Conservatives can’t stand McCain. Unfortunately, they (especially the right wing Christian conservatives) sat around on their thumbs waiting for a conservative white knight to suddenly appear and save the day. They dreamt of a Gingrich announcement, but that never materialized. They latched on to Thompson, but he fizzled. So they clung to the under-funded, under-organized, unrealitistic notion of a Huckabee presidency, and that has failed on several fronts. In addition to being an unviable national presidential candidate, Huckabee and his supporters are in the process of torpedoing the most solid, well organized, best funded candidate on the right, Mitt Romney.
It is frequently said that the Democrats’ own worst enemy are Democrats. Well the same can be said for Republicans. While the idealistic fools on the far right waited for Ronald Reagan to rise from the dead, they inadvertently allowed McCain to rise instead. Ironically, the idea of a McCain presidency is so off-putting to so many influential conservatives that there has been a backlash to his frontrunner status. When combined with the Schwarzenegger and Giuliani endorsements (which seemed to remind conservatives about why they dislike McCain) conservatives are finally motivated to coalesce behind Romney… except of course for those who ridiculously cling to Huckabee. Recent polling suggests Romney has pulled ahead in several important states.
Right wing Christian conservative leaders want to be the kingmakers in the Republican party. They boast of their influence and they threaten to stay home if their voices are not heard. Well, during this long and winding road of the primary season, they have been heard and if we end up with McCain as our candidate, they certainly should be saddled with the credit they deserve.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Romney is a faux conservative Scott. Don’t forget just a few short years ago, he was vying with Ted Kennedy who could best out liberal the other. Now all the sudden Mitt is a conservative? People need to vote their conscience tomorrow IMO. Vote for the person who you think best represents what your values are and what the GOP party stands for. That’s why I’m voting for Ron Paul.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Political progress can be defined as always moving the ball down the field, even if it’s just a half yard at a time. If having a candidate that does not perfectly align with my political values is what’s required for my party to keep the ball moving forward, I will compromise.
When the alternative is Hillary or Obama, compromise on the right makes a lot of sense. I just wish conservative would have embraced this concept sooner.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Why would conservatives rally to a guy that said “I wasn’t a Republican during Reagan-Bush. I don’t want to return to Reagan-Bush”. You can’t denounce the Gripper twice and be the movement’s leader.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Both of them are liberals. But Romney hasn’t spent the last few years spitting on conservatives. THAT’s why conservatives don’t like McCain.
February 4th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Everyone gets so caught up in idealism they lose sight of the real goal, making political progress for the values typically embraced by the Republican party.
It is long past time to debate who would be the ideal candidate. The clock has simply run out on the opportunity to debate the nuances of who is more conservative than who… who is more like Ronald Reagan. Just forget about it. The romantic notion of a return to all that was right about the Reagan era is what has got us into this jam in the first place.
You have a choice, McCain or Romney. One of these two men will be the Republican nominee. You know what to expect from McCain. He is an unreliable conservative who consistently disappoints Republicans. One also has to believe that at this moment in time, he is the most conservative he will ever be.
On the other hand, you can choose Romney. He has had a change of heart on a couple of issues important to conservatives. These changes have earned him the label of flip-flopper by opponents. That aside, Romney is a strong candidate, has great family values, lots of resources, articulate, good looking, solid credentials, and is well organized.
Your choice…
February 4th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Scott,
I agree with you completely and what you write almost mirrors what I have been posting and emailing for months.
Many of my friends are Ron Paul supporters. I said OK, he’s great, now let’s get serious. It’s been my goal to spread the word to as many Paul and Huck fans as possible that if McCain is the guy tomorrow, they have only themselves to blame.
Unfortunately, Paul and Huck people will fight you to the death before they admit defeat.
I personally am making calls for Romney this evening I encourage all Republicans to do the same.
February 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
“Everyone gets so caught up in idealism they lose sight of the real goal, making political progress for the values typically embraced by the Republican party”
We’ve had all Republican rule for the last eight years and look what that has gotten us. We’ve regressed, not progressed. They’ve spent more money, taken more bribes, sold out more GOP principles, increased government exponentially, taken us to war in Iraq under false pretenses, etc, etc, etc. If you really want more of this, then by all means vote for McCain, Romney, or Huckabee. They will stay the course we’ve been on. If you don’t, the only choice you have is to vote for Ron Paul.
February 4th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
“He has had a change of heart on a couple of issues important to conservatives.”….a couple of issues?
Abortion, Gay marriage, raising taxes and fees, healthcare, the surge, 2nd amendment.
The Democrats are chopping at the bit to run against him.
Rommey loses to Obama by 15%pts. Rommey loses to Bilary by 10% pts.
February 4th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Keep attacking McCain…He will be our nominee and for every vote you steal on the right with your litany of McCain failures you convince two votes on the left that he is a real team player.
The irony of the attack McCain crowd (FAR RIGHT) is that you build his credibility with the rest of us (Moderate Republicans, Moderate Democrats and Independents). The “new coalition that McCain is building will demolish Hillary or Obama in the Fall. They cannot defend their retreat and surrender anti-war rhetoric. Their massive government Healthcare giveaway will choke the electorate as the push for raising taxes when the economy is in a downturn.
McCain’s commonsense approach to governement (don’t spend more than you make) and his military record make him an easy choice in war-time and bad economic times.
So keep the attacks up, I think I will like the “new” McCain Republican party better.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Romney’s advertising blitzes have not had any lasting positive effect, they are like putting a lighter under a piece of damp wood. The wood will stay lit as long as you hold the flame beneath it, but it will never catch fire by itself. Romney is like that with the voters. As long as he keeps the TV ads going, he can do well in the polls. But take the ads away, and he fails to catch fire.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
The only thing that is great about Mitt Romney the candidate is his ability to self-fund. Minus that from the equation and he would have probably ended his run after New Hampshire.
Mike Huckabee and John McCain won the state(s) that they did with little resources because they connected with the voters on a personal, face to face level.
On the other hand, Romney outspent everyone in the field on at least a 5 to 1 margin and still got his butt handed to him.
So Scott, when you say that, “Romney is a strong candidate, has great family values, lots of resources, articulate, good looking, solid credentials, and is well organized.” – what’s Romney strong on, certainly not winning; I’ll give you the family values part and the fact that he’s good looking and rich, which gives him the ability to BUY organization.
On the “solid credentials” part, what are you referring to, his 1 term as Governor of Massachusetts or his national security portfolio? His only strong suit is business.
Anyway, what is your end game? What is the goal of the Santorum/Rush/Sean Hannity crowd in derailing McCain? Is it to keep the White House or to just nominate a “true” conservative in your own view for the sake of doing it and lose?
McCain is not perfect, but neither is Romney. However, at least my guy got a shot of winning the presidency, even if the Democrats will outspent us, and they will. Surely you have to recognize the fact that Romney is not as electable as McCain.
Romney, your guy, if he’s the GOP nominee, will give the Democrats total control of the U.S. government on 12:01 pm, January 20, 2009.
That’s some of the reasons why i’m supporting McCain over Romney.
Anyway, it’s up to the voters of this country to decide tomorrow.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:48 am
My point is simple: Principles or Pragmatism?
I have been asking this question for over 1 year. This election has to be viewed in the context of the circumstances in which we find ourselves during this election cycle. We must consider factors like the economy, national security, Bush fatigue, the Democrat opponent, new media, etc. When all is said and done, a voter must determine if it is more important to support a candidate based solely on their shared principles or support the guy who offers the best chance to defeat the Democrat opponent.
Voters who never deviate from voting with those with which they perfectly align, often end up with nothing.
Having principles is one thing. Engaging in the debate about those principles is worthwhile. HOWEVER, in the end elections are about winning and losing. One has to win to have a seat at the table. Otherwise you are just yelling from the sidelines.