Yesterday was another RL crisis day for me. My father is very ill and I spent the afternoon and most of the evening at the hospital. Today, we'll have a CT scan to see if he's had a stroke. I got him to eat and drink some for me and he seemed peppier, but not by much. I'm still praying and holding on to each minute with him I have.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out, as I drove through the night back to my house, that John McCain had won the Florida primary. After listening to Rush Limbaugh sneer at anyone--particularly women--who criticize him (is it any wonder he's not married?), even I was ready to tell certain talk radio people to just shut the hell up...and I'm a free speech kinda gal, even for jerks. Rush Limbaugh even had callers crowing at the idea that "we don't want to win, we want to be right." Sorry to tell her, I'd like to be right and win. But if I can't have my ideal candidate, I'll take one that beats Democrats. As has been oft repeated here and elsewhere, John McCain has a lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union of 83. His biggest critic who has actually served, Rick Santorum, has a lifetime rating of 88. I guess it's those 5 points that make the difference, right? *smacks forehead*
The fact is, McCain is solidly Republican but, unlike so many pundits, doesn't believe that compromising with Democrats to achieve legislation is a bad thing. Oddly enough, the American people have said they want more bipartisanship...which requires working with Democrats. Conservatives need to come to accept that.
But they won't for now. Instead, we'll see a lot of crying and whining about the unfairness of it all.
Assuming there is no shocking revelation or health issue, the GOP nomination is over. Conservatives need to start practicing the phrase "Nominee presumptive John McCa....."
Sorry, I can't say it. Not yet.
But it's true. When the campaign comes here to Massachusetts on February 5th, I'll proudly cast my vote for any option on the GOP ballot other than You-Know-Who. But it will be a futile gesture. Mr. "1/3rd Of The GOP Primary Vote" is going to be the nominee.
He's going to win the big, left-leaning states on Tuesday. Huckabee will stay in and deny Romney a one-on-one contest for GOP voters that Captain Amnesty would almost certainly lose. The result: More wins for He Who Must Not Be Named, and fewer wins for Romney—regardless of delegate count.
Florida has launched the one ship that Romney's money and Rush Limbaugh cannot stop: The U.S.S. Inevitable. It's gonna happen. Even if there were a realistic pathway to stop him, the media have seized control of the process now and are declaring him inevitable. He is, after all, the favorite son of the New York Times.
So it is over. Finished. In November, we'll be sending out our most liberal, least trustworthy candidate vs. to take on Hillary Clinton—perhaps not more liberal than Barack Obama, but certainly far less trustworthy. And the worst part for the Right is that McCain will have won the nomination while ignoring, insulting and, as of this weekend, shamelessly lying about conservatives and conservatism.
You think he supported amnesty six months ago? You think he was squishy on tax cuts and judicial nominees before? Wait until he has the power to anger every conservative in America, and feel good about it.
Emphasis mine.
The truth is, John McCain didn't ignore or lie about conservatives or conservatism. He was attacked mercilessly by talking heads and lied about by Mitt Romney. Romney bought more than 10 times the ads in Florida as McCain.
According to Neilsen, he's run 4,475 ads compared to John McCain's 470 through 1/22.
McCain did not run a single ad until January; Romney ran more ads in September than McCain has run to date.
These people crying about McCain winning need to decide how McCain beat Plasticman with almost no money. The answer is simple: Romney is a flip-flopping fake and everybody saw through it. As one person I heard on the radio described it, "Mitt Romney left people with the impression he had no convictions. At a townhall meeting, if a questioner seemed to be for No Child Left Behind, then Romney gave an answer supporting NCLB. If the questioner seemed to be against it, Romney gave an answer that was anti-NCLB." Those things matter to people a lot more than calling comprehensive immigration reform amnesty or complaining about McCain-Feingold, which none of the Republican candidates supported repealing.
Jules Crittenden explained it this way:
Mitt Romney has hardly shown himself to be a model of consistency and has veered more wildly. In any case, as previously stated, this is a hold-your-nose election that has more to do with electability,* unpleasant alternatives and ultimately, whichever issue(s) you consider the most important. Because you aren’t going to get everything you want.
Unless your big issues are hope ...and change!
Michelle Malkin complains and offers e-mails from sniffy Republicans who evidently put purity above winning by huffily declaring they'll vote for a Democrat before John McCain. Because, yes, being the permanent minority is much more important.
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