Well, That Did a lot of Good!

Señator McCain and his supporters have a tin ear. They come off very condescending and end up hurting the cause of conservative unity. Fred Barnes penned an article for The Weekly Standard entitled "Let's Grow Up, Conservatives" (And defeat the Democrats in November.) Even if Fred is quoting Barry Goldwater the following is dumb to say:

If he [Señator McCain] continues to reach out to them [conservatives] while running as a conservative, they need to heed Barry Goldwater's advice in 1960. "Let's grow up, conservatives," he said. "If we want to take this party back, and I think we can, let's get to work."

Source: The Weekly Standard – "Let's Grow Up, Conservatives" (And defeat the Democrats in November.) by Fred Barnes

What else do we have? Early on Fred says:

Bringing conservatives on board won't be easy for McCain. (Nor would uniting Republicans of all stripes be easy for Mitt Romney, should he upset the McCain bandwagon and win the nomination.) Republicans are in a sour mood, especially the talk-radio mafia that regards McCain as anything but a reliable conservative. (They harbor qualms about Romney, too.)

Source: The Weekly Standard – "Let's Grow Up, Conservatives" (And defeat the Democrats in November.) by Fred Barnes So, twice in the article (at least) Fred essentially condescends to those who do not like Señator McCain. At least he does concede the fact there is legitimate cause for conservative unease with Señator McCain:

McCain's touchiest problem--his scourge--is talk radio. Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, and others raise legitimate complaints about his flirtations with Democrats and his apostasy on campaign finance, guns, immigration, and embryonic stem cell research.

Source: The Weekly Standard – "Let's Grow Up, Conservatives" (And defeat the Democrats in November.) by Fred Barnes While his supporters compare ACU ratings and say he really is a conservative his biggest marks with the public seem to be in sticking it to Conservatives.

Señator McCain's past actions have conservatives uneasy and then listening to Señator McCain on the campaign trail is doing little to convince conservatives of Señator McCain's conservatism. Then Señator McCain's supporters write columns like Fred's telling his detractors to grow up? That will win over friends, let me tell you!

Senator McCain has not yet locked up the nomination now is not the time to be telling his opponents to be quiet. If Señator McCain gets the nomination and a month afterwards he still has similar problems with conservatives then we can revisit, but if that is the case then is it not too late?

McCainiacs Both Pro & Con

I have commented on this a number of times before and will continue to do so.

I have made it clear I am not a big fan of Señator McCain. I think his campaign finance reform is an affront to the constitution and his comments denigrating Mitt Romney's history sound like they come from a leftist idolater of big government than a Republican. Plus his reluctance to reduce the tax burden, his obeisance to the globaloney warming crowd have me wondering about his worthiness to run as a Republican candidate for President. I have no problem with saying Señator McCain's troubles are his own doing and Señator McCain does not seem to be at all concerned about the trouble he is having with the conservative base.

John McCain is not all bad. He was prescient in calling for a change in strategy in Iraq. While there is more to the turn around in Iraq than simply adding more soldiers his call on it was much more correct than most others.

One thing is for sure: Señator McCain is bucking against conventional wisdom. The conventional wisdom that says candidates work to appeal to the base during primary season and then reverse course and reach out to the middle during general election season.

Many say it seems Señator McCain is the candidate of the MSM. That is he takes the position urged by the MSM. Hmmm, I hope he understands as soon as it is him against Barak or Hillary the MSM will savage him.

Ronald Reagen used to say half a loaf of bread is better than no loaf of bread. I grant with Señator McCain it is more like a quarter loaf of bread but Barak Obama and Hillary are truly no loafs.

Typically many will object this saying you vote your conscience. I understand that, but if your conscience is okay with President Hillary & VP Barak (or any such combination) then sit out and refuse to vote for McCain.

I am hoping Mitt pulls his campaign out this coming Tuesday.