Moderates Don't Score

Promoted - DocJ

by Lance Thompson

In the Tuesday night debate, John McCain needed a decisive win. But to do that, he needed a decisive platform. As a moderate Republican, he hasn't one.

McCain landed one solid punch on the financial crisis when he placed the blame for the mortgage meltdown squarely on the Democrats who coerced banks to lend money to those who couldnt pay it back. Such provisions were passed under Democrat presidents Carter and Clinton. In the same answer, McCain mentioned that Obama had received the second highest amount of contributions from Fannie Mae executives in history. This was the fight conservatives had been waiting for.

But Obama ducked most of the hits and moved on. McCain, having tossed a bone to the conservatives, never returned to the hard-hitting tactic, and repeated his populist rhetoric about greedy Wall Streeters. McCain had taken the gloves off, and he quickly slipped them back on.

Obama presented McCain with a tremendous opportunity while discussing Iraq. Obama said that Iraq was a misjudgment, a mistake, a case of taking our eye off the ball. Then, Obama answered a question on military intervention by saying that we all would have liked to have intervened to prevent the holocaust, and we should all support intervention in cases of genocide.

McCain could have said that genocide was exactly what was happening in Iraq prior to our liberation of that country. Iraqis lived in terror under a pitiless dictator who used poison gas on his own people, and was systematically killing, starving or driving out the Iraqi Kurds. That is the definition of genocide. How could Iraq be a mistake if it met the conditions of Obamas policy for military intervention? McCain let this one slide.

Later, an audience member asked if health coverage should be treated as a commodity. Both Obama and McCain took this opportunity to present their health care plans, but neither answered the question. McCain, who went second on this one, should have said, "Yes, health care should be treated as a commodity, because commodities respond to the laws of supply and demand. Only the free market can contain the costs of medial care. Health insurance insulates the consumer of health care from the provider, and costs, consequently, have risen steadily. As long as there is an intervening authority, whether private health insurer or government provider, health costs will continue to rise." McCain brushed up against this principle in his $5000 health insurance tax credit, but it was far from a direct hit.

The problem is, McCain is close to Obama on several issues. They both overstate the impact of global warming. They both still blame Wall Street for the financial crisis. They both voted for the astronomically expensive bailout. They both are soft on illegal immigration. McCain is a moderate; Obama, though he poses as a moderate, is a true liberal. In this case, it gives Obama an advantage. His political base knows he is one of them, and supports him absolutely. The conservative base knows McCain is not one of them, and their support is halfhearted.

McCain is capable of a bare-knuckle campaign, as he demonstrated in his primary battle against Mitt Romney. But when it comes to the main event, he is tentative and cautious. With less than a month to go and in view of discouraging poll numbers, now is the time to release the warrior within if John McCain still thinks America is worth fighting for.

http://www.lowdowncentral.com/feature-article/2008/10/8/moderates-dont-score.html