NYT columnist: 'Demoralized' Republicans fleeing RNC will make McCain 'lonely guy' in Minnesota
Suspected cause of defections is fears of Bush-McCain baggage
More than one in five Republican senators have said they won't attend the GOP convention next month or are considering missing out on the Minnesota confab to formally nominate John McCain.
Eight Republican Senators are skipping the Twin Cities convention, and two more say they might have better things to do Sept. 1-4. It's a troubling sign for a party that already expects to lose more seats in Congress this year and indicates that John McCain continues to be saddled by the baggage of President Bush's last eight years, says one observer.
"The ones who are running away are definitely assuming that the voters are going to see McCain linked up there with Bush," New York Times columnist Bob Herbert tells MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
Maddow, who was guest hosting Countdown Thursday night, said some of the GOP defections were understandable. For example, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is likely trying to avoid any unpleasant memories of his foot-tapping escapades at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, and Alaska's Ted Stevens is perhaps too busy prepping for his upcoming public corruption trial.
Most of the Republican truants, though, seem more worried that pictures of them applauding Bush or McCain would doom their chances in already tough re-election races. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) has run ads linking himself with Democrats Barack Obama and John Kerry, and he recently rejected the largely honorary position of serving as McCain's Oregon campaign co-chairman.
Also skipping the Republican convention will be North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole, Maine's Susan Collins, Nebraska's Chuck Hagel, Colorado's Wayne Allard and Kansas's Pat Roberts. New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and Mississippi's Roger Wicker haven't yet decided whether they'll be at the convention to nominate McCain.
Just three Republican senators in competitive races have said for sure they will attend the convention, and the head of the Republicans' House campaigns has encouraged them to skip the convention.
"He's going to be a lonely guy," Herbert joked of the presumptive GOP nominee. "The short answer is, this is weird. ... They have reason to be demoralized."
This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast August 14, 2008.
Download video
| 
