McCain's Lead Ignites War of Words Between Pundits, Creating Apparent Rift

Among Conservatives

Newsweek Poll Shows Majority of Conservative Voters Would be Satisfied With

McCain as Nominee

NEW YORK, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest Newsweek poll shows that Republican front runner John McCain holds a marginal lead among conservatives (49 to 43 percent) in a showdown with Mike Huckabee. It also shows 76 percent of all GOP voters and 69 percent of self-described conservatives say they would be satisfied with McCain as the GOP nominee, but listening to the more outspoken conservative pundits, one would hardly think he is doing so well.

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Conservative pundits are torn over John McCain and the infighting is getting louder as he draws closer to the GOP nomination. Prominent hard-right pundits such as Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh have been ranting over McCain and his position in the polls while other right-wing pundits have launched counterattacks in what has become a case of a party's base bringing chaos out of order. In Newsweek's February 18 cover, "There Will Be Blood: Why the Right Hates McCain" (on newsstands Monday, February 11), Washington Correspondent Eve Conant, White House Correspondent Holly Bailey and Senior Editor Michael Hirsh look at the recent volleys between the warring conservative pundits and the ideological divide.

Limbaugh, the most popular right-wing radio host, had been railing against McCain for years, and now declared that if he were nominated, "it's going to destroy the Republican Party." Coulter went as far as saying that McCain was a traitor to conservatives, so much so that she'd campaign for Hillary Clinton if he were nominated. When Newsweek e-mailed her to ask if there was anything the Arizona senator could do to change her mind, she wrote, "McCain could invent a time machine, travel back in time" and take back all his liberal- leaning votes in Congress. "Short of that," she said, "the only thing that would work is if he put a gun to my head, but since McCain is also against gun rights, that's out."

Hugh Hewitt, another syndicated talk-show host, joined the fray last week saying McCain is "just a lousy senator and a terrible Republican," adding, "His votes the past seven to 10 years have been on the wrong side of the issues."

When Bill Bennett, the onetime drug czar and conservative Washington pundit who now has his own show, asked his fellow radio talk hosts to tone things down, he was insulted on-air by Michael Savage, who sometimes rivals Coulter in controversy. "Who is he to say that?" Savage retorted. "He's got a miniscule audience and no credibility. If he wants to start some internecine war, then here we go: he's a blowhard." The uncivil war also pulled in some stalwarts of the GOP "base," such as Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who drew the ire of Rush Limbaugh. "Rush is even ranting against me. I had the temerity to challenge the Great One in his all-knowing wisdom," Land told Newsweek. "Rush is underestimating the ability of Hillary or [Barack] Obama to unite conservatives around McCain. Rush says on air, 'Dr. Land, I'll tell you, I talk to 20 million people a day.' No he doesn't. He talks at 20 million people a day."

Michael Medved, who claims he's the only talk-show host-liberal or conservative-to endorse McCain, says the right-wing rants are mainly a ratings grab. "Part of this is a herd mentality. There are a bunch of talk-show hosts who wait to see what position Rush will take. They are the Mini-Me's to Rush's Dr. Evil."

Despite the harsh criticism from some, poll figures should be encouraging to McCain. But as the country learned anew in 2000 and 2004, every vote counts -- especially every vote in states (like Ohio) where the margin of victory in a general election is likely to be narrow. If even a handful of conservatives were to follow the Limbaugh-Coulter line and stay home, it could make a real difference. McCain knows that, which is why he is moving to address the trouble to his right. Sens. Tom Coburn and Sam Brownback, widely respected among right-to-lifers, have been contacting prominent social conservatives, including many members of Congress, urging them to take a second look at McCain's record.

Former vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp, a hero to fiscal conservatives and a frequent guest on Limbaugh's show, tells Newsweek he "just finished a first draft of an open letter to Sean [Hannity] and Rush and Laura [Ingraham] and the other conservative talk-show hosts." Former senator Phil Gramm has been tasked with reaching out to lawmakers, as well as activists in the conservative movement. A senior McCain adviser, who didn't want to be named discussing internal strategy, says that Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of McCain's closest allies in the Senate, made a direct appeal last week to Hannity, the radio and TV host, who has railed against McCain in recent weeks.

In the end, Land says the GOP will do what it does best: unite. "I find it hard to believe that there are many conservatives who, when push comes to shove and they contemplate what it would be to have Hillary Clinton with the added pain of Bubba back in the White House, or Obama, that they won't eventually rally behind whoever the Republican nominee is as long as they are pro-life," says Land. "I don't want to minimize the impact of Limbaugh. He has influence. But there is a limit to where anyone can lead conservatives [if it's] where they don't want to be led."

(Read entire cover story at www.Newsweek.com)

Cover: There Will Be Blood: Why the Right Hates McCain

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109695

Newsweek Poll: Out Front: McCain romps while the Dems divide

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109495 SOURCE Newsweek

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