A 12-Step Program for McCain (Part1)

By: Jacques Berlinerblau

June 9, 2008

Developing a Faith and Values campaign strategy for John McCain in the forthcoming general election is a daunting task. This is because his opponent, the Senator from Illinois, is exceedingly accomplished with religious rhetoric and exceedingly comfortable with diverse religious audiences. The Senator from Arizona is neither. Still, the brutal primary season has exposed vulnerabilities in Obama’s religious coat of mail. Moreover, McCain may have a few major faith constituencies in his pocket (see below). So not all is lost. Not yet. If the Maverick wishes to rack up God Votes in 2008, I would suggest that he consider following 12 recommendations. One of which, I will soon admit, is pretty risky:

Step One: Forthrightly acknowledge two major weaknesses: There's no use denying it: McCain is a poor-to-middling orator. Watching his public addresses of late (especially his much maligned June 3rd speech), the terms "jowly" and "jolly" come to mind. Not a winning combination, I think.

Further, he is not particularly well versed in religious matters and this may contribute to his oft-observed lack of ease speaking about his beliefs. Insofar, as he won't ever match Obama's rhetorical panache, and won't master the writings of Augustine any time soon, Team McCain must accept their man's limitations—and milk them for all their worth!

Step Two: Ideological ji-jitsu (turn those weaknesses into strengths): As for oratory, let McCain wear his lack of eloquence like a badge of honor. Tap into that oldest of Puritan prejudices. Namely, that anything that shines, that is glittery, that is pleasing to the senses, is actually false, even diabolical. Draw contrasts between the high falutin', sparkle of Obama's winged words, and the "plain, unvarnished truth" sprouting from the mouth of the Straight Talker. Encourage him to mix it up with stray hecklers he encounters on the campaign trail (a McCain specialty).

Accessorize these points by staging rallies at venues that draw conspicuous contrasts with the rock-star arenas that Obama likes to haunt. Have McCain speak at a country fair or in a church basement. Stick him on a raft and outfit him with a bullhorn if necessary—as long as he comes off as down-to-earth and in touch with Plain Folks. John McCain: the anti-Obama.

And if while slogging through his stump speeches, the senator looks physically uncomfortable on stage, have his media operatives remind journalists that this is because of injuries he sustained as he repeatedly sacrificed his life for his country. Which brings us to . . .. .

Step Three: Find a way to couple McCain's undeniable heroism and love of America with his profound belief in God: In his autobiography, Faith of My Fathers, McCain paused on several occasions to discuss his belief in the divine and how it sustained him through his hellish ordeal as a prisoner of war. Those passages make for gripping reading.

They also reveal McCain to be a quietly religious person, albeit one whose faith is simple, inward, and unreflective. He has little interest in ritual. He is oblivious to the theological fine points. He is not well versed in biblical hermeneutics. His central talking point, then, is real easy to remember: He loves God and (with a stiff arm to Obama's Hyde Park acquaintances) he loves America. That's McCain's comfort zone. Don't take him out of it. So what I'm saying is. . . .

Step Four: Let him be a maverick in religion too: McCain the Episcopalian, as is well known, recently dubbed himself a Baptist. But neither faith tradition seems to capture the quirky, almost deistic, manner in which he contemplates the divine. Let McCain speak about faith exactly as he sees fit and when he sees fit. In short, this means that his F and V politicking will be very sparse. This is not such a bad idea because it will . . . .

Step Five: Put some daylight between McCain and the Christian Right: OK, maybe it's a bad idea. Still, not a week goes by without a spate of stories about how conservative Evangelicals just don't trust him, or how James Dobson doesn't like him, or how the Maverick ticked off this or that Evangelical rainmaker.

I have been reading these articles for over a year and it leads me to ask: What does McCain have to show for his extended courtship of this constituency other than fair-to-respectable support in the primaries and the Hagee/Parsley meltdown?

Let's bear three things in mind. The first is that anti-McCain conservative Evangelicals are being awfully fickle. This is a candidate with a strong pro-Life record (though not without some hiccups and a dissent on embryonic stem cell research) and a willingness to ban gay marriage (at least on the state level). The second--and this is a point I have been making all year long--is that the 2008 Evangelicals are simply not configured to deliver for the GOP as they did in 2004. Third, excessive pandering to Evangelicals comes with a risk: it alienates all sorts of other groups that are necessary for a winning coalition.

Knowing this, and knowing that conservative Evangelicals probably won't be able to vote for the pro-Choice Obama anyway, McCain can--without making a fuss--move to the religious center and let the conservatives do the math. He will welcome their support. He will seek it when it is convenient for him to do so. But he won't grovel for it, because they need him as much he needs them!

In so doing, he frees up his ground operation to concentrate on other faith constituencies--which he desperately needs. And he puts independent voters who loath the antics of the Christian Right back in play.

The upshot is that while Obama can rely on his personality and theological intellect to ingratiate himself to religious constituencies, McCain must rely mostly on his issues. In my next post I identify what some of these issues are and how they may help him connect with religious groups.

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