Posted on 02/06/2008 3:11:00 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Despite what the pundits, talking heads, and self-annoited experts say about the Republican race, it is more muddled and more up in the air than at any time since Iowa.
Why?
Because 60 percent of the Republican Party is against John McCain.
And the more a dour Tim Russert or an arrogant Chris Mathews says that, “the Republican race is, for all intents and purposes, over,” or this one, “it is very hard to see how John McCain can be stopped,” the more agitated conservatives get.
That translates to “we lefty pundits who dominate the TV airwaves want McCain so we will just proclaim him the inevitable nominee.”
But conservative GOP voters are rebelling against McCain; yes, he gets moderate Republicans and independents who come into the GOP primaries. But the base — conservatives — are voting against McCain.
So I ask you this question: How can the Republican Party, with a huge base of conservatives, nominate a candidate who hates them and who they despise?
This is the crux of the dilemma that is ripping the GOP apart now. Ann Coulter’s "Hannity & Colmes" diatribe was more than amusing. It raised this question: Who do conservatives hate more, John McCain or Hillary Clinton?
The question, more than any answer, is instructive: The fact that we are even talking about this shows how divided we Republicans are and how unaccepting of John McCain we will be.
We feel like he is being jammed down our throat by the left, and by the same inside-the-beltway GOP establishment that has been, frankly, wrong on just about everything from amnesty to Dubai Ports World.
The two candidates opposing McCain are both having difficulty cobbling together enough support on their own to defeat McCain; they are splitting the conservative vote and enabling a moderate-to-liberal win.
And Huckabee is clearly in the tank for McCain. Yesterday’s rigged convention in West Virginia was designed to deny Mitt Romney a “Romney Wins West Virginia” headline running all day long on cable TV. While within the rules, it was a petty, ugly example of the "real McCain" at work.
As the so-called GOP front-runner he should be above that kind of thing. But it tells us he is still more afraid of Romney than he is of Huckabee. Therefore, conservatives are increasingly going to rally to Romney from here on out.
And what Romney now needs to do is simple: pick an upcoming state — a crucial one — and make it a mano-a-mano race, Romney vs. McCain, and win it!
It is time Romney beats Mccain one-on-one because if he cannot, then McCain will win the nomination by default.
But if Romney draws the line in the sand and beats McCain, then we have a new race on our hands. The conservatives will rally to Romney and McCain could still be stopped.
So, Mitt, get going and fast.
Your task is a difficult one: take on not just McCain but the entire D.C. establishment.
Let it all out . . . get angry; show some passion. Embrace the talk-radio hosts, as they represent the GOP base.
Take on McCain and squash him, and soon, maybe in Ohio.
Make the economy the issue.
Do us all a favor.
Romney cut taxes; Huckster raised taxes 21 times, a net tax and spend increase.
Romney vetoed in-state tuition and benefits for illegals; Huckster supports them.
I suggest you go to factcheck.org and find out the Huckster’s actual record.
LOL. You could be right. I don’t like my choices.
Agree. The REAL Kool Aid drinkers are easily identified both by whom they support and by the hypocrisy that stands behind that support.
...and I’m 3, no 12 times as repulsed by Mitt.
The devil you know, vs. the devil you don’t know, and all that.
IMO, this is a longshot. McCain would have to have a Howard Dean moment, and I’m not sure if enough people in the country would trust Mitt enough to vote him into office.
Romney also needs to name his V.P. pick right now, and he has got to make this V.P. choice a decent conservative!
I fully respect multiple protest strategies.
My ideal would be for conservatives to put egos aside, pick a fairly mainstream candiate (e.g., Thompson), have big names (from Gingrich, to Pat Buchanon to Dobson, to some of the National Review boys) to unify behind him, and make a run at it — we would need the VRWC to really become the VRWC.
The RNC has left conservatives, and we need to do something about it.
We are going to get the most sacrilegious people in charge that anyone could imagine.
Romney ought to go right for the jugular on immigration and the Bush tax cut that McCain voted against. Also, he ought to mention McCain’s adviser Warren Rudman, and how Rudman will influence SCOTUS picks if McCain wins the nomination.
______________________________________________
immigration - RINO Romney backed the AMNESTY Bill and pathway to citizenship ..we cant send them back
tax cuts - RINO Romney wants to pour billions into Michigan...and the Federal Gov has to bail out RomneyCare...where’s the money going to come from ???
SCOTUS - RINO Romney appointed liberal Democrats to the bench while he was Gov of Mass
Yeah but 70 percent of the Republican Party is against Romney.
Yeah but 70 percent of the Republican Party is against Romney.
If he does not give the conservatives some red meat, he is history.
Also, he ought to mention McCain’s adviser Warren Rudman, and how Rudman will influence SCOTUS picks if McCain wins the nomination.
Not a bad recommendation. He could also mention how the open borders, pro-illegal, pro-Mexico advocate, Dr. Juan Hernandez is also advising his campaign.
It would raise my opinion of Romney a hell of a lot.
There isn't a snowball's chance in hell of that happening though. Plus Huckster is not much better of a choice than Romney.
The problem is that is that there were no strong conservative candidates to begin with.
just give the candidates boxing gloves and let them duke it out
Then, Romney's chance are less than zero because there is no chance of him beating McCain.
And, if you want debate Huckabee and Romney's record, step right in, the water is warm.
Romney has a record Ted Kennedy would be proud of -- socialized health care that included $50 abortions with the rest paid for by the taxpayer, tax/fee increases greater per year than any of Huckabee's, judicial nominations that included homosexual activist judges opposed to traditional marriage and special rights laws for homosexuals that put Catholic adoption agencies out of business.
Your boy has not and WILL NOT win one single Southern state nor can he beat McCain in the more liberal states.
I’ll vote for anybody to prevent the permanent disaster that legalizing 30 million illegal aliens would cause. There would be no coming back from the huge socialist spending expansion that would follow.
If Romney gets the nomination, then fine. Otherwise, I’ll vote Hillary and hope Republicans in Congress can stop her from doing what McCain or Huckabee will do. Because there is ZERO doubt in my mind that McCain or Huckabee would legalize those 30 million and enough Republicans in Congress would use “party unity” as an excuse to let it happen.
<=== This Ohioan will give him my vote.
You’re right. Don’t know why Romney hasn’t stressed the immigration issue as forcefully as he could’ve. Especially McCain’s flip-flop about signing the bill and then not signing it. Mitt’s let himself be painted as “the” flip-flopper, but truth be told there’s a lot of flip-flopping on all sides to go around.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.