Clemency suggests

Email registration

Free weekly email update

Great products and special offers for Spectator readers

Click here for great value reader offers and events

Click here for the latest Spectator Wine Offers

The right's choice

James Forsyth

Tuesday, 29th January 2008

2008 was always going to be a tough year for the Republicans. It is notoriously hard for a party to hold the White House after a two term presidency—George H.W. Bush’s victory in 1988 is the only time that a two term president has been succeeded by a member of his own party since the war—and George W. Bush’s presidency has done serious damage to the Republican brand while the vehemence of the Republican base’s opposition to immigration reform has hugely set back the party’s attempt to reach out to Hispanic voters. But despite this there are reasons for Republicans to think that they could still win in November. First of all the head to head presidential match ups are far closer than the generic party numbers. Second, if Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination she will emerge into the general election as a weakened candidate because of the nature of her victory.

There is no doubt that John McCain is the Republican candidate with the best chance of winning in November. He also has unimpeachable credentials on the most important issue of the day, the war. Yet, there are still many in the conservative movement who subscribe to an anyone but McCain standpoint. Their opposition to McCain seems to be motivated more by the fact that he does not pay obeisance to them than anything else. If their animus against him leads to McCain not winning the nomination it will be a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face as the price of stopping McCain is to make it far more likely that a Democrat who is considerably more liberal, in the American sense of the word, than McCain on pretty much every issue is sworn into the presidency next January.

Previous Back to Americano Next

Blogs: Coffee House | Trading Floor | Clive Davis | Melanie Phillips | Stephen Pollard

Actions: Print this article | Email to a friend | Permalink | Comments (2)

Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Donal Blaney

January 29th, 2008 10:52am

On the basis of always going for the electable option, the Tories should have gone for Ken Clarke in 1997, 2001 or 2005. And yet imagine the bloodshed and division that would have ensued. If McCain doesn't at least throw SOME bones to conservatives at CPAC next week, he'll find he lacks the army of volunteers he needs to win a general election in November. Unless his fans at the New York Times outnumber conservative activists, which I doubt...

TGF UKIP

January 29th, 2008 9:55pm

James, you're not seriously embarking on an implicit Dave/McCain allegory are you? MCain is a maverick conservative, but Dave just ain't any sort of conservative. Indeed, in transatlantic terms, Dave, like his pal Boris, has far more in common with the Clintons for whom I'll bet he's rooting.