McCain on the Wrong Side of GOP Voters

Pat Buchanon writes a piece today on John McCain, and the fact that this has not been a good month for him as he seems bound and determined to be on the wrong side of the GOP voters:

But the last six weeks have muddled this picture, and McCain now appears out of step with his party and country. Consider the returns from California of Tuesday last.

Brian Bilbray, a lobbyist who had won 15 percent in the primary to 44 percent for Democratic opponent Francine Busby -- to fill the seat of convicted Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham -- came from behind to win 49-45. Busby's failure suggests the "culture-of-corruption" issue is no sure winner for Democrats this fall. Bad news for Rahm Emanuel, who runs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But worse news for McCain. For Bilbray attributes his comeback to a relentless assault on the McCain amnesty for illegal aliens that passed the Senate in May and his support for a 2,000-mile fence on the U.S. border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. So miffed at Bilbray was McCain he canceled a fund-raising appearance.

Not only is McCain the champion of the "indocumentados," he has imputed racist motives to senators who oppose putting illegals on a path to American citizenship. As Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online writes, "McCain uttered on the Senate floor what was probably the worst sentence of the entire debate," when he flippantly asked, "What next -- are we going to say work-authorized immigrants are going to have to ride in the back of the bus?"

This language is redolent of the moral superiority liberals often assumed, which helped to make them insufferable to Middle America.

Since there will be a replay of the Bilbray-Busby contest in November, there's the potential for McCain finding himself touted by the wrong candidate yet again (unless the immigration bill dies in conference). There are many of us who would have a very difficult time voting for McCain as he seems, at best, a fair weather Republican, more interested in staying on the right side of the press than the right side of political issues.

There's definately room for a conservative candidate in '08.