The American Spectator

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(Page 4 of 16)

Strangely, Klein cites Mike Huckabee as proof of his theory, though Huckabee only won one contest. In addition, Huckabee is a social conservative for the most part, and most conservative opposition came late anyway, no doubt fooled early on by his evangelical appeal.

Also, most conservatives had never heard of Huckabee before Iowa, so I don't understand how he overcame conservative opposition when there was very little to begin with. (I think Rush only started hammering at him a couple of days before the primary.)

Klein then cites Romney's conservatism as the reason he lost to candidates who are not liked by "Beltway conservatives." He claims that Romney's win in Michigan is due to his "economic populism" rather than his conservatism. (So then why did McCain lose in Michigan?)

In fact, Romney isn't doing well now because he lacks what could be called the "Obama factor." Despite Romney's (newly minted) conservatism, conservatives just aren't really enthusiastic about him, the way liberals are enthused about Obama. Romney is indeed more of a manager than a leader.

McCain's nomination is a more serious problem than Klein thinks. It would not just be a blow to "conservative elites" as he claims, but would be a defeat for conservatism itself. Klein's attempt to mitigate the disaster by separating conservatives from conservative elites is putting a bandage on a gaping wound.

It's probably an exaggeration to say that McCain betrays conservatives at every turn. It's only at every other turn. When I think of (say) a McCain-Huckabee ticket, or something similar, I'm reminded of Nixon-Agnew. Sure, we conservatives will vote for McCain's ticket (or against Hillary's), but that's about it. Without the base, McCain won't have anyone to defend him when the going gets rough.

And it will get rough. McCain is the political equivalent of an IED. It won't be long before the media tires of him, either during the campaign or during his presidency. They'll be watching for opportunities to set his infamous temper off, and there will be plenty of those. It's unlikely that McCain will enjoy a honeymoon with the press.

The best thing McCain can do is try to mend fences with conservatives and prove he really was a foot-soldier in the Reagan Revolution. Bush lost a lot of conservative support when he proved unreliable in Supreme Court nominees (a huge issue for social conservatives), and supported amnesty for illegals (another huge issue for rule-of-law conservatives). No one defends Bush now, or claims him as one of their own, not even conservatives, and his popularity is accordingly very low.

Without the conservative base, McCain faces the same problem. The liberals and the media will be against him, as they were also against Nixon and Agnew, and the conservatives won't be around to put in a kind word. By the time McCain leaves office in four years, his popularity will be so low, you'd have to dig a hole to find it.

p>It's high time for McCain to make a pilgrimage to Rush Limbaugh's "Canossa." He might not need to stand barefoot in the snow like Henry IV, but contrary to Klein's intimations, the indifference of the conservative base will likely doom McCain's presidency. McCain will need to be the Unifier in Chief, not the "maverick" he always aspires to be, if he wants to be more than a one term president. br> -- C. V. Crisler br> Gilbert, Arizona /p>

The numbers are in from the Florida primary and the the most important ones are the ones that the DNC says are not important. But after analyzing the "Unimportant data" it reveals that the Presidential election for 08 is over. Why? Florida is the nearest middle of the road look at America politically when it comes to voting so what happens here is very enlightening. The bottom line is that about 100,000 more Democrats voted for the top three candidates than the republicans did for their three and it didn't even matter. As they say in tennis, game, set and match. It's over and Hillary is queen.

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