John McCain's trouble with his own party is well known and well documented. From his strife with his colleagues to what conservatives perceive as an inconsistent commitment to their ideals, the right's discontent with the Arizona Senator has shaped his campaign strategy: the focus of the 71-year-old's national pitch remains firmly trained on the very fringe of his party, as well as those independents who don't even count themselves among his company.
But in his epic war for the enormous cache of middle-of-the-road American voters with Democratic Senator Barack Obama, McCain may be losing a very important battle: his party rank and file. That's a foundation that the McCain camp can't live without.
Obama's highly surprising and unlikely popularity (albeit moderate popularity) is born out of a frustration with the "big tent" GOP forged in the days of Ronald Reagan, and many on the right are casting a skeptical eye toward McCain. "There are libertarians who say, ‘Oh yeah, do you think Obama will increase spending by $1 trillion?'" said Cato Institute executive vice president David Boaz. "'Because that's what Republicans did over the past two presidential terms.'"
George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" essentially euphemized a much nastier phrase: "big government."
And now, with Obama making a strong push to connect with social conservatives, McCain is feeling the heat. In 2000, the "Maverick" drove a wedge between he and the religious right, terming evangelical leaders like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance." But for his part, Obama has made a move to fill the void left by the GOP figurehead. His recently announced support of faith-based initiatives and tepid support for restrictions on late-term abortions may very well throw a life raft to social conservatives who feel stuck between Barack and a hard place- that being McCain, the man who spurned them just eight years ago.
