"The GOP's John McCain Problem"

The GOP's John McCain Problem

by Jonathan Bernstein at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2013/06/15/gops_john_mccain_problem/

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In Congress, meanwhile, Republicans did have an alternative to McCain in Dick Lugar, who was well respected on both sides of the aisle. But Lugar was defeated last year in a Republican primary. Not only did that knock him out of Congress, but it surely reminded others of something that Members of Congress have always known: The voters back home are unlikely to reward their representatives for specializing in any of these policy areas, at least beyond protecting the local military base and arms contractors from budget cuts. And that seems to be especially true in an era in which the “conservative” party line is both constantly shifting and (at least sometimes) rigorously enforced. It’s a lot easier not to get involved.

That particular disincentive doesn’t just apply to foreign policy; it may account for the general post-policy drift of a Republican Party that often doesn’t seem to care about much more than exploiting invented (or, if they come along, real) Barack Obama scandals in order to score points on Fox and on conservative talk radio. Indeed: Paul Ryan on budget matters is in many ways a pretty good comp for John McCain on foreign affairs; it’s not that Ryan is really a wonk, but he’s the closest thing to one on the budget that Congressional Republicans have, and he likes to play the part, so there you are.

Granted, there is one real alternative to McCain: Ron Paul had real foreign policy ideas, and Rand Paul seems to support at least a limited version of those. But many Republicans strongly disagree with that agenda, and Rand Paul – who seems to be ambitious for more than just an agenda-setting White House run – may not be eager to spend his media time trying to pick fights on issues that divide him from mainstream conservatives.

All of which leaves the one Republican who is ready and eager to step up and comment on virtually any issue, and knows his stuff on foreign policy enough to at least know where the places he wants to send troops to can be found on the map. Which means we’re probably going to have to put up with John McCain’s bellicose prescriptions for every issue for a few more years, at least

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