WASHINGTON — Conservative activists are preparing to do battle with allies of Sen. John McCain in advance of this summer’s GOP convention, hoping to prevent his views on such issues as global warming, immigration and stem cell research from becoming enshrined in the party’s official declaration of principles.
McCain has not yet signaled the changes he plans to make in the 2004 Republican platform. But many conservatives say they fear wholesale revisions could emerge as candidate McCain seeks to put his stamp on a document that is currently a paean to the policies and principles of President Bush.
“There is just no way that you can avoid anticipating what is going to come. Everyone is aware that McCain is different on these issues,” said Jessica Echard, the executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum. “We’re all kind of waiting with anticipation because we just don’t know how he’s going to thread this needle.”
McCain has spent the last year and a half trying to straddle the philosophical schism in the modern Republican party. During the GOP primaries, he stressed his conservative credentials, but since clinching the nomination he has often reminded voters of his more moderate stances while also professing his fealty to conservative positions.
RNC and campaign officials say they share a great deal of common ground with conservatives. They said their conversations as they approach the convention suggest there will not be a nasty platform fight.
“We are confident that this process will produce a platform that all Republicans will enthusiastically support,” said Joe Pounder, a McCain spokesman. “Our party is united and will continue to work together to elect John McCain in November.”
One of Echard’s main concerns is immigration. The current plank on that issue calls for a temporary worker program, something that President Bush and McCain both supported but which many conservatives view as an unwarranted amnesty for people who arrived in the country illegally. She would like a much tougher position, but is wary of McCain, who has been vilified by some conservatives for his support of a temporary worker program.
Activists are also keeping a close watch on what the platform says about the environment. The current document has only one paragraph about global warming, which talks about using “markets and new technologies” to solve the problem of climate change and flatly states that the U.S. “strongly opposes” the Kyoto Protocol to curb emissions globally.
That contrasts sharply with McCain’s message on the campaign trail. Government action to address global warming is a centerpiece of his campaign. He supports a cap-and-trade emissions plan that many conservatives oppose. And he has talked about trying to reach a global emissions agreement that includes China and India.
The current platform merely “recognizes” Bush’s support for a limited amount of research on embryonic stem cells and praises his opposition to federal funding for the effort. McCain, by contrast, supports embryonic stem cell research, touting his position as evidence of the “straight talk” he offers to conservatives.
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