Laura Ingraham: Of course I’ll vote for McCain in the general election
posted at 9:58 am on February 5, 2008 by Allahpundit
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As will I, as will most of even the hardest hardcore Hot Air readership. Good for her for admitting it. Even so, Carlson’s point is well taken. Where was the big talk radio endorsement push on Romney’s behalf two weeks ago before South Carolina, when it might have helped? Answer: Nowhere, because too many of them were still jerking around with Fred at the time. Hugh Hewitt excepted, there’s never been any great passion for Romney among the punditocracy; even Coulter, who now pronounces him manifestly the best candidate, needed three primaries to pass before she was willing to make those feelings known. Mitt in his current incarnation hasn’t been and isn’t now much more than an “anybody but” candidate, and those candidacies seldom work. If they did, a state that twice elected a Republican governor wouldn’t have made Hillary Clinton a senator by landslide margins.
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VC smears? What smears?
SouthernDem on February 5, 2008 at 10:03 AM
They don’t necessarily support Romney. The oppose McCain. You’re right about the Fred thing, though.
amerpundit on February 5, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Happy Mardi Gras Everyone!
abinitioadinfinitum on February 5, 2008 at 10:03 AM
I however, will not vote McCain.
I’ll find a conservative local candidate to push instead for the house.
Why? Because if McCain wins, he will screw conservatives big time and we will be in the wilderness for 40 years.
tlclark on February 5, 2008 at 10:04 AM
The Romney endorsements didn’t come because he’s not conservative either. Well, he’s rhetorically conservative, but not historically conservative.
It may be true that Romney is more conservative than McCain (his love for ethanol subsidies in Iowa and bailouts for the Michigan automotive industry notwithstanding) but the folks who now suddenly say he’s a wonderful superconservative are, well, full of moonshine.
funky chicken on February 5, 2008 at 10:05 AM
McCain has another strike against him. He’s not that intelligent. Adds insult to injury.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:07 AM
Conservative: “Here is a list of 10 issues on which McCain sided with Democrats and stabbed us in the back.”
Republican: “You’re just a crazy nativist with McCain Derangement Syndrome.”
Lehosh on February 5, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Yeah that’s part of it though. If you’re telling me Romney is better than McCain, in your view. Fine. I might even agree on some points.
If you’re saying “Romney represents all 3 legs of the Republican stool!” or whatever they hell Rush was on about today in between spittle inducing slams on McCain. Or he’s the “real conservative” or “Reagan house” here. Yeah sorry but that’s deranged in my view. It’s willful ignorance of Romney’s realities due to McCains realities.
Not singling you out amer, just making a general point :)
Dash on February 5, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Bill Kristol conveniently forgets that McCain himself suffers from Conservative Derangement Syndrome.
That McCain bashes so many core conservative ideas like the capitalist free enterprise system, illegal immigration and freedom of speech during election campaigns; that McCain flaunts his support of issues that he knows will make conservatives crazy like global warming and closing down Gitmo; and that McCain has been more chummy with the Ted Kennedy’s of the world than the Jim DeMints of the world.
SO its easy to throw accusations at Rush and other TRUE CONSERVATIVES when Kristol seems to think Rudy Giuliani is a conservative as well and that McCain isnt himself deranged against conservative causes.
Always Right on February 5, 2008 at 10:13 AM
A bet you will lose AP. A vote for McCain is a vote for a Hillary/Obama clone. I, for one, will NOT be a party to that.
Oh, but McCain will put the right judges on the SC or some other such argument you will say. Bah! In your dreams he will.
We’ll talk again when McCain announces Lieberman or Kerry as his running mate.
TwinkietheKid on February 5, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Coulter actually liked Romney early on — I recall her saying so on Hannity & Colmes; however, she was eagerly supporting Hunter from the get-go.
D2Boston on February 5, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Relatively, considering the opponent is McCain, Romney is very conservative. Look at McCain’s positions on taxes, immigration, free speech, judges, ANWR, global warming, etc.
amerpundit on February 5, 2008 at 10:16 AM
You know that Kristol will be advocating Lieberman as a running mate for McCain if (God forbid) that time comes. Kristol couldn’t care less for the Republican Party. When will you folks will wake up to that reality? Will you be as shocked then as you appear to be about McCain’s successes?
Drum on February 5, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Yeah, I don’t know why Rush has painted himself so far into the corner on this, either. But Kristol’s just playing politics here. People despise McCain for lots of very, very good reasons.
His only important legislation was crafted with goofy, far left liberals. He is a philosophically bi-polar politician, and the only voters he hates are conservatives.
We are simply returning the love.
Jaibones on February 5, 2008 at 10:17 AM
By the way, I’d like one shameless plug. I’m live-blogging again today.
I’m AmerPundit, and I approved this shameless link pimping.
amerpundit on February 5, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Laura’s a RINO!
amkun on February 5, 2008 at 10:19 AM
It’s really not a hard thing to admit…that you’ll vote for McCain in the general. And agreed…if (when) McCain gets the nomination, the majority of HA’ers will vote for him.
Honestly, I can’t wait until we stop fighting one another within the GOP, and start aiming the artillery at the Democrats.
On to the convention!
JetBoy on February 5, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Laura is a smart girl.
ThackerAgency on February 5, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Why shouldn’t Rush do it? He’s telling you that he doesn’t care as much about the MSM’s attack on his ego as he does about the triumph of conservatism. Rush doesn’t drop one whit in my estimation if he loses. In fact, he rises.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:22 AM
So Thacker is going to vote for one of the RINOS.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:23 AM
So will I Allahpundit.
Everyone should already be pushing local candidates. We should be involved in filling the Senate and Congress with people that represent us.
Pam on February 5, 2008 at 10:24 AM
I won’t.
A McCain victory will not only be disasterous for the conservative movement and the Republican party, but also for the country, because we will go right back to what Phyllis Schlafley aptly described as “an echo, not a choice.”
I won’t vote for the Dem nominee, but neither will I vote for an (R) that might as well be (and almost became) a Dem.
thirteen28 on February 5, 2008 at 10:28 AM
McCain has his problems, that’s for sure. His immigration bill was daffy and I am sure that in an IQ test or SAT test or LSAT test, Romney would score higher. No, McCain would never be accepted at Harvard Law or Harvard Business School. But could Romney have lasted through five years of absolute hell on earth in a NorthVietNamese prison? Maybe he could but I have my doubts. Romney’s big problem is that he comes off as a patrician. His prep school background, his mansion in Ma. replete with illegals doing yard work do not endear Mitt to the guy who brings his lunch box for a day at the steel mill. Ross Perot, had he not proved to be a cuckoo bird, could have been elected. Perot was self made and he built a real company from scratch. In contrast, Mitt waltzed into Bains, which does not produce anything. It buys and sells companies but Mitt never actually managed anything. Perot did. And Mitt’s claim to be a varmint hunter is laughable. I tend to like the guy but he can’t get elected. So the overwhelming job ahead is to defeat Hillary and end the Clinton’s quest for permanent power. McCain may not be the second coming of Milton Friedman but he is better than the Clintons and Janet Reno, et al.
Larraby on February 5, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Ditto. I will remind everyone here when McCain drives you nuts with his sanctimonious liberal positions come to the fore.
It would be rich if Romney pulls it out, (not likely) and these moderates like Kristol, Dole, Snow, Arnold, Guliani etc., are asked to rally blindly or be accused of Romney Derangement Syndrome……
Any win by McPander in the general election would be razor thin, making him all the more comfortable to go left as he has constantly in the past. I really doubt he has any chance regardless. The Dems are very, very, motivated and McCain has no vision on issues other than reciting his past.
Starlink on February 5, 2008 at 10:29 AM
I can’t believe this is what it’s come to.
MT on February 5, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Is Romney a “conservative”?
Many where distracted by Thompson because he was a “conservative warrior”. He was aware that conservative ideals were under attack within the Republican party.
Poor Romney, from out of the beltway, probably assumed (as most Republicans still do) that conservatism was alive and well in the Republican party. At least stronger than in MA.
Where McCain and Huckabee have demonstrated their disdain and resentment of conservatives, Romney didn’t even know it was a problem.
Is Romney a conservative? Yes. To his core. Simply look at his life. Finally he recognizes the need to fight for it. While it seems late and even contrived, remember he does not have to go that way. If he believes that McCain is inevitable, why bother. Because that is the REAL fight.
Agrippa2k on February 5, 2008 at 10:30 AM
I look forward to the fountain of slime and smears coming from the Romney campaign and supporters to finally come to an end.
My fervent hope, now that his scorched earth strategy has failed, is that Romney skulks into the sunset and is never heard from again.
JayHaw Phrenzie on February 5, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Harvard Schmarvard! West Point is no slouch of a school, and even though McCain came in near the bottom of his class there, he’s no dummy.
Big S on February 5, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Jianxi, here you are still trying to put words in my mouth. I can speak for myself thank you. I will assure you that you will NEVER know who I vote for. I don’t endorse or support any of these hacks. They don’t make America great. CAPITALISM makes America great, not democracy.
But you will N-E-V-E-R know who I will vote for. You might get a veto here or there, but you’ll never get an endorsement from me. To me, American democracy has become nothing more than a glorified soap opera.
ThackerAgency on February 5, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Apparently LBOs don’t work so well in politics. Perhaps he’ll go back to doing them in the private sector.
Big S on February 5, 2008 at 10:37 AM
What smears?
Criticism of McCain’s record doesn’t count.
Slublog on February 5, 2008 at 10:38 AM
How can Laura be smart then?
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:39 AM
I heard Ann say that Mitt was her favorite candidate very early on, way before the primaries.
Buy Danish on February 5, 2008 at 10:39 AM
West Point?
Now McCain has to kill you personally with his bare hands.
Beagle on February 5, 2008 at 10:40 AM
I absolutely will not vote for McVain if he does turn out to be the nominee. He’s done nothing but punch conservatives and the overall agenda of rock-ribbed conservatism in the nuts every opportunity opened up to him.
I would rather blame a socialist lib for 4 years of detriment then a supposed Republican. We all know what the media would do with that kind of a McCain presidency, but if we can peg the liberals with a term of total malaise, I trust we shall find a true, to-the-core conservative next go-around.
Jockolantern on February 5, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Actually, I think he is. And one of my very best friends is a West Point grad. I have known him for almost 40 years. He’s not all that swift, but he has many many other terrific and valuable attributes that have made him succeed.
The enigma that is John McCain can be explained by relative lack of intelligence, I think.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Because she’s not deranged like the rest of the self important talking heads. She understands that none of these candidates are going to bear the torch for ‘conservatism’, and none of them are going to ‘destroy conservatism’.
These are people that will hold public office for a time and then they will leave. There are many more important things than this. Public service was set up as a chore. We elect people so that we don’t have to worry about federal affairs while we pursue happiness.
The #1 priority is secure the border. The #1 priority is to cut wasteful spending. The #3 priority is the WOT.
McCain champions all of those things. Did we dislike a lot of what Bush did? Yes. Will we dislike a lot of what any president will do? Yes. McCain knows how to get legislation through, but he won’t be able to vote in the senate as president.
Laura is smart because she raises objections without appearing deranged.
ThackerAgency on February 5, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Oh, Duh. Annapolis. I’m retarded. All of the academies are good, though.
Big S on February 5, 2008 at 10:44 AM
McCain’s a goat washer, not West Point.
Beagle on February 5, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Exactly. Very well stated.
Oh, and to those that are predicting the readership’s ultimate voting tendancy… That is wishful thinking on your part. I will not fall in line behind this RINO. Ever.
tickleddragon on February 5, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I haven’t the slightest clue if John McCain intends to secure the border. I believe he is capable of accomplishing that task if he wants to.
Your other comments as usual make sense. It’s rather a good endorsement of McCain in fact.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:46 AM
As to Laura, I don’t think she ever said she’d never vote for McCain…so this ISN’T news.
tickleddragon on February 5, 2008 at 10:46 AM
I got caught up after reading a history of the “Goats” of West Point, with the premise that a lot of them actually turned out to be great leaders, and few of them were really dumb.
Big S on February 5, 2008 at 10:47 AM
I don’t like Gretchen Carlson (she’s not the brightest bulb), but she was spot on asking Laura why she came so late to the Romney party, and Laura’s answer sounded disingenuous.
Laura was good at explaining to Gretchen how McCain was tempted to switch sides at one point, but that is not in this clip.
Buy Danish on February 5, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Was McCain in the big Oriskany fire or did he come over later?
Beagle on February 5, 2008 at 10:49 AM
I voted for McCain today in Illinois. I was a Rudy guy. Rudy endorsed St John, and if I was gonna put this country in Rudy’s hands, if Rudy says McCain’s okay…I’m OK with that. Another favorite of mine Steve Forbes has endorsed him too…so has Ted Olsen. I don’t agree with everything St John says or has done, but if he’s our best chance for wining I’m playing for our team. Period.
LtE126 on February 5, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Oops, Forrestal fire, and he was in it. He was then captured off the Oriskany.
That’s a scary turn of events right there.
Beagle on February 5, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Thanks for the complement there. It’s not so much an endorsement of McCain, it’s accepting the fact that it’s probably going to be McCain. . . so how to move forward.
Honestly I don’t care. After Bill Clinton won, I realized how little the president really mattered anyway. It is a wonderfully liberating feeling.
McCain will be as good on amnesty as this current president and as good as any of the other candidates running. While I vehemently disagree with McCain, his stance is just like all the other candidates, so it’s not really fair to single him out even though his name WAS on the bad bill.
ThackerAgency on February 5, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Well, captured off the Oriskany isn’t exactly right either. That would have been audacious to say the least. Arrrr!
Beagle on February 5, 2008 at 10:56 AM
BTW before any of you start…I’ve never NOT voted straight Republican. I look at it as canceling out Rich Daley’s vote.
LtE126 on February 5, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Well-argued food for thought Mr. Thacker.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2008 at 10:58 AM
I would hope ANY conservative that knows anything about the candidates would vote for McCain over Hillary. This gives me pause to truely come down on Coulter for her assinine and irresponsible comments. This women has made millions on her repetitious liberal, Clinton hating books and claims she’d take Hillary over McCain. That is insane. As much as I dislike him as well as everyone else, I hate socialism more, which is what you will get with Hillary. I wish these lame news shows would quick giving her more air time. People actually are listening to her, which is pretty darn frightening but then again people are voting for McCain. Too many people are voting without knowing the candidate or issues.
Conservatives R Us on February 5, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Anyone who thinks that voting against McCain or not at all so they can get a more conservative candidate is full of it.
Oh, I’m wrong, I forgot about the lesson Washington was taught in ‘06
- The Cat
MirCat on February 5, 2008 at 11:03 AM
You know who looks great tomorrow if Romney wins big? HUGH HEWITT (and me, certified Romney supporter since 2005). I am quite disappointed that so many didn’t come out for Mitt earlier but at least they are now. But then again, given the ridicule suffered by Hugh from the likes of you folks, why would they.
Brat on February 5, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Here’s a scary thought the New York Post Page Six is saying there is speculation McCain will ask Nanny.. er I mean Mayor Bloomberg to be his running mate so “he would lock up the Jewish vote and help carry New York”
Now this is Page Six so take it with a BIG grain of salt, but off hand the only VP selection that would fill me with such horror would be Ron Paul.
warren on February 5, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Wow. Talk about so not getting it. You can vote for whomever you want, for any reason you want. And, guess what? The world gives exactly one fifty-millionth of a shit EITHER WAY. Amazingly (to you) what you do for one hour one morning next November isn’t really the most critical event in the history of planet earth.
The point is that conservatives – especially those rarest of all freaks: conservative members of the media – have been whitewashing liberal Republican candidates for 20 years now. And a great many of us are now, officially, TIRED OF IT.
Sure, much of the rancor may have died down by next November. Of course most of us won’t really actively support the Communist Party. The point is that we may as well do that, for all the good it’ll do.
Hell, who knows? By next November, we might even have garnered the energy to make it to the polls and vote a straight ticket. But that’s no big deal either way. It’s not that one hour that matters; it’s the 6,500 or so hours between this one and that one.
The reason Ronald Reagan’s poll numbers are about five times what George Bush’s are right now is because hard core conservatives have defended his good name like rabid badgers every one of the thousands of times liberals tried to slander him over the past 30 years – and we’re going to keep doing it for 30 more years, at least.
But we dumped George Bush the day after the 2006 elections, when he became politically useless to us. We left Bush’s reputation in the tender care of all those “hard-core moderates” he spent so much political capital trying to please. And his poll numbers show it.
McCain wanted to court the moderates, fine. More power to him, literally. But why are WE evil for letting him reap what he’s sown? McCain, and the Republican Party leadership in general, have done everything in their power to court the moderates and leave conservatives out of the picture. So you’d have to be a complete jackass to blame US when this blows up in their faces.
Why does it never occur to anyone to blame all those trillons of rabidly enthusiastic moderates who are supposedly primed to storm the polls and carry McCain to a landslide on their broad shoulders?
One reason: It’s because, for all practical purposes, they don’t exist as a political force. They don’t exist now; they won’t exist next November; they never have existed; and they never will exist.
And absolutely NONE of that is going to be my fault, no matter who I decide to vote for – or to not vote for.
logis on February 5, 2008 at 11:16 AM
The Republicans are turning into the Democrats with their logic. Remember how in the 90’s people would say in answer to Clinton’s crimes, “yeah, but he’s kept abortion legal.”? That’s what “strong on the war on terror” has become for Reps. You can treat the First Amendment like toilet paper and call for open borders, but if you talk the talk on one issue, you’re fine.
Stupid.
Jim-Rose on February 5, 2008 at 11:25 AM
I’ve been witt Mitt for months, way ahead of any ‘endorsements’; I think for myself.
Doug on February 5, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Oh please. This sounds like something the loonies at Kos would write. You may disagree with Laura about voting for McCain but that’s all it is: a disagreement. That disagreement on what is, after all, a tactical matter hardly makes her a RINO. Get a little perspective.
student on February 5, 2008 at 11:43 AM
I once again I repeat McCain can get my vote when he can pry it from my cold dead hand.
Mojack420 on February 5, 2008 at 11:43 AM
No one is fooled that Mitt is a conservative. He has failed to launch an attack from the right because his gut is not in it.
We are in the often predicted worst case scenario with the only hope for conservative energization is a brokered convention or viable third party challenge by a conservative.
Since neither will happen and most conservatives I know will not support another RINO nominee, look for President Clinton or Obama.
The GOP needs to fix the primary process if it wants to remain a conservative party. I do not believe they do.
Valiant on February 5, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Rewarding bad behavior leads to worse behavior. Rewarding bad behavior because it is the expedient thing to do does tend to categorize the rewarder.
a capella on February 5, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Allah, you never got the “Fred” thing and you still don’t. We supported Fred because he was the best candidate. Mitt was and will always be simply, the much lesser of two evils that we conservatives have left to choose.
And find the clip for me where ANY of the major talk radio hosts endorsed Fred. It didn’t happen. Using your logic, maybe if they had, Fred would now be battling it out with McCain and we conservatives wouldn’t be holding our noses while pulling the lever.
And this HA reader will never vote for McCain!
edgehead on February 5, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Ollie North also went to Annapolis where he was a stellar student and won the intramural boxing championship. Ollie would make a great president. Most of all, Ollie would annoy the NY Times editors to distraction. But I have my doubts Ollie could win a national election. McCain was never a genius in the classroom. He much preferred flying fighter jets to reading some arcane business theory. Romney loved that arcane business theory. But it just may be that Romney’s always being the smartest kid in the class that makes it so difficult for him to connect with people. I remember the smartest kid in my high school and college. Gosh how they annoyed everybody else!
Larraby on February 5, 2008 at 11:58 AM
It’s almost never “too late” to compromise. And no one who does it ever wants to admit it – sometimes even to themselves.
logis on February 5, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Good post Allah. I sure will not be abandoning the GOP for the sake of either Romney or Mac. The worst garbage has been about egos, pundits having too much pride to keep the tongue in check when first choice candidate goes down. We may not like Bush, but can you imagine what the nation would have been like under Al Gore?
Still, it doesn’t excuse all the BS the last couple of weeks by the pundits, including Ingraham, which had reached the level of Daily Kos shrilling. There’s a lot of residual damage to be cleared up when you start promoting Hillary/Obama over the GOP’s most likely elected nominee.
Pax americana on February 5, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Throw me some beads!
For the season of Quadragesima falls upon us tomorrow.
Kini on February 5, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Actually, it’s the McCain bashers who tend to be name-calling, & his supporters are more likely to be appealing to reason.
jgapinoy on February 5, 2008 at 12:16 PM
It’s deranged to vote for someone who doesn’t support many of one’s core ideals. Why would a conservative vote for Hillary or McShamnesty?
I NEVER WILL. Those who will have surrendered their will to the notion there is no other way.
I will never vote for the RINO again. Bush was the last.
dogsoldier on February 5, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Fat Tuesday in Mobile, AL… can’t beat it.
Zorro on February 5, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Bravo!!! Well said.
Some McCain supporters are basically saying that, thanks to the moderates, he doesn’t need conservatives. I say, lets test that theory.
Just to add, in the championship match, Ollie beat James Webb (yes, THAT James Webb, senator from VA), and Webb is bitter about it to this day.
thirteen28 on February 5, 2008 at 12:24 PM
In other words, conservatives are the African Americans of the Republican Party: The ultra-liberal wing of our party feels perfectly secure in ignoring us because we have nowhere else to go.
Well, maybe not. But we can tell our “moderate overlords” where to go.
…And anyone who has a problem with that is perfectly welcome to join them there.
logis on February 5, 2008 at 12:34 PM
I am forced to agree. I’ve been wrestling with this question for a bit.
The position of Rush and Laura (until her Romney endorsement last week) and Hannity is that their job is to inform the audience, not to dictate to them who to vote for.
That’s all well and nice, and I think, generally, that’s how I would prefer it.
But given how much so many of us do not want McCain, it would have been good for talk radio to recognize that Fred had no chance, Hunter had no chance, and Giuliani was sinking.
They would not have lost my respect at all for saying “if you stand for conservatism, Mitt is our best bet now”, and tell us why (as they are good at doing).
The “no endorsements” policy is fine. But then, we can’t very well get upset at the results, can we?
Maybe it’s all moot though. The people who are voting for McCain either wholly support him on amnesty, global warming, class warfare, ending the Bush tax cuts, punching real conservatives in the mouth, and telling us we don’t matter.
Or they’re voting for him because of his Vietnam service. And they’re not examining or they just don’t care one way or another about the rest.
Maybe throw in “best bet against Hillary or Obama” hedge bets in there too.
We know where the talk radio audience stands.
The polls still are what they are.
So it goes.
Hawkins1701 on February 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Ditto that Tickledragon.
kcd on February 5, 2008 at 1:05 PM
I’ll vote for McCain…I guess. It’s just sad that we as a party have ended up with him when there has been so many BETTER candidates we started out with. If the RNC was smart they’d start sending out “education” packets to the constituency outlining conservative ideals in easy to read (ie with lots of pictures) pamphlets.
spacekicker on February 5, 2008 at 1:12 PM
Not I.
Enoxo on February 5, 2008 at 1:27 PM
And if it turns out that McCain isn’t “moderate” enough to win the general election, who should we pre-emptively compromise on then? Olympia Snow, one of McCain’s other Gang of Seven lackies?
Do you see how this works? Once you decide that the only route to victory is compromise, that path can lead to only one place.
logis on February 5, 2008 at 1:36 PM
I’m well aware of how this works.
When the entire conservative digital and radio medium is pulling for Mitt, he doesn’t seem like much of a compromise candidate to me.
Did you read my whole post? Read it again.
I said that I agreed with the idea that if talk radio felt as they do know weeks ago, that Mitt Romney was the best remaining candidate to represent conservative ideals in the presidency, than they should have come out and said it then.
Hawkins1701 on February 5, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Keep in mind that prior to New Hampshire most informed people would have said that McCain had no chance of getting the nomination.
edgehead on February 5, 2008 at 2:24 PM
The republican party is seeing it’s last days. Those in control are either ideologically nearly identical to the democrats or they are power hungry at whatever expense. The republicans are no longer the party of ideas. Conservatives should be hoping for a crushing defeat this year for the republicans to set the stage for a new party. This campaign season people seem to forget that mccains amnesty bill was going to pass easily with votes from most republicans in congress and the signature of Bush.
peacenprosperity on February 5, 2008 at 3:20 PM
I think Mitt is an HONEST FLIPPER.
I think he keeps his promises. When he ran for Governor he promised to govern slightly center-left. And guess what? He governed slightly center-left just like he said he would.
NOW that Mitt is running conservative he’s makin’ all the RIGHT PROMISES. I believe he will keep them.
I don not care that Mitt’s grown MORE conservative over the years- SO HAVE I.
I think something ugly has happened to John McCain in the last eight years- He has become a bitter nasty old man who holds the conservative wing of our party responsible for his loss in 2000 and for the CRUSHING of his amnesty bill.
I believe that McCain will lie and has lied to try to get gullible GOP voters to back him. I do not believe that he will govern conservatively.
I believe that John McCain will attempt to CRUSH the conservative wing of the party and will try to portray us as ineffectual and out of touch.
I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR McCain!
And Allah- you’d best know that there are ALOT of folks who would rather at least see a DEMOCRAT git blamed for ruining the country than a LIBERAL REPUBLICAN.
AT Least McCain loses (ala Ford) and Hill or Obama ruins the country (ala Carter) CONSERVATIVES MAY HAVE A CHANCE TO RISE AGAIN (ala Reagan).
MANY CONSERVATIVES WILL STAY HOME IF McCAIN IS THE NOMINEE. Take it to the bank.
Ex-tex on February 5, 2008 at 4:46 PM
I’m still for Giuliani.
Halley on February 5, 2008 at 5:05 PM
I usually like Laura I., but I agree that Carlson made a great point. If you and your colleagues really have so much “clout” then exercise it, and endorse someone if you really can’t stand someone else, which is clearly how she feels.
asc85 on February 5, 2008 at 5:09 PM
What I can’t for the life of me imagine is how otherwise intelligent and thoughtful people could throw their support behind the man who took a big dump on the first amendment with McCain Feingold and then tried his damndest to trash the soverignity of the USA with McCain Kennedy just because he isn’t Hillary. Weren’t you right there with us when we fought to keep McShAmnesty from happening? Didn’t I hear your outrage at what the man was doing? Have you forgotten that this man voted, with most of the Democrats, to not have the Bush tax cuts. He voted, with his DEM buddies to keep the high taxes of the Clinton years.
Now, because he wants to be President, he denies what he has done in the past or spins it all to seem somehow noble and conservative. It wasn’t noble or conservative folks and it won’t ever be with John McCain.
Laura, I’ve respected you for a long time, usually agree with you too but voting for someone you know is wrong is insanity. Our values are just about the only thing we have left these days and once we sell them off we are no better than the Democrats. For me, I would rather be ruled by Hillary and be right than be ruled by McCain and be wrong. No more nose holding for this conservative, anyone want to join me and demand our candidates reflect our values for a change.
Buzzy on February 5, 2008 at 5:36 PM
Not I
I must not be Hardcore for no one owns my vote, not even if they think it is good for me
McCain has a rabid hatred of the conservative base, and Hillary has a simple distaste.
McCain has a deep need for revenge, and Hillary doesn’t have time
McCains biggest enemy is me.
Hillary’s biggest enemy is not me
I do not want McCain running my nation even if others think I must want it for their sakes
My second biggest enemy are those who think I must give my vote to their preferences
At the point where all my votes must be scripted for the good of the nation as determined by people other than myself, my vote is no longer mine
I see no evidence to trust McCain on any of his promises to conservatives including Supreme Court appointments
McCain’s best revenge against the conservatives he hates more than anything would be to appoint justices hated by the conservative base. He has already promised to sign amnesty. He has already said that although he thinks McCain Feingold was a mistake, he would not sign a law to rescind it since the issue is over
Nope, I am not hard core. I own my vote and I will not give it to a liar, no matter how many people tell me lies about him
entagor on February 5, 2008 at 8:03 PM
What will you McCain supporters have to say when he gets in office with the support of conservatives, and flips back to McShamnesty? Will you be “appealing to reason” then?
Jaibones on February 6, 2008 at 12:24 AM
Because I truly don’t believe that Rush could say with a straight face “stay home, don’t vote for McCain, let a socialist win the Presidency”. I understand supporting another candidate, right up to the end.
But the general election is a whole nother thing.
Jaibones on February 6, 2008 at 12:30 AM
Allahpundit sounds like a crybaby blaming Fred Thompson supporters for Romney’s failure. At least he now admits that he was avidly against Fred Thompson when Fred Thompson had a platform compared to Mitt’s hollow promise lattice. Mitt begat his own woes upon himself long ago. If he chooses to continue, fine. If he chooses to try again next time, fine. Romney supporters blaming anyone but their own man for his own shortcomings as a candidate is dull. Also, Mitt’ns cry of “bigot” to any critic pressures departure of rational support as well.
If any wish to endorse a candidate, that being done up front is better than behind a curtain of intrigue.
Rush & Co. enjoy the same liberties as any American. Timing aside, it is the entire election system that needs reformation.
1. No ballot machine. Uniform national paper ballot only.
2. Single national primary election day.
3. Proof of citizenship for registration voter picture ID.
4. Popular vote, national tally. NO DELEGATES.
This is the 21st Century. Voters can read and write. The internet allows scrutiny of issues and candidates prior to elections. It is an absolute insult to have our votes “interpreted” into what political hacks incorporate “on our behalf”, denying the voice of the people. When it is the CONSERVATIVES screaming for reformation, the revolution must have begun.
What we GOP here is a failure to communicate.
maverick muse on February 6, 2008 at 8:41 AM
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