‘GOP getting crushed’

By Jennifer J. Foster

The Politico had a great article this weekend about the state of the Republican Party, and it wasn’t good news for the GOP. From the story:

John McCain is planning to run as a different kind of Republican. But being any kind of Republican seems like some sort of death sentence these days.

In case you’ve been too consumed by the Democratic race to notice, Republicans are getting crushed in historic ways both at the polls and in the polls.

Conventional wisdom holds that McCain must—repeat: MUST—be able to count on the conservative base of the GOP for a win in November. He’s got some work to do; even though he has compiled a voting record in the Senate that qualifies as “conservative” by intellectual standards, he has been off the Republican reservation on some of the GOP’s key issues—judges, immigration reform and campaign financing, to name three. Can he rebrand himself with conservatives as one of them? Or, with the Politico’s story in mind, should he even try?

It’s McCain’s so-called “maverick” streak that attracts moderates and independents. Could voters in those groups make up for a tepid turnout among the right?

On one hand, you could argue that McCain could not worry so much about the hard-core conservatives in his party, because he’ll be able to draw enough independents to make up for them. On the other hand, he’s running against Obama, who also has independent appeal; does that make the wing even more important, since the middle is going to be the battleground?

How close to Republican politics is too close for McCain? That’s what McCain’s advisers are pondering as they plot his general election strategy. This Politico article just adds a new dimension to the interesting backdrop for the general election, especially if Barack Obama ends up being the Democratic nominee: McCain the Maverick will battle Obama and his “new kind of politics” for independent and moderate voters in a “toxic” atmosphere for Republicans.

GOP strategists are just hoping the Rs behind their candidates’ names aren’t the political equivalent of Hester Prynne’s socially-radioactive A.

For the rest of the article, click here.