McCain and the Right, Obama and the Left

Gerald Seib in the Wall Street Journal looks at an issue that will only get more interesting: John McCain's problems with the right wing of the Republican party.

At a time when Sen. McCain badly needs to consolidate the support of the Republican base before the general-election campaign begins in earnest, leaders of the party’s social conservatives are letting it be known—quietly, for now—that they aren’t happy with the way their desires are being met.

For me this is bizarre, because I think of John McCain as a solid conservative. But that mostly comes from his military background and his economics. Culturally, apparently he's not as dedicated to the cause as some people would like:

The most telling sign of unhappiness on the right was a letter sent by social-conservative leaders to Mr. Bush last month, complaining that his administration has been consistently rejecting federal funding for organizations that run programs promoting sexual abstinence among young Americans.

This is one of those programs from the religious right that clashes with many Republicans' more libertarian instincts. Teaching abstinence is an example of activists trying to impose their standards of morality on the rest of the country. A fair number of Republicans, however, place personal freedom as a value higher than specific moral issues. They see government interference as a bad thing, either in the business or personal life. This is a reason why Ron Paul has been so popular this year.

Of course, we see this every election, usually on both sides. One thing that is different about this election that Seib doesn't mention is that Obama is not getting the same pressure from the left that McCain is getting from the right. Some may quibble about certain issues with Obama; personally, I think he's gone a little too far criticizing free trade agreements, but that's not a huge difference. But for the most part, people on the left are pretty happy with Obama, for a number of reasons. First, of course, is the fact that he would be breaking the color barrier if he's elected. Second, he has inspired millions to become more politically active around the country. But Hillary has done him some favors in this respect, particularly by dissing some activists (MoveOn.org) and dismissing the importance of the states that she hasn't won. Oh, and it hasn't helped that she has fudged the facts on how many votes or delegates she has won thus far. Kos, who started out neutral in this race, is now firmly in the anti-Clinton camp.

And, of course, there is Obama's message of moving beyond partisan politics. He actually does manage to appeal to both progressives and more moderate Democrats. This alone makes him a much more formidable candidate against McCain than Hillary.