It Won't Work, Senator McCain

I found this story in the LA Times today. John McCain is campaigning with Gov. Schwarzenegger in support of the Governor's four ballot measures (74 - 77) that are designed to reform some of the problems with the way California is run.

The Times put this spin on McCain's visit:

McCain appeared with the governor at campaign events in Burbank and Oakland, touting the initiatives that Schwarzenegger wants passed in the Nov. 8 special election. By bringing in a senator who built an identity challenging the status quo, Schwarzenegger was trying to stoke interest in the ballot measures, which have been trailing badly in public opinion polls.

Keep in mind that the LA Times is as Left as it gets. There's no tax, no bond measure, no anti-business or socialist bill that the Times doesn't like. And they like McCain.

They like him so much, in fact, that when McCain meets with Schwarzenegger, all the Times can see is that McCain is a boost to Schwarzenegger's popularity.

Funny, that idea never crossed my mind until I read the LA Times article. My first thought upon hearing the news on the radio was that McCain came to California hoping that Schwarzenegger and his fund-raising capability might somehow rub off on McCain himself. With McCain thinking ahead to 2008 and vowing that he won't settle for the Vice Presidency, this move on his part looks mighty obvious. Except to the LA Times.

The problem for McCain is that he would have to win the Republican nomination. And that could be a major challenge, considering that he's stabbed the Republican leadership in the back. By creating the Gang of 14, he cut the supports out from under the Senate leadership over the "Constitutional Option" and threw doubt into the question of whether the Republican Senators can overcome a judicial filibuster. That doubt has likely contributed to the Harriet Miers nomination, which is putting a rift through the Republican party. Nice work, Senator McCain.

Here's how Hugh Hewitt puts it:

Mark Levin correctly focuses on the John McCain-led Gang of 14's role in the nomination melt-down. I hope the east coast conservatives also know that McCain's support for the pro-choice candidate in Tuesday's special election to replace Chris Cox, drained 16% of the votes away from the Club for Growth-supported John Campbell, who reached 46% in the 17 person race, but thanks to McCain, didn't get to 50% plus 1, and thus must campaign another nine weeks, spend another round of scare dollars, and miss all votes between now and early December.

So if McCain thinks he can kiss up to Governor Schwarzenegger and the governor will put him on track to the Presidential nomination, McCain has another thing coming. His slime-bucket tactics within the Senate and within the GOP are enough to utterly destroy his chances of EVER winning the nomination. And the LA Times can't begin to put enough spin on McCain to change his chances.