The Maverick stands alone, the Maverick stands alone

I've long thought that John McCain faced the risk of being overrun by Obama's huge advantages in funding.  I also thought he may have to bank heavily on effective 527s to counter that disadvantage.  Looks like I might have been wrong, he's probably on his own.  Most of the major Republican and conservative 527 groups are not going to be there for him like they were for Bush in 2004.  Many of them are sitting out the election, have disbanded or are operating at limited capacity.

There are a few typical cited reasons that GOP and political operatives are giving as for why there isn't a 527 operation set up yet, lack of enthusiasm, donor fatigue, fear of the race card getting thrown, but you know the biggest fear they have, one that most of them are citing? 

But, in explaining the absence of any anti-Obama groups this time around, every individual interviewed for this story cited the same central reason: a fear that their party’s nominee will publicly denounce them and hold a grudge.

There it is, McCainiacs!  I saw that coming from a mile away, did you?  How many times have we talked about this?  McCain's fixation with fragging his own side has caused him to be completely abandoned.  This is a tough quote,

“Both donors and operatives know how much [McCain] abhors these groups,” said John Weaver, the Arizona senator’s former chief strategist, referring to the independent groups that have thrived following passage of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. “If he is ultimately successful and any of these groups played a significant effort in electing him, many believe, probably rightfully, that they would be ostracized.”

Yeah, that's typical McCain.  You help the guy, and he immediately kicks sand in your face.  Oddly enough, the big 527 groups, donors and organizers seem to agree with us "crybaby conservatives."  Funny, it's almost like if you think you're entitled to treat people like garbage in an system of government that requires you to convince those same people to elect you, they don't work very hard to see you to victory.  Interesting how that works.  Moar,

Another GOP strategist said that McCain’s denunciation of a 501(c)(4) which aired an ad in South Carolina last November touting McCain when his resources were severely limited sent a chilling message to potential independent expenditure groups.

Yet he went further,

"Anyone who believes they could assist my campaign by exploiting a loophole in campaign finance laws is doing me and our country a disservice,” McCain said then.

He used even stronger language after that, saying at a Texas town hall meeting in late February that 527s “are distorting the entire political process and they need to be outlawed.”

Yeah, that was just a genius move there McCain.  Let's not forget, he doesn't just do this to conservatives and 527's, he does this to state parties too, like what he did to the NC GOP, which the article notes too.  That little press conference he put together to trash the NC GOP pushed me into the Write-in Zombie Reagan camp, where I still reside.  The money quote,

“People think that if they take the wink and nod and give the money that he will piss all over them like he pissed all over the lobbyists," said a Republican who has been involved in past third-party efforts.

...there it is!  How many times have conservatives warned the McCainiacs that they needed to put a muzzle on their guy, saying the same thing, nearly word for word about conservatives for months now?

I know McCainiacs and the Fall in Line brigades are going to argue that "McCain don't need no stinking 527's", that he's gonna rise above it all.  Bull.  Negative ads and 527's exist because they work.  People swear up and down that they hate 527's whenever they're polled, but time after time, election after election, they work.   You need negative ads, you need 527's.  If McCainiacs are honest with themselves, they'll admit that McCain's political situation is grim, he has no support from conservatives, no support from the GOP (because the GOP has no support from conservatives), and now no support from big donors or 527's.

McCain's only chances are if Obama's campaign implodes due to scandal, people are turned off by his radicalism, or his demographics disadvantages break him.  This is no longer John McCain's election to win, it's Obama's to win or lose, as a veteran, McCain ought to know giving the initiative to your opponent is never a good thing, yet he has done exactly that.

If McCain wins, it'll be, to paraphrase our co-blogger Moron Pundit, because 10 unenthusiastic people voted for McCain, and 9 enthusiastic people gleefully voted for Obama.  That said, I'm really beginning to doubt that McCain is going to pull that off, and his insistence on fragging his own side will be his downfall. 

Hi-ho the derry-o
The Maverick stands alone...

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 12:11 PM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
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