Lily s.

So what is the point in sucking up to people who would rather stay home and let the other side win than compromise? What will you have to do later to keep those people?

Traditionally, Republicans are interested in Small Governments with a balanced budget… not tax cuts at any cost. McCain’s position on the Bush tax cuts fit with a traditional Republican view… don’t cut taxes and increase spending… do one or the other. Since we were opening a war on two fronts, spending was bound to increase.

Traditionally, issues of torture, are neither Republican nor Democrat, but an issue of Nationalists (from any party) vs. Idealists (from any party). A Nationalist, would hold that the Nation’s Needs outweigh the ideals we strive to live by, an Idealist would argue that no need outweighs the ideals our nation was founded upon. Not supporting torture doesn’t make you a democrat, any more than supporting torture makes you a Republican.

The only areas where McCain has really separated himself from ‘traditional Republicans’ is in areas like McCain-Feingold. It’s a horrific future, if Democrats and Republicans are defined by how often they agree with the loudest voices of their party, rather than how they deal with actual issues of conservative vs liberal thought.

Besides, I think we’d be far better off with more Independent Senators… like oh say 100 of them.

Let the parties have the House… those fools rarely accomplish anything other than screaming at each other and trying to pass insane legislation… so it seems a great fit.

I don’t doubt for a second that Blumenthal knows this. Right now, America’s attention is fixed on Obama and Clinton. This is the PERFECT time for McCain to make his peace with conservatives (and libertarians), by emphasizing the things we have in common, warning about what EITHER democrat might do (especially in the war on terror) and generally getting people excited. The moderates and Left are distracted, so we can have a nice quiet conversation, he and us.

The thing is, there isn’t much Democrats can do to interfere, other than what Sid is doing: tempting McCain to try to go it alone. The next month or two, everyone is focused on Democrat drama; you won’t be heard over that din by the center or left anyway. In the fall, McCain will have to be focused on his precious moderates, plus trying to keep the Clinton/Obama bitterness alive. Democrats are eager to paint McCain as Bush III, or as a radical conservative, so they can’t openly say things now that will come back later. Plus, conservatives aren’t stupid: if they see Sid Blumenthal encouraging conservatives not to support McCain, they’ll stand with him.

McCain needs to use the next month or two to consolidate his base precisely because his campaign strategy will NOT be directed at that later.