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Grand Central Political Magazine
McCain Goes National
By Martha Zoller
"He's a maverick. But it's hard to know what a maverick's going to do." Sadie Fields, Georgia Christian Alliance on John McCain.
I have been a reformed "McCainiac" since March of 2000. It has been 7 years and 10 months since I last drank the kool-aid. It can't be denied that when Senator McCain was sitting on that airport curb in April, everyone counted him out. He is not out, and he is heading to the forefront of the closest thing to a national primary we will have. John McCain is ramping up the pressure.
But can he win the South? No candidate for President in modern times has won without carrying some of the South. In the last run, McCain alienated many voters by not talking about his faith and criticizing the Christian Right. Many of those folks have not forgiven him. He's a Baptist now and with his new found alliance with Mike Huckabee, the former governor and Baptist preacher, maybe he'll convince enough southerners to vote for him, or maybe Mike Huckabee will take enough votes from Mitt Romney to give McCain some southern comfort.
McCain should do well in the South. There are lots of military bases and lots of retired military, and that is a strong suit for him. But his positions are out of step with most Southern Republican voters. He was out of step with judicial nominees and the compromise of the "Gang of 14," Campaign Finance Reform, Gitmo, Tax Cuts (he voted against them) and Immigration Reform. Sure, he's been great on the war overseas, but he's waging his own war against the Constitution at home.
What most candidates don't get, as was evidenced by Slick Willie and his race-baiting during the South Carolina primary, is that the South is not the Old South anymore. Andrew Young said, "Desegregation and air-conditioning has made the New South," and he's right. For every one person that moves out of a southern state, 6 people move in according to the census -- and they are bringing their conservatism with them.
So will John McCain play in Atlanta, Birmingham or Nashville? It depends on how nasty he gets. His strengths can become annoying with too much bombast behind them. Also, can he refrain from showing that famous bullying temperament? Can he hold back from mocking people of faith in the political square? These are all important questions that only time will answer.
If John McCain is the nominee, it will be after a long primary process and possibly a nasty convention fight. I actually am looking forward to that. It will be a major defeat for conservatism if McCain gets the nomination. John McCain may have been a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution, but he doesn't look much like Reagan today. Reagan was not the anointed one, he wasn't a maverick either, and he was a man who related to people.
McCain revealed his disdain for the private sector during the last debate at the Reagan Library when he said he did his work for patriotism and not for profit. Where does he think the money to fund the public sector comes from? It comes from the hard working people of all incomes who make money and pay taxes. If there is no profit personally or professionally, then there is no public sector. John McCain seems to have no concept of how the free market or how our economy works.
So as the candidates swing through the country on Super Duper Tuesday, we will have a clearer picture of who will be the nominees of both parties. But a warning has to be issued: Don't sell the South short and don't think that the New South is anything like the Old South. We have risen from the ashes and are the place where opportunity and optimism lives.
It's been said that John McCain is the only one who can beat the opposition Democrats. Let's remember another nominee who was told that his opponent was the one who could beat the Democrats. His name was Ronald Reagan. If we've learned anything in this election cycle, it is that polls don't mean much unless they have voting booths. We'll know very soon what direction this is going, and if it's McCain or Romney who will come through the convention as the Grand Old Party's nominee.
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Martha Zoller is a political analyst and conservative talk show host for WDUN AM 550 in Gainesville, Georgia. She is one of the Talkers Magazine "Heavy Hundred" Talk Shows in America. She can be heard on Rightalk Radio and seen regularly on cable news. She is the author of "Indivisible: Uniting Values for a Divided America." You may contact her through www.marthazoller.com.