Swampland - TIME.com

McCain Sinking

It seems John McCain's tepid attempt to woo the Republican Party base never had much of a chance. The New York Times reports that the money people don't trust him. He was never a very convincing Bible-thumper, either. But I would guess that the single issue that has sent his poll numbersplummeting in places like South Carolina is immigration.

This is all very sad. You may disagree with McCain's position on the war (I do), but he's an essentially honorable man--which is why his attempt to pander to his party's base was so unconvincing--who is paying the price for not kowtowing to military contractors and Mexiphobes, two of the more loathsome fragments of the electorate.

In retrospect, McCain's electoral successes in 2000 came because independents and some Democrats were able to vote for him in crossover primaries like New Hampshire and Michigan. It will be harder for independents and Dems to vote for him this year because of his position on the war, but he remains living proof that centrism doesn't necessarily mean triangulation, that there can be such a thing as a vital center, bristling with fresh ideas--on immigration, on fiscal responsibility, on global warming in his case--free from the base-driven perversions of politics.

PS--I'm back in the middle east. No vacation this time. Not much blogging for the next few weeks, either.


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About Swampland

Ana Marie Cox

Ana Marie Cox is the founding editor of Wonkette and the author of the novel Dog Days. Read more

Joe Klein

Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. Read more

Karen Tumulty

Senior Writer Karen Tumulty has been TIME's National Political Correspondent since 2001, and has also covered the White House and Congress for the magazine. A native of San Antonio, she is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Business School, where her career choice has significantly lowered the average salary of her graduating class. But she gets lots of free magazines. Read more

Jay Carney

Jay Carney is TIME's Washington bureau chief. He has covered both the Clinton and Bush 43 White Houses, as well as Congress. Before coming to Washington, he spent three years reporting from TIME's Moscow bureau. In his next life, he would like to write for Sports Illustrated. Read more

Jay Newton-Small

Jay Newton-Small Jay Newton-Small covers politics for TIME. She has covered the Bush 43 White House and also Congress from the DeLay era to the present. And, yes, despite the misleading name SHE is a she. Read more

Michael Scherer

Michael Scherer is a correspondent in TIME's Washington bureau covering the 2008 presidential campaign. He has worked national assignments for Mother Jones magazine and Salon.com. Read more

Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy is a political consultant who helped elect more than a dozen GOP Senators and Governors including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney. In 2000, Murphy was a senior strategist for John McCain's presidential campaign. Read more

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