Well, yeah. McCain is trying to hold the GOP base together while appealing to the middle. Since the GOP base and the middle have little in common it requires great verbal contortions to do both, as well as focusing on annoying esoterica like porkbusting which both groups hate, but which most people don't really give a damn about.Mr McCain’s shift on offshore drilling – which contrasts with his strong support for upholding the moratorium in his 2000 bid for the Republican nomination – could further chip away at his reputation for being a “straight talker”.
Some even compare his shifting stances with those of John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate, who was skewered by Mr Bush for his contortions over the Iraq war.
Mr McCain’s dilemma is real. Unlike Mr Bush in 2004, Mr McCain cannot win the election simply by turning out the Republican faithful, because the number of Republicans has shrunk dramatically. Since 2004, public support has shifted heavily towards the Democrats.
However, nor can he win without the Republican base, much of which remains sceptical of his conservative credentials. They point to his history of support for campaign finance reform, his continuing opposition to new drilling in the Arctic and the perception that he is only lukewarm in his opposition to abortion.
This seems like a pretty apt reading of the situation. Plus, McCain has an irritating self-righteousness about virtually every aspect of policy that he cares about, which is commented upon in this very excellent diavlog between Andrew Sullivan and Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic.
This is just odd, though:
Mr Gingrich, is spearheading an online petition to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling, which, he says, is the single biggest voter concern.
The single biggest voter concern? Maybe the gas issue generally, but I don't think this particular idea is the single biggest concern yet. It could be thorny for Obama with the enviros, though McCain's made a big deal of his environmentalism as well. I suppose we'll have to see how this all plays out, but my sense is that McCain's high-wire act isn't going to last forever, and that it would probably be better for McCain if he just said what he thought instead of trying to avoid losing any element of GOP support. A balanced budget-centric campaign could work, but he seems inclined to stick with Bushonomics.
