While some fear Republicans will take a hit in the 2006 elections this fall, at least one report projects that any "gloom and doom" that may befall the GOP in November will be to the benefit of one possible 2008 Republican presidential candidate - Sen. John McCain.
According to Rothenberg Political Report, an D.C.-based independent newsletter that focuses on the U.S. Congress:
This kind of reaction from Republicans and the media is likely to enhance McCain's attractiveness as a presidential candidate. The more gloom and doom surrounding his party, the better McCain looks. The more the GOP needs to counterpunch with its own message of change, reform and leadership, the more attractive McCain appears to Republicans, independents and even some Democrats.
As the report points out, McCain has been positioning himself well:
Timing is everything in politics, and while McCain has been making himself more acceptable to Bush loyalists by standing with the president's general approach to Iraq and the war on terrorism, the administration's problems and the president's weakness also have been combining to enhance the Arizona Republican’s appeal within his own party.
And then there's everyone's fear of HRC. For some, McCain appears to be the only candidate who could keep her from the Oval Office:
The threat of a Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) presidency has always been McCain's ace in the hole. Even conservatives who worry about McCain's independent streak - including the Arizona Republican's support for campaign finance reform and his co-sponsorship (with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, no less) of a guest worker program - might well find McCain preferable to a Clinton victory.
It will be interesting to see what another six months will bring...
