The American Spectator

John, events could prove me wrong, but I’m betting that, as a pro-McCain supply-sider, Kudlow is going to be an outlier. Also, as you noted, Kudlow’s reasons for admiring McCain seem almost entirely unrelated to economics — and rightly so.

On fiscal policy, McCain is probably strongest on spending (at least of the wasteful variety — he can be terrible on size of government issues) and weakest on taxes. He voted the Lincoln Chafee line on the 2001 Bush tax cuts. He campaigned in favor of a smaller tax cut, with less of a reduction in marginal rates, in 2000. He championed a significant tobacco tax increase in the late '90s. And his campaign finance reform law wasn’t kind to anti-tax groups.

Both McCain and Giuliani have personalities and national reputations that lend themselves well to winning support from people who disagree with them on any number of issues. But I doubt many people who are as committed supply-siders as Kudlow will be willing to overlook McCain’s record in this area.