It always amazed me that there were so many elderly white men in the top jobs in the music business. I recall being in meetings where a significant number of seniors would be dozing. They were very rich and I often wondered why they were clinging to their positions, jobs they could no longer functionally accomplish. Eventually I realized it was because those positions were how they identified themselves. Were I like that I would have seen myself not as Howie Klein who has done this and this and this and who hopes to do that and that and that, but as "the president of Reprise Records." John McCain was never part of the music business, but this aspect of hanging on 'til the bitter end is something the politics business shares with the music business.McCain's self-identity is very much tied in with his position as a senior senator. That's who he is and what he is, and he probably needs it as much as food, air and water. He'll be 80 if he runs again, which he announced this week he plans to do. Right-wing extremists Inside the Beltway-- and, to some extent, back in Arizona-- went bonkers. They want him out and seek to replace him with someone less likely to go off the reservation or consider anything beyond simple right-wing ideology and partisan strategy. The far right Club for Growth is already trying to recruit an extremist-- either Matt Salmon or David Schweikert are their first choices-- to run against McCain in a primary. Tuesday the far right group founded by Jim DeMint, the Senate Conservative Fund, sent a letter to its members, Replace John McCain. It is harsh!
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) officially announced today that he will seek a sixth term in the U.S. Senate. Thirty years of cutting deals with the Democrats is not enough for Senator McCain; he wants six more.There are few Republicans who have betrayed our conservative principles more than John McCain.He wrote the McCain-Kennedy and "Gang of Eight" immigration bills that offered amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. He voted for the Wall Street bailout, to fund the implementation of Obamacare, for the $600 billion "fiscal cliff" tax hike, and to raise the debt limit 14 different times!John McCain lost his way a long time ago and it's time to replace him with a strong conservative leader who will support and defend the Constitution.If you agree, take a stand right now and help us recruit a strong challenger by signing our national petition to "Replace John McCain" in 2016.By signing the petition, you will join a national army of conservatives determined to replace one of the most anti-conservative RINOs in the Senate....We recently surveyed our members in the Grand Canyon state, and 98% said they wanted a conservative alternative to support in the Republican primary.Here are a few of their comments about McCain:• He's been in office too long and isn't listening to the people of Arizona regarding amnesty.• He has left his conservative roots and has become much more liberal in his voting record.• John McCain just needs to GO AWAY. He has been in Congress too long and HE is a major reason this country has an $18 trillion debt.• He's a RINO. He thinks true conservatives are "wacko birds."• If I wanted a Democrat in office I would vote for one, not a Democrat with an R after his name.To replace John McCain, we need to get hundreds of thousands of patriots united and working together. The Republican establishment in Washington will pour millions of dollars into this race to save him.
The letter was signed by SCF president Ken Cuccinelli. Democrats are also looking at that Senate seat and they are happy to join in with the Republican extremists to tear down McCain. Democrats have a really weak bench in Arizona and none of the third-rate candidates being talked about now-- right-wing Democrats Kyrsten Sinema and Ann Kirkpatrick and ex-Surgeon General Richard Carmona-- would stand any chance of beating McCain or whichever Republican beats him in a primary. This poll is something Arizona Democrats have been sending around this week:Yesterday, the Arizona Republic noted that McCain is running as though he could lose. "Staunch conservatives," they wrote, "want McCain out of the Senate. He's Target No. 1 and they're ready to devote plenty of resources to oust him." They report that Schweikert won't run and that Salmon is unlikely to. Club for Growth, the Tea Party and the Senate Conservative Fund aren't going to beat McCain without a strong candidate, no matter how much money they shovel into the race.
McCain also has avoided the mistakes of his fallen colleagues. He never lost touch with the state he serves. He has routinely held town halls, listening to his harshest critics as well as his friends.When the state Republican Party censured him, it stung, McCain acknowledges. But he and his allies countered by getting new members elected. The censure was not repeated.The return of the Senate to Republican control has energized McCain. He relishes his role as chair of the Armed Services Committee, which gives him a megaphone in promoting Arizona interests and challenging President Obama's policies. He may be 78 years old, but he carries himself with the energy of a younger man.
