Richard Tafoya
Sep 19th, 2006, 07:50 PM
CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/19/mccain.politicalf.ap/
Republican Sen. John McCain's standoff with the White House over treatment of detainees -- an issue the former POW knows intimately well -- threatens to exacerbate his already contentious relationship with conservatives.
"Maverick status is looked upon as a strength in Congress, but a maverick in the White House is not looked upon with great admiration from our folks," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Monday.
"Politically, this isn't wise," added the Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, which supports the president's call for Congress to approve tough interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects.
McCain, with his eye on a 2008 presidential bid, had taken steps to improve his relationship with conservatives, addressing a graduation class at Liberty University earlier this year at the invitation of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, a former adversary.
The Arizona senator has been a staunch supporter of President Bush on the Iraq war. He has alienated conservatives, however, for opposing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and supporting federal expansion of embryonic stem-cell research.
Social conservatives also have taken issue with his effort to overhaul the immigration system, in part, by granting millions of illegal immigrants a path to eventual citizenship, and his work with a rogue group of senators to avert a Senate fight over Bush's judicial nominations.
The warnings from conservatives over the detainee issue illustrate the risk McCain faces in taking on the White House _ alienating a base of support he would need to win the Republican presidential nomination.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/19/mccain.politicalf.ap/
Republican Sen. John McCain's standoff with the White House over treatment of detainees -- an issue the former POW knows intimately well -- threatens to exacerbate his already contentious relationship with conservatives.
"Maverick status is looked upon as a strength in Congress, but a maverick in the White House is not looked upon with great admiration from our folks," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Monday.
"Politically, this isn't wise," added the Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, which supports the president's call for Congress to approve tough interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects.
McCain, with his eye on a 2008 presidential bid, had taken steps to improve his relationship with conservatives, addressing a graduation class at Liberty University earlier this year at the invitation of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, a former adversary.
The Arizona senator has been a staunch supporter of President Bush on the Iraq war. He has alienated conservatives, however, for opposing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and supporting federal expansion of embryonic stem-cell research.
Social conservatives also have taken issue with his effort to overhaul the immigration system, in part, by granting millions of illegal immigrants a path to eventual citizenship, and his work with a rogue group of senators to avert a Senate fight over Bush's judicial nominations.
The warnings from conservatives over the detainee issue illustrate the risk McCain faces in taking on the White House _ alienating a base of support he would need to win the Republican presidential nomination.