John McCain has already succeeded in winning over the conservative base despite all the media hype to the contrary, says nationally syndicated talk show host Michael Medved.
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax, Medved said he believed the entire story about the breach between McCain and the conservative movement was “media hype,” projected by the mainstream liberal-leaning media and by certain talk show hosts on the right.
“The MSM emphasized the alleged split because it was a story line that weakened Republicans and suggested a crippled Republican candidate,” the popular conservative radio host said.
On the right were individuals “so frustrated and angry that their wisdom was ignored by rank and file conservatives that they have become somewhat detached from political reality,” he added. “That won’t last.”
“Basically, the war is over. But there are a few people still hiding out in caves in Okinawa who haven’t gotten the word yet that the emperor has agreed to peace terms,” Medved said. “Ann Coulter is functioning in that capacity, as are a handful of others.”
The reasons why the much-exaggerated rift between McCain and the right is over have little to do with any political give-and-take, Medved believes. It’s all about the issues and the choices Americans will be facing next November.
“There are issues that matter a great deal,” where the difference between McCain and the Democrats “is not a close call,” Medved argued.
He listed the preservation of private health care in America, winning the war in Iraq, and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, among others.
The contrast with Clinton and Barack Obama “is so decisive and so obvious,” that anyone who ignores it risks marginalizing themselves.
“I love Ann Coulter, but she’s done permanent and irreparable damage to her credibility for saying that people should vote for Hillary [Clinton],” Medved said. Somebody who says they can’t support McCain is silly but curable. Someone who says they’ll support Hillary is clearly deranged or seeking publicity.”
Medved pointed to fellow talker Hugh Hewitt, who bitterly opposed McCain (and supported Mitt Romney) during the primaries, but did an about-face after Super Tuesday.
“Hugh immediately pivoted and said there were seven good reasons to support McCain: the war, and the six Supreme Court justices who will retire in the next few years.”
On that point, Medved said that while there might be a slight chance that McCain could appoint someone like Anthony Kennedy (who was named in 1988 by President Reagan), it was “a certainty” that Obama or Clinton would appoint “far to the left of Anthony Kennedy.”
Democrat nominees to the high court “not only kill the chances of overturning Roe, they will make gay marriage a certainty, because they are only two supreme court votes away now,” Medved told Newsmax. “And after that, you want to fight for a constitutional amendment retroactively?”
The “entire mania” about McCain on the right was “always based on one issue, which was immigration,” Medved told Newsmax. “The Gang of 14? Guess what? McCain was right, we were wrong. He got the judges confirmed – all of them.”
Campaign finance has faded as an issue of relevance to large numbers of Americans, and besides, “McCain is not talking about expanding it and no one’s talking about repealing it, so it has become a meaningless issue.”
Even on immigration, Medved believes that some of his fellow talk radio hosts have “settled over to the fringe” by forgetting the support McCain had won from staunch conservatives – such as his fellow senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl – for his immigration reform proposals.
“People forget that the bill included border security first,” Medved said. “We need border security, and the chance of getting it under McCain is very real, whereas getting it under Hillary or Obama is nonexistent.”
Medved also pointed out that McCain has been a conservative longer than many people have been in politics. “He was part of the Reagan revolution, when a lot of these folks who call themselves true conservatives were stoned out of their minds on drugs and way out to the left.”
Calling the media hype against McCain “an imposture,” Medved said that “too many of us went along with it – I never did – because it flattered and inflated our sense of self-importance.”
So is he pleased that his man came out on top? “I have refused to gloat,” Medved told Newsmax. “The Medved show is a no-gloat zone.”
Besides, he added, “if Romney had won, we would have all come together as well. This will be highlighted if [Romney] ends up on the ticket,” which Medved predicts will happen.