Republicans see lessons from Clinton

Sen. John McCain is failing to learn the lessons of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign and appeal to culturally conservative, blue-collar voters, Republican lawmakers fear.

These GOP members of the House note that Clinton (D-N.Y.) won her biggest victories in the Democratic primary by stressing the priorities of the white working class and painting Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the expected Democratic nominee, as out-of-touch with their lives.

{mosads}“We need to get people more excited,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas). “We’re seeing some ‘electile dysfunction.’ ” Gohmert and some other Republicans worry about McCain’s ability to stay on message and excite the Republican base.

It is his performance among working-class independents that has drawn the most scrutiny as Republicans focus on gas prices, a “meat-and-potatoes” issue.

“McCain has to figure out the voter he’s trying to get to vote for him,” said Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee. “His campaign seems to be going in different directions because he hasn’t made that decision.”

Many conservative working-class voters concerned about their economic security live in Michigan’s Oakland County, which McCotter represents. The lawmaker predicted such voters will decide Michigan, Ohio and other Midwestern battlegrounds.

McCotter said McCain needs to share his vision for preserving America’s global status and also “tell people how he’s going to move them forward. … He hasn’t really done it.”

Conservative blue-collar voters tend to agree with Republicans on cultural issues but like Democratic pledges to stand up for the working class.

“These are culturally conservative people who may or may not be Republicans or Democrats,” he said.
Rep. Ron Lewis (R-Ky.), who represents a district with several automobile industry plants, said, “I agree with that wholeheartedly. He needs to relate to them and say, ‘I get you.’

“I would remind these people what Obama said about guns and religion and [advise McCain to] be sincere that you want to be the voice for these people and stand up for them.”

Lewis urged McCain to adopt a strategy that Clinton used effectively in many states against Obama.

Clinton’s campaign blasted Obama during the primary for saying at a San Francisco fundraiser that conservative Americans clung to guns and religion because of economic insecurity.

{mospagebreak}Clinton beat Obama in Pennsylvania by 10 percentage points despite being outspent 3 to 1. She went on to win lopsided victories in West Virginia and Kentucky, where white working-class voters made up big chunks of the electorate.

Lewis said if McCain did not do more to appeal to the working class, whom he described as mostly independent, it could spell political trouble.

“The best that could happen for him is that they would stay home and not vote,” said Lewis, whose district borders Indiana, an expected battleground. Recent polls show that either candidate could win that traditionally Republican state.

{mosads}One political expert in Ohio agreed with McCotter’s assessment that McCain has not focused on conservative-leaning blue-collar voters.

“I agree with that,” said John Gilliom, chairman of the political science department at Ohio University. “Looking back over the last eight weeks, I don’t feel the McCain campaign has yet settled on what their brand is. They haven’t made the play for that group of swing voters.

“These are economically struggling people who, either through themselves or through relatives, are very attuned to the fact that government-assisted programs such as Social Security and Medicare are critically important,” he said.

Benjamin Bates, an assistant professor of communications at Ohio University who specializes in election advertising, said Clinton showed Obama’s vulnerability among working-class voters.

“Hillary Clinton did recognize that many working-class voters are uncomfortable with someone like Barack Obama,” he said.

Bates said McCain could boost his political standing in Ohio by actively describing how his economic plan would help middle-class workers.

“McCain does have an economic revitalization plan on his website, but most voters are passive, so McCain has to make it more public rather than expect people to visit his website and do research for themselves,” said Bates.

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R), who represents a district in Colorado, another battleground state, said McCain should do more to reach out to middle-class voters concerned about their economic security.

Musgrave was one of about 15 Republicans who staged a protest on the House floor Tuesday to demand that Democratic leaders schedule a vote on expanded domestic oil drilling.

Musgrave agreed with McCotter’s analysis that McCain should do more to appeal to the working class.

“I think John McCain needs to reach out to these people, just like my party is reaching out these people,” she said. “That’s why I’m here today.”

Other Republicans pronounced themselves satisfied with McCain’s attention to issues important to working-class voters.

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) said she thinks McCain has done enough to appeal to working-class voters because he has repeatedly called for expanded oil drilling. She said she saw him discuss the issue on several different cable stations while she channel-surfed early Tuesday morning.

Schmidt also said voters in Ohio are “nervous about the future of this country” and added that a number of problems, including energy costs and illegal immigration, have heightened economic anxiety.

McCain campaign aides did not respond to requests for comment.