That’s the word from American Research Group’s head Dick Bennett, as told to the Herald’s Brett Arends: Independent New Hampshirites are not fond of the Bush/McCain escalation plan:
Bennett says ARG is finding a similar trend in other states polled, including early primary battlegrounds like Iowa and Nevada. “We’re finding this everywhere,” he says.
The main reason isn’t hard to find: His hawkish stance on the Iraq war, which is tying him ever more closely to an unpopular president. “Independent support for McCain is evaporating because they view him as tied to Bush,” says Bennett
Wow.
I don’t know what possessed McCain to push for the troop escalation. If he really thought it would be successful, by most estimations he’s flat-out wrong. So that doesn’t speak well for his judgement. If it’s politics — maybe a preparation for the old stab-in-the-back “they wouldn’t let us win the war” line next year — I suspect that will fall flat, too. At any rate, right now it’s poison.
Thanks to Political Wire.
I’m against the surge. But if Bush goes ahead with it, at least it robs the wingnuts of their Dolchstosse.
Do you think Giuliani will have a better shot, because of McCain’s stance on the war?
This poll is of independent voters, so not the base of either party. I think that Giuliani will not benefit because I think the whole GOP brand is suffering with Indes.
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I used to pay a lot of attention to the polls, after the debacle of SS Reform in the spring of 2005 I noticed that indes started losing it with Bush and by 2006 they looked just like Dems in their repsonses. Indes are now looking like a distinct group on escalation, according to Pew, but they aren’t buying this BS at all. Their responses in the new poll are the opposite of Reps.
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So I don’t think that Giuliani can capture them as a GOP stalwart. I think that Giuliani’s brand is strong on National Defense in the party, so he can’t walk away from that in his base just to get independents.
Escalation (0:29)
From Atrios.
This is excellent news for Democrats.
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Six years ago, John McCain was hugely popular with independents (and quite a few Democrats).
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That he is tanking with Independence because of his stance on the war is great news.
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Of course, I don’t see the Democrats with much of a plan either. Have any of the Democrats had the guts to propose that we should be completely out within six month?
It started with the obsequious huckstering for George Bush last election. At least that could be explained, but the fact that McCain went well beyond the minimum amount of peddling required of a GOP stalwart raised an eyebrow.
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The subsequent groveling before the Religious Right, however, was impossible to ignore. John McCain once took a principled, if arguably overharsh, position against that gang. I happened to agree with his position. His craven reversal was impossible to stomach. The recent flirting with Dobson just solidifies this perception.
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I suspect I am typical of the the independents that were once drawn to McCain. I was once a huge supporter.
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No more.
Maybe the same thing as Democrat House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes –
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http://www.washingto…
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Until George bush asked for it?
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Isn’t McCain a member of that committee as well, and privy to the same briefings?
The Sunni-Shiite distinction was beyond him when asked by Congressional Quarterly.
I believe that Carter was elected in 1976 because people were fed up with lying politicians who were human windsocks – pointing in any direction the wind blows. After all of the garbage of Vietnam and Watergate, they wanted someone who was flat-out honest. Not just a non-dissembler, but someone who was true to their own beliefs. For better or for worst, we got Carter.
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I suspect that the same thing is going to happen this time ’round. People want a break from the blizzard of lies, triangulation, and incompetence of the last XX years. Folks like McCain, Clinton, and Willard are going to have a very rough time of it.
From TPM. McCain if anything has always been a proponent of ethics reform. Now James Dobson comes a knockin’ and McCain jumps ship. A provision on the ethic bills includes so-called “grassroots” organizations to detail their finances. Dobson’s Focus on the Family is circulating a petition against it and McCain just changed his position. I don’t get it.
With only 360-some days until the Iowa Caucus, McCain is tanking!
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I think the Patriots were tanking 360 days ago, too. I’ll reserve my joy for this autumn or winter.