McCain's Fundraising Woes
There's an interesting piece by A. B. Stoddard in The Hill's Pundits Blog today. She points out that McCain's fundraising problems are counter to all logic. The guy's the ranking Republican on Commerce and the Armed Forces committees. This means he should be the King Kong of fundraisers, and suggests he isn't solely because he's just too damned honorable. (She does contrast McCain with Obama, who is also alleged to be telling uncomfortable truths to his donors, but this isn't an entirely fair comparison because, well, Democrats are much more comfortable betraying their economic interests. Take Hollywood: How many movie stars campaign for tax cuts?)
With McCain's positions on campaign finance, immigration, and the Iraq war challenging the Republican orthodoxy, and his contempt for most defense contractors as profiteers who often endanger the troops to pad their profit margin, it would be a wonder that the Republicans haven't entirely chased him out of the race with pitchforks and burning torches like some benighted, misunderstood monster.
Then again, the Republican front-runner is Rudy Giuliani: A pro-choice, pro-gun control ex-mayor who's hated and despised by New Yorkers, the people who know him best, and widely derided as an incompetent on issues of national security, the raison d'etre of his campaign. From that point of view, John McCain, a candidate who's tough and honest, intolerant of the corruption poisoning our political system, and who favors immigration for pretty much anyone who's willing to work hard to contribute to America: What's not to like? The fact that fatcat donors don't rush to give him money just seems like another point in his favor.
