The Bushification of John McCain

Senator John McCain is in a high-profile fight with President Bush over the Administration's torture policy. But even as McCain publicly challenges Bush -- gracing the cover of Newsweek with a personal essay which argues that America's image is at risk -- the 2008 presidential hopeful has also been discreetly working to prove his conservative Bush credentials to right-wing activists.

McCain remembers that his 2000 campaign went down in flames when he ran as a sharp alternative to the left of George Bush. His popularity in the rest of America could not help him; radical conservative activists shut him down in preseason.

McCain won't make that mistake again. Now he's trying to run as the closest thing to George Bush.

It is the "Bushification" of John McCain, and it is awkward.

The bad blood between the two men has been infamous since 2000, when Bush's campaign lied about McCain's family and war service, and McCain told Bush to "get out of the gutter."

But during Bush's reelection in 2004, McCain strained to embrace his former rival -- literally. In their first joint appearance, they hugged dramatically before 6,000 soldiers at a Fort Lewis rally. Those events made for great campaign visuals. Yet while most Americans saw McCain's big heart, Republican leaders saw hungry ambition.

Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative magazine National Review, recently described that campaign bear hug as nothing but proof of "the senator's presidential ambitions." Lowry argues it's just part of McCain's scheme to get "the Right to stop loathing him." In targeted moves since the election, McCain has continued his Bushification by changing positions on conservative priorities like creationism, gay marriage and tax cuts.

This summer, he told the Arizona Daily Star about his newfound support for teaching creationism, (which many evangelicals are now calling "Intelligent Design"). That's a big change from 2000, when McCain declared it was an issue for local school boards -- and found himself outflanked by Bush on the right. The 2000 Bush campaign proclaimed creationism "ought to be taught." McCain may hope this 2005 reversal will be old news by 2008, but the Daily Star's headline still blared that, "McCain sounds like presidential hopeful."

In August, McCain announced his support for a strict anti-gay marriage ballot initiative in Arizona. Arizona state law already bans gay marriage, so the move is mostly symbolic. But it may appease conservative activists, who detested McCain's July 2004 vote against the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. Back then, McCain blasted it as "antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans."

Then in September, McCain delivered a whopper by caving on a key disagreement with Bush: tax cuts.

As the costs of Hurricane Katrina mounted, McCain went on national television and told Chris Mathews the Bush tax cuts must be maintained. But McCain voted against those tax cuts.

In fact, he was one of only two Republicans to oppose Bush's signature 2001 tax cut. Given the surging costs of Katrina, Iraq and Medicare, there is no policy rationale for reversing his position now. The only rationale is political pandering. And that's exactly how some influential conservatives see it. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, recently said that although McCain has "flip-flopped on a number of issues," he is still "anti-taxpayer" because "he's voted against every tax cut."

Yet the mainstream media is so attached to McCain's maverick image, most journalists didn't cover the tax reversal.

Of course, new positions alone won't turn McCain into George Bush. So McCain has been talking with Bush's message guru, Mark Mckinnon, for some help -- and a 2008 presidential campaign. The Dallas Morning News reported that McKinnon has "committed" to helping McCain in a "second presidential bid."