McCain’s new fight

Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.

Despite all but sealing up the Republican nomination for president this week, Sen. John McCain is working to win the core support of his party and that, ironically, may doom his candidacy.

The Republican Party’s right wing, critical for any GOP candidate, has campaigned long and hard against McCain. In a show of how far out of the mainstream it is, the right wing has argued that McCain is not a true conservative. Right-wing talk show attack dogs such as Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham have rallied conservatives against him.

They cite several transgressions: McCain twice opposed President Bush’s tax cuts, supported creating a path to citizenship as part of an immigration bill and argued that the country should take aggressive action to curb greenhouse gases. He also was in favor of campaign finance reform and easing restrictions on stem cell research, and has gained a reputation for working with Democrats.

What most Republicans wanted was a reincarnation of a mythical Ronald Reagan. Instead, many on the right wing settled on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who abandoned his previously held beliefs — he once favored abortion rights, for example — to win their support.

Romney’s decision to drop out of the campaign Thursday, which essentially gives McCain the nomination, creates incredible tension in the GOP.

In his first attempt to make nice with the right wing, McCain promised the far-right Conservative Political Action Conference that he would make the Bush tax cuts permanent, appoint conservative judges and secure the borders before moving ahead on immigration reform.

Although those are conservative talking points, the right wing has been slow to embrace McCain. If, as threatened, the right wing were to withhold its support — and considerable cash — from his election bid, it could spell McCain’s doom. But if he continues to pander and move to the right, he will betray his principles and undercut support among independents and conservative Democrats, which he would need to win in November.

In our view, capitulating to the far right not only would cost him the election, but it would also result in his losing his reputation as a straight shooter.