Vote McCain, Vote Gridlock

27.06.2008

John Fund has a column today reassuring worried Republicans that all is not lost and that it's not 100 percent certain John McCain will lose in November. And he makes a number of smart points as to why that's the case (although I'm not sure anyone really thinks McCain is doomed at this point, so he's battling a bit of a strawman). But, in drawing on lessons from past elections that should give Republicans comfort, he picks an odd one--at least if he's trying to talk up McCain:

Mr. Clinton's 1996 re-election offers another lesson. Facing a presidential defeat in addition to losses in Congress, Republicans boldly appealed to the public's fondness for divided government. They put out ads featuring a fortune-teller staring into a crystal ball showing over-the-top scenes of Biblical devastation, plague and conflict. An announcer warned: "Remember the last time Democrats ran everything? The largest tax increase in history. Government-run health care. More wasteful spending. Who wants that again? Don't let the media stop you from voting. And don't hand Bill Clinton a blank check."
It worked. Republicans kept control of Congress. Haley Barbour, then chairman of the Republican Party and now governor of Mississippi, said at the time that voters responded to the idea they needed an insurance policy against one-party rule. Independent voters may not like the idea of having the government completely controlled by the trio of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

I think Fund is suggesting that McCain run on a platform of divided government, since I don't think anyone believes the GOP has a prayer of winning back either the House or the Senate. But it doesn't seem like a divided-government appeal could really work for a presidential candidate. Voters might be willing to hold their noses and vote for a politician of a party they don't like if they think that politician will be one of 535. But will they really do that for a presidential candidate? I don't see it. But, hey, if McCain wants to try it, I don't think any Democrats are going to complain.

--Jason Zengerle

Posted: Friday, June 27, 2008 2:23 PM with 8 comment(s)

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ejbenjamin said:

The appeal might be harder to make for Republicans now than it was in 1996, considering the most recent example of one-party fustercluck happens to be their own.

June 27, 2008 2:49 PM

hrsn said:

Um, don't we have divided government now--with esteem for both Congree and President at abysmal levels? So, is the McCain pitch "more of the same," which is the functional equivalent of G. W. Bush's third term...

June 27, 2008 2:50 PM

AlanSP said:

Yeah, because things have been just swell during the past 18 months that we've had a divided government. That's a pretty weak pitch.

June 27, 2008 2:54 PM

waynejm said:

Hmmmm. For McCain, running on a gridlock platform might be the only way he can simultaneously appeal to moderates and conservatives. Something along the lines of "I advocate making the Bush tax cuts permanent, but it will never happen because Congress won't let me do it."

Oh, never mind.

June 27, 2008 3:39 PM

blackton said:

waynejm, my thought exactly. He would get shredded in the debates as being an absolute hypocrite. "So Senator McCain, everything you are advocating you admit has no chance of passing. Can you tell us then exactly what you hope to accomplish?"

June 27, 2008 5:40 PM

blackie, with all of his renunciations of his former positions, he's gonna get shredded in the debates regardless, so he really has nothing to lose.

June 27, 2008 9:13 PM

jmkerr said:

Actually, that's a big attraction for moderate Democrats who loathe Obama. Every time Obamatons wail about the damage McCain would do to the court, it's easy to point out that a President McCain would not be able to get his justices, but would be able to veto the excesses that the idiot left dreams of.

In fact, it's the reason I started my blog (see <a href="dontbeagooddemocrat.com/000002.html">Is It Safe to Vote Republican?</a>, and you'll see this reasoning at most of the anti-Obama blogs.

June 28, 2008 12:12 AM

jmkerr - If by "moderate Democrats who loathe Obama" you're referring to disgruntled Hillary supporters, I'm confident that they'll be back in the fold come Election Day. Aside from that - and no, Joe Lieberman doesn't count - it's hard to envision moderate Democrats and independents casting their votes for a continuation of the gridlock of the last two years. It's going to take a lot of heavy lifting to undo the damage to the country caused by our current Moron-in-Chief and his regime over the last eight years, and it's painfully obvious to anyone who's listened to McCain spouting his policies that his presidency would just bring a continuation of the status quo.

In any event, the thought of John Fund promoting the idea of divided government as the Republicans' best-case scenario is one that brings me great satisfaction.

June 28, 2008 12:09 PM