Transcript: David Keene On John McCain And The Conservative 'Enthusiasm Gap'
© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Feb. 8, 2008
|
 |
National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with David Keene for the February 8 edition of "National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation.
Audio of the full show is also available.
Q: I want to introduce David Keene. He is the chairman of the American Conservative Union, and they were the prime sponsor and are the prime sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference, at which Mitt Romney withdrew from the race and where John McCain spoke. Welcome, David.
Keene: Thank you. It's a pleasure.Q:So let's get right to it. You were supporting Mitt Romney. What was your reaction to his pulling out?
Keene: Well, he was in a position where it was very, very difficult, after the results on Super Tuesday, to find a route to a majority of the delegates, so I can't really fault him for doing it. It's always sad when a candidate you are supporting doesn't make it, but he ran a good race, and I think he strengthened himself for the future in his withdrawal, in the way he lost. Sometimes for politicians it's as important how you lose as it is if you win.Q: Now, you are not a fan of John McCain, and that's a sentiment that is shared widely by conservative activists. How did he do before this group yesterday? Did he win people over?
Keene: He actually did quite well. I don't know how many people, if any, he won over, but I will say it was certainly a good first step in building fences and repairing bridges to the right, and he's going to need to get as much conservative support lined up if he's going to go into the fall with a unified base within the Republican Party. I think it was a good first step, and I think he did as good a job as one could've expected under the circumstances.Q: Well, what does he have to do to win over conservatives? And let's talk specifically about issues -- what does he have to do?
Keene: Well, on a lot of issues, if conservatives believe him, he doesn't have a problem. He voted against the Bush tax cuts when they were initially proposed, and he did so at the time on the same basis the Democrats opposed them -- that they were tax cuts for the rich and all. Now he is for making them permanent, arguing that not to do so would result in a tax increase. The question is not whether conservatives will accept that position, because they will. The question is whether they believe him and trust him, and what he has to build with conservatives is that sense of trust that they don't have in him at this point. So it's more than just, I agree with you on this issue, or I'll do that that you like on the other issue.Q: When we talked a couple of days ago about McCain, you still hadn't made up your mind...I think the tone he took yesterday -- where he said, there are areas we agree and there are values that we share, and there are areas where we disagree, let's discuss all of them, and when we agree, let's go forward together and when we disagree we can disagree -- I think that's a better way to go about building that trust than sort of overtly pandering, if you will, on the one hand or thumbing his nose at them on the other. So it was a good first step, and I think he can work out some of the differences. The problems on the foreign policy side are obviously less than they are on the domestic side, and particularly some of the economic questions and things like global warming and the like.
Keene: I still haven't made up my mind.Q: You still haven't?
Keene: In other words, I'm not ready to pick up packets of John McCain literature and run around knocking on doors -- not at this point, anyway.Q: So you're still not sure yet whether you can support him for president?
Keene: I think that I can, but I'm not to the point yet where I will. I think that's where most conservatives are. They're still waiting to see exactly what he's willing to do, who he puts in his campaign, who his wider group of advisers are, and what kinds of positions and attitudes he takes towards conservatives in general.Q: How wide is the enthusiasm gap? How much of a possibility is there that conservatives will sit on their hands?
Keene: Well, I think if he does nothing, that most conservatives will ultimately vote for him because they don't like the alternatives, and because they are political animals and they don't like to sit things out. But when you talk about the enthusiasm gap, you are taking about exactly the right thing, because a candidate doesn't just need a base in which most of the members go out and vote for him; he needs a base that is enthusiastic. He needs people that are willing to drag their neighbors to the polls, that are willing to contribute, that are willing to make phone calls, that are willing to knock on doors and willing to give his campaign the energy it needs to move forward.Q: Well, thank you so much, David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. I do hope that we'll have you back again one of these days.I think at this point on the right -- which is a significant part of the Republican base, and the largest part, in fact -- that the enthusiasm is not yet there. And I think, though, if he works at it, one thing we saw yesterday on the part of many of the people who have been critical of him is a willingness to come halfway. I think that they can find some common ground if he is willing to look for it, and if they find that common ground he may be able to solve the enthusiasm problem.
Keene: Anytime. It's a pleasure.