Robert Novak sums it up like this:
McCain as the Republican nominee would need those "very conservative" voters. He will encounter some of them at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington Feb. 7-9. His campaign Wednesday asked for McCain to speak there after rejecting an invitation to last year's meeting. At CPAC, he might well consider providing "straight talk" about Samuel Alito and promising to veto any tax increase by a Democratic Congress.
Novak speaks of 'very conservative' voters in Florida, who were by the count I saw at the NYT were 27%. In SC they were 5%. So let's call these guys the Super Conservatives. Are they the base of the party? They are the *energized* base of the party, and that is primarily because Karl Rove decided to make them that and because Ann Coulter has so much airtime. But they are not the majority of Republicans and that is what I've been struggling with all these years. It is why McCain's candidacy, which in some ways I might have rather had Rudy, is very important to me.
I am rather shocked to see how Patterico has crawled deep into the Romney foxhole and is tossing bombs towards McCain, but I'm willing to categorically deal with the complaints against McCain. I think they're all red herrings but I am willing to check to see exactly how red they are.
Herring One: McCain Feingold
I haven't heard one cogent explanation on exactly how McCain Feingold operates to restrain free speech. This one just passes through conservative lips without going through the proper brain channels, rather like 'Halliburton' in liberal throats. Bloody Red Herring
Herring Two: Immigration
There is no immigration bill. So who has the best idea that can actually pass Congress is an open question. But what people who blame McCain for this seem to forget that his is the direction that the President wanted. So you can't say McCain was out in left field about this. Today he is willing to split this into separate parts which is the practical route. Secure the border first. This is his mantra and there is nothing wrong with that. The fact that there is no fence on the border is not McCain's fault any more than it's Duncan Hunter's fault. It's a national security issue.
As for the Z Visa. Well it's reasonable to say that the jury is out on all of those immigration provisions. Nobody came up with a solution, and everybody has to be aware of that. I'm not sure that Republicans should be mad at McCain for going with the president. But this is an issue I'm certainly willing to get into the weeds on. The problem is that there's only so much you can make an issue over dead legislation. Nothing happened. Because nothing happened, he changed his mind. You can't ask more of a principled man. Slightly Pink Herring.
Herring Three: Keating Five
No indictment. No conviction. No problem. Red herring.
Herring Four: Dissing Alito
Who the hell is Alito, and who knew or cared about him before his name was proffered? This is clearly a litmus test and an example of the degree of unanimity (read groupthink) that the Super Conservatives require in order to succeed.
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