As long as people whose work I normally respect and enjoy, like Jules Crittenden, continue to write pieces about how McCain refuseniks should “grow up” and stop throwing a “tantrum,” I guess I will have to continue writing pieces that point out that their position is hypocritical and their approach is counter-productive to their goal.
Sen. McCain’s media supporters demand that everyone immediately rush to show party loyalty for one of the GOP’s worst cheaters. There are less conservative Republicans in the US Senate, but they are usually more discreeet, and generally have the good sense to appear pained when the spotlight is put on them. In contrast, Johnny Mac built his his capital with the media through his very public, sweaty embraces of the likes of Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Writers like Crittenden, Den Henninger and others urge the refuseniks to shut up — despite the fact that one of the primary reasons so many dislike McCain’s candidacy is his tendency to want to shut citizens up by force of law. Yet they have the gall to suggest it is the refuseniks shooting themselves in the foot. This crowd has apparently not heard the one about catching more flies with honey than vinegar.
It is proof that McCain’s media support, like McCain himself (according to Newt Gingrich) simply does not understand or like the bloc of conservatives (and others) he is now courting. That gives refuseniks little comfort that their concerns would ever be taken seriously in the campaign to come, let alone any McCain administration.
Accordingly, those who have taken issue with McCain on various issues will have to extract any concessions they can now:
Conservatives’ one card left to play is whether we endorse McCain or not. Why should we show it now? If all conservatives declare unanimously against him, pledging undying hostility and staking our reputations on opposing the guy, well, he may decide (as we did with him when he and his partisans like Lindsey Graham and Juan Hernandez fumed about us) that we mean what we say.
Likewise, if we all fall into line, even grudgingly, well, we’re taken for granted… Just like black people and feminists in the Democrat party, they’ve no place to go…
But if we keep our cards close to our chest, McCain still has to work for our vote. He can’t take us for granted and he dare not alienate us any more.
Those desperate for everyone to coalesce behind McCain now, before he has even won the delegates necessary for the nomination, write that it is for the good of America. But I have yet to see the argument against the one quoted above from any of those making the demand. If they believe that getting concessions from McCain on issues like illegal immigration in the next months will destroy America, let them make the argument.
There will likely be many people who will hold their noses and vote for McCain some nine months or so from now. I may yet be among them. But at least some — to paraphrase Churchill or Shaw — are haggling over the price. Those demanding fealty now and getting nothing in return are some pretty cheap dates.
Update: Mitt Romney narrowly beat McCain in the CPAC straw poll, with 31% saying that if John McCain were the GOP presidential nominee, they would either vote for someone else, or not vote at all. That may not be representative of conservatives generally, but it is not good news for McCain. Similarly, it is not clear yet as to whether Mike Huckabee will win the Louisiana primary and Washington state caucus in addition to the Kansas primary, but his wins (if any) are likely to be narrow, a plurality against what is essentially a protest vote. McCain’s supporters are getting a look at the fruits of their “shut up and get in line” attitude, yet somehow I expect they will only redouble their childish and counter-productive approach.
What’s weirder is the 80/20 rule totally applies I’d bet. 80% of those who would be predisposed to reconciling themselves with McCain, have. It’s that Feely thing Mr. Reynolds is always on about. This simply doesn’t take days and days for people to process. Crittenden is addressing a fraction of a minority. Snottily. It’s dumb. Anointing Hick as a protest candidate is what he’s doing I think. The narrower Senator McCain’s claim to the nomination is, the more on target Mr. SeeDubya’s take on things is. Duh, really.
But for real, why does PJM keep publishing basically the same piece over and over again? That’s not a very new media thing to do.
Huckabee slaughtered McCain today in Kansas. It wasn’t even close. To be fair, I’m not sure how to feel about that.
I wonder what the total turnout was though?
I think it was pretty low hf, but I’m not really sure if thats because they run a caucus system or because many on the GOP side there feel its already decided. I think the numbers were something like 11K for Huckabee and under 3K for McCain.
So it’s not moving the dial on the popular vote. Someone will have to explain to me what Hick’s trying to accomplish.
My guess is he’s trying to prove to McCain that he can bring the conservative evangelical vote which might otherwise stay home. He also seems a bit delusional at times, so maybe he thinks he can really win.
That seems like a tacky thing to do really, after Super Tuesday. Hick likes his moneys though, when that dries up he’s out. So where the hell is Hick getting moneys from?
Is this still operative?
Now it doesn’t like WaPo links for some reason…
http://www.washingtonpost*.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101908.html
That’s a retarded argument, it presumes that if somehow elected, McCain would follow through on the crap he told conservatives to get the job, and we know that’s a lie.
Unlike many, I would argue that McCain’s sense of honor and his tendency to throw himself 100% into his positions would cause him to honor most of the commitments he might make.
I should add that if McCainiacs want to argue for conservatives to fall in line because McCain is a dishonorable liar who will break any commitments he makes to them, they should do so now.
Also, he was a war hero.
I have links.
Go, McCain!
You quote Newt Gingrich.. Newt Gingrich? He is about as conservative as, say, Mitt Romney, or… JOHN MCCAIN… imagine that?
Newt Gingrich had a lifetime ACU rating of 90, and hit 100 in his final year in the House.
McCain has a lifetime ACU rating of 82, most recently 65; he has not hit that 82 mark since the mid-90s.
Both entered Congress in ’82, so it’s not like Gingrich does not know who he’s talking about, either.
Of course, having pointed out that McCain’s supporters don’t get it, mr. o’donnell stopped by to underscore the point.
Maverick John is lead sled dog now and he isn’t puppeteered by those who wear “true Conservative” decoder rings. There’s always The Huck or Ron Paul for you to whiners to cast your votes for.
Go McCain! Get some!
The word crevasse just popped into my head. That’s so odd.
thor,
McCain isn’t running around trying to shore up his base because he enjoys it. But please feel free to keep up with the sort of commentary that hardens people’s attitudes against him. Worked for Johnny Mac so well tonight.
Eight people showed up at the Topeka polling stations around noon clutching Rush Limbaugh flyers and wearing frowns. Then there was the lady who barely made it in before closing and cast a vote for McCain.
Huge.
And yet McCain couldn’t get it together there and lost delegates.
Confidence-inspiring.
McCain needs money I would think. I would also think naming a running mate could help with that. Announcing a running mate also might solidify perceptions of him as the de facto nominee and give him a bit of momentum that this Kansas sort of thing really saps. He might want to do that sooner rather than later. Like maybe next week. That’s probably dumb, but why?
Because Mitt needs to get himself tanned and rested before bowing to Maverick John and agreeing to be Veep.
Come on, Guys. this thing is done, and if I were Maverick, I wouldn’t be spending much cash or effort trying to squeeze Huckster out. He’ll need that ammo later.
It takes 1191 delegates to win. Huck has 234, needs 957 and there are only 905 left to win. He could run the table from here on out, and he’d still need Romney’s delegates to pull it out. Neither of those things is anywhere near likely to happen. As the Huckster said, he majored in miracles, not math. So, unless the Baby Jesus wants him to get the nomination, it ain’t gonna happen. Romney, OTOH, is good at math, and he got out. McCain needs left than half of the outstanding delegates, not counting Romney’s, which he’s likely to get the majority of if Romney releases them.
Johnny Mac is right to keep his powder dry. This thing’s over unless Jesus says otherwise.
If I were him, I’d let the Dem make his/her VP pick first. Because of the identity politics.
Senator McCain should let his surrogates do the conservative talking while he runs to the center, as Richard Nixon recommends. Either the purists will come along or they won’t; he will not win in the general without crossover appeal. His best opportunity to nail down the flank is with the Veep pick. Aside from that he has to run a centrist campaign. There aren’t enough votes on the starboard side to win this election.
Ok. Mostly I just want Hick out cause the whole freak show aspect of this is discomfiting. I was projecting there I think.
Here, I’ll fix this for you…
If I were him, I’d let the Dems pick his VIP. After all, they picked him…
Guys like Thor not only get Senator McCain’s outlook and position but exemplify the way ye expresses them. He doesn’t like conservatives, in fact he holds us in contempt. He will lie to get power, he’s proved it before. Relying on the man’s incredibly dubious sense of honor is a mistake.
he will not win in the general without crossover appeal.
Which Ronald Reagan gained by conservatism presented winningly and convincingly. Senator McCain’s style is more “vote for me or I’ll put a boot down your throat.”
Yes Brainster person, more and more I’m getting a strong Michael Steele vibe just from here and there. Or at least something in that genre. I’d hate to think it was so crude a calculus as to pick a bebreasted VP if it looks like Clinton and a bepigmented VP if it looks Baracky, cause anyway I think any analysis of the show so far says that pigment is much riftier with respect to the Dem base. Also, Michael did get screwed over in Maryland pretty ugly so a race that allows for a recounting of that would be healthy I think. Bye, Fred. I think you’d make a groovy Secretary of something. You’d rock at Commerce I think.
Christopher, I think really that a 2010 midterm featuring happy shiny GOP senator wannabes campaigning on being the guy that will stand up to McCain would be the healthiest thing in a long long time. Really. McCain ain’t so tough. He’s an old man and the presidency has natural mellowing agents.
happyfeet, Steele would probably work better if Hillary is the nominee; he could capitalize on the bad feelings that blacks will have towards the woman that kayoed the first serious black candidate for the top slot. And by the same logic, a woman would work better against Obama.
Maybe. I’m not very good at this sort of thing. I think a woman though kind of parallels the problems that AOL douche said about how picking Fred would only serve to highlight McCain’s geriatricity. Whoever he picked would be about the right age to be his daughter. A black guy doesn’t invoke that.
Christopher Taylor, Reagan would not have won any other year than 1980, when there was an overwhelming desire among the people to get rid of Carter and the Democrats. As it happens, this year is setting up to be the mirror image of that year, with the Republicans squarely in the crosshairs of the voters. Look at the primary turnouts; the Democrats got 20% more voters for their guys in South Carolina, and 40% more in Missouri. And that was when the conservative base was supposedly united in trying to stop McCain. Why would anybody believe that there’s a further treasure trove of votes to be found on the right? His only chance lies in trying to get some of those folks who voted in the Dem primary to come over to his side.
If Steele was the pick, McCain won and then stroked out, I’d be more than OK with that.
You pick any Veep for the demos they can bring to the polls for you. Is it any more cynical or manipulative to include pigmentation on that list than it is breastature or southernism or any of the other distinctions that can be made between one candidate or another? Only if you’re a racist or a race baiter. And if the blackitation is an asset for the Messiah, why should he be the only black guy entitled to take advantage of it? I don’t get the “It’s cool to reach out to blacks as long as you don’t look like you’re doing it” idea. Which, naturally, only applies to Republicans.
Brainster is very smart to me today I think. The for real conservative for which we pine would have been quixotic this year. The conservatism we know has been held up to the light, x-rayed and mri’d to where its contradictions are all too apparent. Fuck Ramesh. You can’t reconcile limited government with prohibitions against defetalizing your uterus. And I wants my ephedra back.
Comment by Christopher Taylor on 2/10 @ 10:29 am #
Guys like Thor not only get Senator McCain’s outlook and position but exemplify the way ye expresses them. He doesn’t like conservatives, in fact he holds us in contempt. He will lie to get power, he’s proved it before. Relying on the man’s incredibly dubious sense of honor is a mistake.
Of course John McCain is a two-horned tail-dragging devil, and I McCain’s embedded evil seed. Anyone just feel a sudden itchy in the nethers? I tooted!
Conservatives have been pretty contemptible of late, Christopher. Frankly they’ve committed the unpardonable sin of boring me.
I’d rather watch every film of the year nominee than spend a half hour at the goddamn Corner. Tedium, thy name is NR.
And don’t get me started on the exciting nuances of pork-busting.
I feel better now.
Oh. And if one more person invokes Reagan I’m gonna start cutting myself.
Fuckabee is trying to make me die young. If McCain slots him at VP, I will stroke out. I might consider voting for McCain if he slots Watts, or Romney.
I’d rather watch every film of the year nominee than spend a half hour at the goddamn Corner.
Can’t argue too much with that, but Juno and No Country for Old Men were both quite good. I’d rather get a lap dance from Hillary than sit through Atonement though.
It’s mostly the part where I have to be that guy who is sitting down to watch a potentially Oscar®-worthy film is the analogy to how The Corner feels very stamped and certified. Michelle Malkin today has this cool deal I’d never seen before that adduces this…
The Corner is a lot a nanny mini-state unto itself, days are. I think nishi has gotten into my brain is the deal.
I think there is something to Brainster’s analysis, but less than he thinks. The conservative vote was never united against McCain due to the flawed field of candidates arrayed against him. And the campaign all of them have run depresses the overall turnout.
Take a look, for example, at the head-to-head polls Survey USA did in Missouri last month (1/14): They show McCain marginally more electable than Romney against either Clinton or Obama, but none shows the Dems cleaning the GOP’s clock in Missouri. To the contrary, with McCain the de facto nominee, it shows that MO stands a very good chance of going Red in November.
[…] not weird at all. The party apparatus has gotten the message that everyone is to simply shut up and get in line behind McCain. Announce his victory now. If […]
Thing about the Corner is, ‘feets, that you never know when Steyn is gonna post.
That’s true, but people almost always link for me. Get in get out no one gets hurt. Or stultified.
I don’t know if that’s really the right word. You get the idea though.
I think that word works.
The card metaphor is something that I’ve been using in private conversation for a couple of weeks.
I hadn’t thought of McCain as a dog’s ass, but I think that’s an apt description of what his followers must see.
Was National Review ever anything but boring? In any case they aren’t acting all that conservative as of late – at least some of them.
RACIST! at least, according to certain trolls.
That’s a good question about NR. I did TNR as a kid, partly cause Andrew Sullivan was so kewl. Yeah that’s embarrassing but I’ve told that story already. NR I found basically through The Corner. I mean I knew of it, but it was never something I picked up much less got in the mail. There’s definitely room for a new title in that space, but I think blogs dissuade investment. And that’s probably as it should be.