Feb 06 2008
The RINO “Pseudo-Conservatives” Trounced The “True Conservatives”
I told you so. Yep, had to get that out of the way finally. Ever since the Gang of 14 and Harriet Miers I have warned the angry right that their purity wars against Bush and all who dared to disagree with them (which continued through issues like Dubai Ports and Immigration) was going to end on this day – they are out of power. They are not out of influence, but they could be soon. The core problem with how the hyper-right acted on all these issues is they did not debate issues, the demeaned people. el Presidente Jorge Bush and his gang of RINO traitors were the political enemy to these people and they were led by conservative talk radio.
The answer to their anger was to destroy the conservative governing alliance. They went around calling their one-time GOP allies Republicans In Name Only (RINOs). The screamed about the “open borders’ crowd when their issues was really “Shamnesty” – or what to do with the long term illegal immigrants who have woven themselves into our society and have been generally law abiding neighbors. Bush and McCain and Kyle – all great Americans – were traitors and quislings for daring to disagree with these ‘true conservatives’.
And so the civil war began between conservatives. The “Pseudo-Conservatives” or “Faux Conservatives” were going to be taught a lesson. First Tancredo, then Thompson and then Romney was going to show the country what a ‘true conservative’ is because that was the only way to win elections. It seems Senator McCain (a.k.a McSnide and McClame as the ‘snide’ Laura Ingrahm and ‘lame’ Mark Leving love to call him) has shown us something else.
McCain was my second to the last choice (recently only Ron Paul was lower on my list) because he is not conservative enough for my tastes. But I am not so blind I cannot see he is preferable to Hillary or Obama. I had my own pet name for McCain (Obacain) which noted his policy closeness to the left. But mine was not a hit on his honor or passion for America, it was solely to note the obvious – he was closer to dems on big issues than any other candidate. But he won on Tuesday and won big. Romney’s 3rd place showing in the South was devastating. In some states he was so far back he did not even get delegates (AL, GA, OK). McCain took all the winner-take-all states. As Ed Morrissey notes McCain has a commanding lead and Romney has no realistic way to catch up. The RINO beat the “True Conservative”.
Now the question is what will the “true conservatives” do? Sean Hannity and other talking heads expect to see McCain go to CPAC tomorrow and kiss their butts. Forget about it. You don’t kiss the butts of people who have lost all their political clout because the American people have decided to reject them. The ones who need to reach out are the ones who started the purity wars and demeaned and attacked their allies. The ones who need to rescue their political futures are the ones who have been taking a beating for two years now and won’t admit they are losing support. I am not worried about McCain reaching out as much as I want to see the political knives thrown away on the right. I have no interest in vesting my life’s energy and time into a wasteful purity war.
This is not the time to keep gouging at moderates and independents. It is not the time to enforce purity on those who are not interested in kowtowing to group-think. Now is the time to salvage Iraq, keep the Bush tax cuts, get more conservative judges seated, stop the killing of young humans for spare parts and do something reasonable on immigration. It is not about what has America done for you but what we can do for America while were are blessed to spend our short time on Earth here. The “true conservative” is dead. Either we are an alliance of imperfect conservatives all (with respect for each other) or liberals win. THAT is the Reagan revolution – alliance over civil wars. The test of leadership is on the GOP and I am not confident it can pick it up. To do so means starting with admitting mistakes and being humble and respectful. Can those who were going down the wrong path for years now change their ways? That is what I want to see at GOPAC – understanding reality.
Live blog of Super Tuesday here and the big winners and losers post here.
Coulter Watch: Has any one heard if Coulter is still planning to campaign for Clinton now that McCain is heading towards the GOP nomination? I understand some total malcontents on the right plan to sit out the election and let Hillary win by default, but I am wondering if Coulter’s derangement was so severe she will make good on her threat?
Whippet1,
LOL! Oh, now it is MY fault the far right insulted the moderates to the point they left the coalition?
Too funny.
Don’t think my post came through.
Captain’s Quarters and others referred to the 1976 brokered GOP convention which led to long term damages. They applied that as an example that could happen to the Democratic party.
Captains Quarters also referred to the hispanic vote as part of the identity politics. He also says that the Republicans may have inherited some problems because of the Obama – Clinton war.
I voted after 1978 so can anyone explain what happened to the 1976 GOP convention and how a brokered convention damaged the GOP party.
I read that Clinton’s contributors have dried up but Obama continues to collect contributions. Does this indicate that Obama may get more delegate votes? Or the super delegates will decide the winner?
I’m really disgusted over this whole thing.
I don’t get that. Why? What would he do as a President as a Mormon that could damage the country or make it less successful economically?
Anyone who would not vote for him just because he is a Mormon is pretty much an idiot in my book. Maybe I should just decide that I am not going to vote for any religions people period, no matter what the religion. Well, except for Pastafarians.
AJ,
No, I never said it was your fault the far right insulted the moderates and you know it.
You are as guilty of insulting the conservatives as the conservatives are of insulting the moderates. I know you say that your name calling (Obacain for example) is just a pet name but of course the conservatives using RINO or McShamnesty is somehow different in your eyes. Sorry, it’s the same thing.
You’ve got some major tunnel-vision going on when it comes to this “purity war” concept. This campaign season has been far different than in years past for numerous reasons, ie, Guiliani gaining lots of support and running a lousy campaign, Thompson doing the same, Ron Paul – well, being Ron Paul, Huckabee, Romney and McCain with a mixture of primary wins. McCain gets this one by default and only by default, not because of some so-called “purity war.”
Powerline is suggesting that the super delegates might make it a condition to Clinton to have Obama on her ticket.
In which case, there would be no alienable elements. Everyone would vote for that ticket.
It’s funny how the liberals claim that our country has been so damaged in the last seven years. Only the Democrat ticket will do far more damage to our country and they won’t see it. Our country will be more socialized than ever…and weakened against the Islam threats.
It’s scary.
Obama’s success is the fact that most of the Democratic primaries are “open” and he has a lot of independent support. There are no independents at the convention. If the nomination isn’t settled by the time of the convention, Hillary wins.
The Republicans should just draft Fred at the convention.
“I am not a “true conservativeâ€, so why would I want them at the polls??â€
Neither am I AJ. I’m probably best described as a 9-11 Republican, a democrat mugged by reality.
I would think that the obvious reason to want them at the polls is to ensure that Obama or Clinton are not elected. I’m on the ground here in Chicago and I’ve haven’t seen the Democrats more fired up than now. Even more so than when they wanted to get GWB so badly in 2004 and it’s only the primaries.
If “true conservatives” stay home, 2008 will be a bloodbath in the House and Senate.
Looks like McCain took all but three congressional districts; 21, 49, and 52 in California. So Romney takes somewhere between 6 and 9 delegates and McCain takes the rest. Something like 160 or so.
Crap. “The Base” delivered McCain in California in 50 out of 53 districts. That was a closed primary, Republicans only. The base IS supporting McCain, overwhelmingly so.
Whippet1,
Forget it dude. I never once called anyone a traitor for differing views. If folks can’t handle a debate without going going nuts then they should bow out of politics.
I also warned people it was going to damage the GOP – they did not listen. You can pretend all day I am the same as those who went over the top, it won’t fly. I am an independent and a micro blog and I fougvht for my positions by pointing out the suicidal nature of the demeaning tactics.
Avoiding responsibility for the mess is denial. Don’t blame me, I never once called anyone a RINO or Quisling or Pseudo-Conservative. I said those who did were killing the party and I was right. It seems you’re upset I was right, not that I had some biting labels for those driving over the cliff!
Romney got the votes of a lot of Evangelicals. The analysts were talking about that last night.
Believe it or not, not everyone in the South is right wing Jesus freak for heavens sake. I think the fact that Romney was from Mass hurt him as much as his religion. I think that Romney supporters are just trying to find a way to excuse the fact that their guy was a dud.
Tell me, are there a lot Southern Baptists in CA too?
The right went too far too often. That is their problem. For the last two years there was a major meltdown about something. They are wearing people out.
The Dubai ports deal was a Trojan Horse??? That is absurd. This is the kind of thing that just killed the right. It really is. There is no evidence that this is even sort of true. In fact, Dubai has a very reputation for safety, way above average. For another the port authority controls security at the ports. For another these terminals are leased not sold. For another there were 19 countries involved in that deal, the US was the only one who nixed the deal and ended up looking stupid. For another the idea that George Bush would hand our ports over to terrorists is so paranoid and stupid that it makes sane people shake their heads in disgust. It does. This is the kind of over the top ranting that has to stop if the right is going to be seen as anything other than a bunch of black helicopter weirdos.
HNAV:
McCain won, stop being such a sore loser and by the way, I may have my doubts about global warming, but the fact that McCain things carbon emissions are a bad thing does not exactly make him a bad guy. John Howard lost Australia over something like this. I think that in time some of the over hyped aspects of all this will pass, but environmental concerns are here to stay, they are not going to go away. We can either use those concerns to help wean us off foreign oil, or we can just let this train run over us like it did John Howard.
Terrye, I think part of the disconnect here is that there are people who are actually part of “the fringe” who believe they are actually “the base”.
Fred hasn’t been able to get the votes. Even though I liked him in most ways (he wasn’t a good organizer and chairman), I don’t think this is a wise move.
I see that Hugh Hewitt has sorta changed his position by saying that we should back whomever wins the Republican nomination.
CP, based on what you’re saying, then there’s no need for the super delegates to set a condition for Hillary to accept Obama on her ticket, right?
If she doesn’t, then many independents may end up voting for McCain.
Looks like McCain’s position on illegal immigration may end up helping him after all. We shall see!
I’ve not seen or heard any evidence personally of the anti-Mormon sentiment. I live in Birmingham AL… I am just now realizing Romney had zero presence in my little corner of the world. I’ve not seen a single yard sign or bumper sticker. I noticed when he ran his ads here he ended with “I’m Mitt Romney, presidential candidate, and I approve this message.” In other words, he had to specifically state he was a candidate for prez. I think because he had so little name recognition and for lots of people (like me) he just didn’t register on the radar screens until very recently. By the time he showed up on my screen, he was making his pitch to the rabid right, promising bizarre things like deporting 12 mil. aliens in 120 days, promising to wave a wand and ‘fix Washington,’ etc.
The Ron Paulians were out putting up signs and delivering pamphlets like crazy the past two weeks. But the Hucka Bees were the busiest, most committed little buggers I’ve seen in a long time.
Alabama WILL vote McCain, overwhelmingly and enthusiastically. The military vote — duty, honor, country. Not even up for grabs.
I just saw this at Instapundit :
This comment from Bill Whittle is worth repeating here:
After seven years of watching and fighting against Americans who wish to see the country suffer so that they can get at George Bush, the last thing I wanted or expected to see was conservatives saying they would rather see the country suffer than support John McCain over Clinton or Obama, so that they can “get the blame.”
A retreat before victory is assured in Iraq cannot be undone in 2012. And mandatory, single-payer, universal health care, once established, will not EVER go away either.
I am not impugning anyone’s motives. I believe I have a reasonable understanding of principled behavior. But if your goal is to see the country punished because—
You can stop right there. If your goal is to see America punished, and her people open to attack and/or ruined financially in order to prove a point for any reason, then you do not deserve politial power nor are you likely to achieve it. A party is a compact. It is, essentially, a pleage of mutual support. As a matter of fact, it’s nothing more or less than a promise.
A political party is a series of personal compromises in order to achieve a goal unattainable by the perfect political party: one’s own self. If McCain is the legal and lawfully selected nominee, and Republicans decide to walk away from their party in droves, what makes them think they will be able to count on those who, you know, actually went out and voted Republican either joyfully or through clenched teeth, in order to prevent The Deluge?
If your idea of any political party is one that means unlimited support for your personal values if your candidate is ascendant, while you in turn owe none to those you dislike or even disdain, you might be in for a surprise in future elections.
Speaking as a FredHead myself, I am bitterly disappointed that I did not even have the chance to vote for a man I admired, and am more distraught still to find myself in the position I now occupy. I see many, many worrisome things about John McCain, but being tough on terror and spending are not among them. We could do worse. Two names come to mind immediately.
Much is said about principles, and since I am not able elect anyone BY MYSELF I have entered into this pact with the group of people who I feel most comfortable with in terms of values. If they, as a body, choose a candidate who is not my first, second, third or fourth choice, then I can look to the Democrats. There I find views so antithetical to everything I believe that I realize there is indeed something to this idea of party loyalty.
And I cannot help but think that such a kind and practical man as Ronald Reagan would be amazed that his name was being invoked so frequently in order to insure that the most liberal, socialist, power-hungry statist in my living memory is elected. I’m glad he’s not here to see this because if he knew the consequences of what was being done in his name, I believe it would kill the man.
To me this seems like much ado about nothing. McCain and Romney are both moderate Republicans; the differences between them have been exaggerated by those who don’t like McCain, and don’t have much bearing on what’s good for the country. I realize that I’ve been accused of lacking fire, but while none of these candidates is close to my ideal, I really don’t understand the Kossack-like anger here.
********
I don’t always agree with Glenn Reynolds, but even he can see that the right has gone off the deep end.
AJ,
You prove my point every time…
Those using names like RINO, Quisling, or Pseudo-Conservative were “killing the party.” But yours are only “biting labels.”
It’s just symantics…..
The Republicans should just draft Fred at the convention.
No, no, no. If I am going to be forced to vote for McCain (with tape over my mouth for 4 years), please let me have my pick for VP. I read a comment where someone suggested a McCain/Steele. I agree. Good one. I also thought of JC Watts because he certainly paid his dues. The Black Caucus would not even let him into their elite world. But I can do one even better………….drumroll please………….
John McCain/Linda Chavez.
Yup, the savage in me wants to watch Malkin. Minority. Mexican. Female.
Whippet1,
You whine too much!
If you can’t see the difference between calling someone a ‘traitor’ or ‘fascist’ and saying someone is a “Mary Poppins Conservative” then you will never get it.
Forget it, the hyper-conservatives are a fading breed who brought their demise upon themselves. And yes, I do expect them to blame all of us for their own ludicrous actions. Why would they change now?