McCain is already seeing the light.

[DKW 86 7,440]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews....=rss&rpc=22

"common sense conservatism" is a good sound bite.

McCain calls for "common sense conservatism"

Thu Nov 16, 2006 3:55pm ET

Politics News

McCain calls for 'common sense conservatism'

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More Politics News... Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints [-] Text [+] By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arizona Sen. John McCain, taking the first step toward a 2008 White House bid, said on Thursday a return to principles of limited government and "common sense conservatism" would carry Republicans back to power after last week's election drubbing.

"We lost our principles and our majority. And there is no way to recover our majority without recovering our principles first," McCain told the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, in the first of two high-profile speeches kicking off his expected presidential campaign.

McCain, an early favorite in what promises to be a crowded Republican presidential field, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday forming an exploratory committee that allows him to raise money for a White House campaign.

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He said last week's election, when Republicans were swept out of power in both chambers of Congress, was punishment for the party's seduction by big spending and big government.

"We increased the size of government in the false hope that we could bribe the public into keeping us in office," McCain said, adding Americans "still prefer common sense conservatism to the alternative."

"Common sense conservatives believe that the government that governs least governs best, that government should do only those things individuals cannot do for themselves and do them efficiently," he said.

McCain, who lost a bitter nomination battle to President George W. Bush in 2000, planned to speak later to GOPAC, a prominent Republican political action committee.

"No defeat is permanent. And parties, just like individuals, show their character in adversity," McCain said.

He offered an endorsement of federal judicial appointees who narrowly interpret statutes and the Constitution, and praised Bush's Supreme Court appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

ACTIVE CAMPAIGNER

McCain, 70, has been one of the most active potential presidential contenders on the trail in 2006, helping Republican candidates, reaching out to the party's conservative wing and forming extensive organizations in key early states.

A one-time maverick who has courted the Republican establishment since his bruising 2000 primary loss, McCain says he plans to confer with his family over the Christmas holidays before making a final decision on a presidential bid.

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Public opinion polls show McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who already has formed an exploratory committee, are early leaders in a crowded field of potential Republican candidates.

Other possible contenders include Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New York Gov. George Pataki, former Bush cabinet member Tommy Thompson and Sens. Bill Frist of Tennessee and Sam Brownback of Kansas.

McCain won the New Hampshire primary in 2000, but his nomination bid foundered after he lost a bitter South Carolina primary to Bush and lashed out at some religious conservative leaders.

He has worked hard since to mend fences. He campaigned for Bush in 2004, appeared at the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University earlier this year and has been one of the party's biggest supporters of the Iraq war.

McCain has said a date for withdrawal would lead to chaos in Iraq and called for more troops to provide stability in the region. On Wednesday, he criticized the top U.S. general in the Middle East for rejecting calls to boost troop levels.

McCain told Army Gen. John Abizaid at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that he was offering a "status quo" recommendation and said "the American people in the last election said that's not an acceptable condition."

[AURaptor 1,126]

More empty slogans. Just as 'compassionate' conservative made it sound like an oxymoron, sames goes with 'common sense' conservative. Why not just say 'conservative' , and let your actions speak for you ? McCain is trying to be a Dem - light, with the focus grouped word usage and trial balloons.

McCain is already older than Reagan when he took office. Should he win the Presidency, McCain will be 72. It's a bit late for him to start redfining himself now. I will not vote for John McCain, regardless of what he calls himself

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I like McCain, but I would not want him as President. We need a fresh, energetic, common sense guy who will stand up and fight back. I thought Bush had that in him, I guess he just got beat down.

How bout Tony Snow? Not sure about his deep-rooted politics, but could listen to him slap down dims all day long.....