1. Hillary Clinton will be the Democrat nominee in 2008. The only possible way she isn't, is if she chooses not to run.
2. John McCain knows that he can easily beat Hillary in the general election. His BIG problem is getting the GOP nomination. More about that a little later.
3. Democrats will filabuster W.'s SC nominees. It is a given. It is what they do. They are programmed that way..their base will exert unbelievable pressure if they do not.
Now, a few words about McCain. Despite the scorn with which many here hold him, we can say two positive things about him:
1. He is staunchly pro-life. This has never been questioned.
2. He is a strong supporter of the War on Terror, and all that President Bush has done to wage it.
However, he's done a great many things that have really upset the GOP base since 2000, and despite all his efforts ( like campaigning for and with W in 2004, hugging him onstage, delivering a GREAT speech at the 2004 convention...including lampooning and harpooning Michael Moore) he remains wildly unpopular with the base. And he has Bill Frist, a potential 2008 rival, starting to act like a leader, giving the base what it wants in pushing the nuclear option in the Senate. So, what's a guy to do?
Remember, McCain spent years in a POW camp in Vietnam. He understands human nature, strategy, and the need to think many moves in advance in the political chess game. And note his most fervent acolyte, Lindsey Graham. Though many here don't like him now..remember his performance during the impeachment proceedings. He was superb. And he has a very astute political mind.
So, then, why concoct this insipid compromise. Surely McCain and Graham know that the issue will be back in the forefront as soon as a SC nomination comes up. Everyone knows that. And the Dems will filabuster. Indeed, McCain is counting on it.
Right now, he has accomplished the following:
1. Frist is neutered, possibly severely wounded
2. McCain is the absolute darling of the MSM. He will have a superb press, a heightened profile ( even without the movie) and gain a great deal of support among independents and middle-of -the road Democrats, who do not like the hard left direction of their party.
He can do no wrong.
So, some time this year, when the Dems ramp up their filabuster of the SC nominees, look for McCain to stand up and announce publicly that the trust he placed in the Dems promise was misstaken. That he was wrong, and that right now it is necessary that the GOP move immediately to invoke the nuclear option and give all the president's nominees an up-or-down vote.
I ask you, whom do evangelicals ( social conservatives) love more than the self-admitted sinner who has confessed, and has now seen the true light. Come home, our brother John, all is forgiven. We embrace you. And BTW, please accept our nomination to be President.
The MSM will be powerless to criticize McCain, or take the Dems side. And along with McCain, will come all 7 GOP senators who signed the compromise. And, as an early Christmas bonus for the base, Nebraska Senator Nelson will cross the aisle, join the GOP, and run in 2006 as a Republican ( why do you think Gov Johanns took the Agricultural Secretary post in the Bush administration? He "knew" that the Senate seat wouldn't be open)
And here's the real kicker...In this week's Newsweek story on McCain ( I know, it's Newsweek, but they do get it right once in a while) there's a blind item, quoting a senior aide to McCain that he has already spoken to Karl Rove about running McCain's campaign in 2008. Everyone says preposterous. Everyone assumes that Bush, Rove and the whole team couldn't stand McCain, let alone work for him...well, here it comes, folks....McCain need a running mate...and who better than.. JEB BUSH .....THAT'S RIGHT..YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST..
McCain/Bush 2008!!!
And have no doubt..there is an ironclad understanding that McCain will be a one-term president. Given his age, and health, that's reasonable. He might even step down in his 4th year, to let Jeb step in and run as an incumbent. Does anyone who knows anything about the Bush family think that they don't want the TRIFECTA? This guarantees it..
Remember that after the 2008 election, there is a census in 2010, and a redistricting of the House, and the red states will gain 7-10, or more Electoral votes, at the expense of the blue states, and the EV math for the Dems becomes well nigh impossible.
One more thing..our friend Lndsey Graham? The operating genius, along with Rove, behind all of this. What's in it for him. Well, he'll have his Senate seat for life. And with Frist retiring in 2006, look for Graham to run for Majority Leader....he's like Michael Corleone..making a strong move at a young age.. He wil have brought Nelson over to the GOP before the 2006 race, and after the 2006 results, when the Dems lose a few more Senate seats, look for Graham to bring over Pryor, and possibly one or two more.. He can offer them seniority and commitee assignments...and he can rule the Senate like it hasn't been done since Lyndon Johnson..and in 2020, after Jeb's 2nd term is over, if he wants to run for the WH, well, he's a relatively young man.
Well, there you have it. So, rejoice...and as for the Dems..well, after losing more seats in 2006 in both houses..look for Dean Reid, and Pelosi to be dumped, and a huge fight for the carcass of the Dem party. Hillary can have the nomination, but it won't be worth a plug nickle.
And that's why today there is a great dark cloud over the Clinton manse in Chappaqua..She knows that any dream of ever getting back inside the WH is now gone forever.
Are you insane? Hillary would wipe the floor with McCain. McCain flourishing soley on his adulation by the media. That happens when he is a gadfly to Republicans. The second he is up against Hillary Clinton (especially so, but any Democrat) the press will view him as worse then Hitler. He will lose an election on Hillary on the mental health/competency issue alone. And Hillary would make sure the banking scandals he was connected to drowned out any of her own scandals. Hillary is probably salivating at the chance of going up against McCain. Remember, his no. 1 constiuency is the media. And they will turn on him the day he goes against a Democrat.
I will NOT vote for John McCain.