2008 Woodie Awards
McCain's presidential bid littered with difficulties by both parties
Michael Roberts
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Opinion
The crowd cheers as John McCain is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
He is the oldest president ever to be elected to office but in his speech he swears that age is not a factor and he will act with the resolve of someone half his age. Once again (give or take) 40 percent of the population sit and wonder how a Republican was elected president after all the faults of the previous administration.
McCain goes on to unify the country like no president has in the past 20 years, and goes down as the president that brought us all together when we were in a defining moment in our country's history.
Is this just a dream of the Republican Party or is this election actually within McCain's grasp?
The real truth: McCain has but a mere couple of obstacles to overcome before he can convince the American public that he is the best candidate for president.
First McCain needs to excite the conservative base. McCain nearly left the Republican Party in 2001, and some of his policies don't fully agree with the conservative base.
It's because of this that extremely conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter have said that if McCain gets the nomination, not only will she vote for Hillary Clinton but she will campaign for her. McCain needs to find a way to get people like Coulter to support him. Would she actually campaign for Hillary?
The answer is most likely no, but, at the same time, she would not be an avid McCain supporter.
Next McCain has to pick a suitable running mate. There is a great pool of possible running mates for McCain to pick from, but if he wants to alleviate his first problem dealing with the conservative base, he really has two choices: Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
Both are ideal vice presidential candidates who could work to electrify the distant conservative base.
Mike Huckabee, however, may be seen to be a bit too radical to be a vice presidential candidate but he has the charisma and intellect that make him a great politician. He also brings forward the religious vote as a former Baptist minister and is very popular in the southern states (shown by his massive support from southern states in the primaries).
He is the oldest president ever to be elected to office but in his speech he swears that age is not a factor and he will act with the resolve of someone half his age. Once again (give or take) 40 percent of the population sit and wonder how a Republican was elected president after all the faults of the previous administration.
McCain goes on to unify the country like no president has in the past 20 years, and goes down as the president that brought us all together when we were in a defining moment in our country's history.
Is this just a dream of the Republican Party or is this election actually within McCain's grasp?
The real truth: McCain has but a mere couple of obstacles to overcome before he can convince the American public that he is the best candidate for president.
First McCain needs to excite the conservative base. McCain nearly left the Republican Party in 2001, and some of his policies don't fully agree with the conservative base.
It's because of this that extremely conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter have said that if McCain gets the nomination, not only will she vote for Hillary Clinton but she will campaign for her. McCain needs to find a way to get people like Coulter to support him. Would she actually campaign for Hillary?
The answer is most likely no, but, at the same time, she would not be an avid McCain supporter.
Next McCain has to pick a suitable running mate. There is a great pool of possible running mates for McCain to pick from, but if he wants to alleviate his first problem dealing with the conservative base, he really has two choices: Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
Both are ideal vice presidential candidates who could work to electrify the distant conservative base.
Mike Huckabee, however, may be seen to be a bit too radical to be a vice presidential candidate but he has the charisma and intellect that make him a great politician. He also brings forward the religious vote as a former Baptist minister and is very popular in the southern states (shown by his massive support from southern states in the primaries).
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