He just delivered his speech at CPAC...early consensus is that it was effective. McCain took great strides to emphasize his conservative record, including this bit where he highlighted his more controversial stands on issues that led some of his fellow candidates to pander:
I campaigned in New Hampshire against big government mandated health care and for a free market solution to the problem of unavailable and unaffordable health care. I campaigned in Michigan for the tax incentives and trade policies that will create new and better jobs in that economically troubled state. I campaigned in Florida against the national catastrophic insurance fund bill that passed the House of Representatives and defended my opposition to the prescription drug benefit bill that saddled Americans with yet another hugely expensive entitlement program. I have argued to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, to reduce the corporate tax rate and abolish the AMT. I have defended my position on protecting our Second Amendment rights, including my votes against waiting periods, bans on the so-called "assault weapons," and illegitimate lawsuits targeting gun manufacturers. I have proudly defended my twenty-four year pro-life record. Throughout this campaign, I have defended the President's brave decision to increase troop levels in Iraq to execute a long overdue counterinsurgency that has spared us the terrible calamity of losing that war. I held these positions because I believed they were in the best interests of my party and country."
He actually made air quotes when he spoke of assault weapons--a mild rebuke to Romney's recent waffling on the issue. Giuliani, of course, campaigned in Florida on providing federal insurance for catastrophic disasters, and Romney was also a proponent of mandated health insurance. It was all a very polite way of pointing out that he has often been the most conservative candidate in the field.
McCain is out of step with many of the folks attending CPAC on immigration, but while there were a smattering of boos when the topic came up, McCain seemed to handle the topic deftly. He nodded to their "principled defense of the rule of law" and his own failure to convince critics of that last year's reform would effectively address their concerns. He closed that bit by reiterating his commitment to securing the borders first--it felt like he pulled it off.
He then drew contrasts between himself and the Democratic candidates for president on the size of government, taxes, health care, judges, and most of all national security.
Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will withdraw our forces from Iraq based on an arbitrary timetable designed for the sake of political expediency, and which recklessly ignores the profound human calamity and dire threats to our security that would ensue.
I intend to win the war...
This will be defining issue of the 2008 election, and it seems like the CPAC crowd understands that.
