Will McCain Lose Independents in His Attempt to Attract Conservatives?

McCain: to independent or not to independent?

by William Rusher
Apr 20, 2006
Human Events Online
In the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., waged a long, spectacular battle against Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. In the process, McCain made himself the hero of many independents and moderate Republicans -- and not a few Democrats -- by dissenting from conservative dogma on a variety of important issues. .....
....To be sure, his current swing to the right on many issues may disenchant the liberal media and many of the independents and Democrats who have hitherto been among his strongest supporters. And it may not even convince the Republican conservatives he has so often disappointed, and whose support is essential to his nomination.
In addition, he faces a serious competitor in Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is enormously attractive on television and carries far less baggage than McCain in terms of liberal opinions. And if Romney's Mormonism proves more than the GOP's evangelical Christians can stomach, Virginia Sen. George Allen stands ready to offer an alternative whose 2004 rating by the American Conservative Union was 92 out of a possible 100.
But right now, by lining up squarely on the conservative side of so many issues, John McCain is making himself an even more formidable candidate for his party's nomination....more...