another radio legend - Barry Gray - took the first on-air phone call during his New York City show conducted from a mid-town restaurant. That began the "listener call-in" that has evolved into the genius of the genre: we the people are the stars of Talk Radio.

Bob Grant - with his passionate monologues about the declining morality of our national culture - and Barry Farber - with his encyclopedic knowledge of history and language - were leading the way long before Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham were born.

And as wonderful as Rush Limbaugh is, his way was paved by Barry Farber and Bob Grant.

Luckily for all of us, these two all-time greats are still broadcasting - and we can vote for them to be inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame this coming November. Just go to www.radiohof.org and cast your votes for Farber and Grant!