More often than I would like, John McCain makes me feel like Jerry McGuire.  As a card carrying member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, I have been on the defensive with my liberal friends for years.  And this election cycle has brought a new set of challenges, as I have felt at odds with many conservatives over my support for John McCain.  I find it far more difficult than the past seven years, where for the most part my endorsement of George Bush has elicited foaming-at-the-mouth criticism only from the left. 

The importance of this election, though, is more than enough to keep me focused on the big picture.  In many ways this presidential election is more critical than either of the past two, both of which were extremely emotional contests.  So the need to rally around McCain is both obvious and straightforward to me.  And yet McCain seems unable to go more than a couple of weeks without making me feel like I’m staring down a naked Cuba Gooding in the bathroom pleading “Help me, help you.”  Because he needs help on a number of issues, and the housing crisis is the latest.

His “HOME Plan”, which he unveiled today, is praiseworthy only in the sense that it is less destructive than recent proposals from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  McCain, who was unwilling to pander to ethanol interests in Iowa, auto workers in Michigan, or potential hurricane victims in Florida, was unable to avoid promising government handouts to those who gambled and lost in the real estate market.  His proposal to bail out those who signed on to mortgages for more home than they could afford by offering government backed refinancing misses the mark for a number of reasons.

More worrisome than the impact of this one proposal, though, is the sense that McCain may be already bending to presidential politics.  Part of the appeal of McCain up to now has been the sense that he would refuse to support federal intervention and spending except in instances where Americans faced hardship not of their own doing.  Many conservatives have significant concerns about McCain over immigration and global warming, among other issues.  Federal government support for overextended home owners will only add to this list.  McCain needs to find his footing, because convincing Republicans to vote with one hand while holding their nose with the other is a daunting task when compared with liberals.  Barack Obama had them at hello.