Voters Reject Romney ... and Limbaugh and Coulter and Dobson
Following John McCain’s victory in Florida last week the chorus of McCain-hatred grew louder on talk radio shows and on many conservative blogs.
Rush Limbaugh declared that McCain was not conservative and unacceptable as a candidate. Formerly respectable conservative figures took delight in criticizing McCain’s war record—yes, his war record—by tallying up the number of planes he had lost in combat. Ann Coulter and James Dobson, a social conservative leader and head of the Focus on the Family organization, declared McCain so indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton, the featured villainess in any conservative drama, that they would vote for her or stay home.
In short the McCain villifiers doubled down on their bet that they could derail McCain and lift their favored alternative, Mitt Romney, to victory.
Then the voters had their say. McCain racked up victories from California to New York to Missouri. Romney was pretty much relegated to Utah and Massachusetts, two more home states to go along with his Michigan win. Mike Huckabee, also the object of talk show and blogger derision (for, among other grave offenses, raising taxes to build schools and allowing children of illegal immigrants access to college scholarships) had a fine night, taking a batch of southern states.
The talk-show conservatives who were so successful in riling the conservative opposition to immigration reform in 2007 proved to be the flimsiest of paper tigers. Their shouted directions to the conservative foot soldiers, and their warnings of the dangers of a McCain presidency, were ignored.
They did their best to boost Romney, who had striven mightily to endear himself to this crowd, but the voters shrugged and rejected him overwhelmingly. Had Romney not changed residences so often he might have been shut out of the primaries entirely.
So will McCain’s opponents climb down off the ledge and accept the possibility of him being the nominee? Surely they must realize, even grudgingly, that their intellectual credibility among conservatives would be further eroded by failing to back a pro-life, pro-surge, fiscal conservative over a Democratic opponent with diametrically opposing views.
But clearly some of them have priorities other than maintaining credibility. They are in the business, a lucrative business, of drumming up the discontented, playing to the G.O.P.’s most conservative elements and enjoying the applause of their fellow pundits. It is a closed circle—talk-show host interviewing talk-show host and blogger quoting blogger. Their audience is devoted but limited. Their influence beyond that sphere is nil. They are content and will be content to live in their own world, one not remotely representative of the country at large or even the party they (sometimes) claim to champion.
They might threaten to withhold support for McCain, but does it even matter at this point? Will voters listen to that marching order when they did not follow previous voting advice?
McCain cannot, in what will likely be a close election, entirely ignore the possibility. But something has clearly changed. The façade of influence, the illusion of electoral importance that these conservative pundits previously held, is gone. They can raise issues, jam the White House switchboard and scare timid politicians. When the chips are down, though, they cannot determine elections. Voters, who base their decisions more on common sense than extreme ideology, get to do that.
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Do you think maybe conservatives didn't get the memo, that they don't speak for the majority of America?
Brava!
It must be sorely, sorely tempting to McCain, lacking an obvious VP candidate as sop to the self-appointed representatives of the supposed "base," to take Huckabee, his proven talents, his constituency (who have a much better claim to the title of "base" stalwarts), and his economic populism on board. A kind of American Kadima, or maybe Schwarzeneggerism on a national scale, with much better conservative credentials either than Schwarzenegger's or than those belonging to the agitators presuming to threaten McCain from the far right. It might just work electorally (Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania) and, win or lose or lose respectably, it would drive the ideological conservatives in talk radio, the blogs, and certain publications right up the wall. The downside would be that those on the nominal right who couldn't restrain themselves from rooting vociferously against such a ticket might claim a level of redemption from bad results, but up to the moment of decision they would continue to help draw centrists to the ticket.
Jennifer Rubin, the writer, appears to miss the point. The problem isn't with talk radio or conservatives.
The problem is that "Ace" McCain (who got his nick name by crashing 5 US planes) has gotten most of his delegates from blue states which he can never win in a national election. So like Hillary he needs somebody like Bill to drag his sorry rear end across the finish line and it isn't going to happen. Ace has crashed and burned again.
RUSH: I love your passion. You've led me here and you've transitioned me here into some of my in-depth analysis. As far as the regional vote, what's been called the regional vote, the Southern vote for Huckabee, there are a number of things that go into this. And one of the things that I think is relevant here is, in fact, geography, the Southern component, the regionalism of Huckabee being an Arkansas governor. Second thing, of course, is the evangelical vote, and I think you heard the anger from Suzanne, and she said that she is Catholic, she's Christian, so she thinks she's Christian right, but I think there's starting to be in the Republican Party sort of an equivalence between blacks in the Democrat Party and evangelicals in the Republican Party in this sense. Now, we've looked at blacks for 50 years. They keep voting for Democrats. The Democrats do nothing but destroy their families. They do nothing to increase their economic circumstances. They do nothing to redress the grievances and yet the blacks keep voting for them on the basis of the promise and the notion that Republicans are racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes, and are going to really make 'em be bad, so they keep hanging with Democrats, and nothing changes.
Evangelicals, since 1973, have stuck with Republicans, basically on the promise, "We're going to do something about abortion. We're going to fix the cultural rot that's going on in this country. We're going to make sure there isn't any gay marriage. We're going to stop this overall lurch to depravity that's occurring in our culture," and the Republican candidates have all said, "I'm your man, we're going to do that," and they make the right speeches, but nothing's really changing on it. And so they, the evangelicals, are a little bit quicker to realize when they're being taken for granted. So their votes, "Look, we're going to go with one of ours. At least we can trust this guy, plus we do hate the IRS, you haven't heard us. You keep promising tax reform, not tax cuts, tax reform and every year it gets harder and harder for us to pay our taxes and we're paying more and more and we can't get ahead because of taxes and this guy wants to get rid of the IRS," so, bam, you've had it and they're voting for their guy. They're voting for Huckabee.
Poor Rush and Ann looks as though they dont have the pull they thought they had, maybe for the final act McCain can pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate and really poke the base in the eye. Then Rush can make some more threats, by the way, when McCain was crashing planes where was Rush? the conservative hero.
Did you not notice that Real Republican Romney & Huckabee voters outnumbered McCain voters? It's only because their vote is split that we could end up with a socialist demo president.
McCain cannot beat either Hitlery or Obama in the general election. The Bush/Perot split vote was the only way Billy Clinton got into office with 43% of the vote. And Hillery will be going all out to capture this prize, look out Teddy. By the way, where did Hillery "earn" $5 million dollars to lend her campaign. Nothing better for the Clinton's pocket book than deals around the world with other heads of state. I predict they buy the election and continue to sell us out to the highest bidder. Both are only after power & money.
Where did that harridan Hillary get 5 mil from? Interesting...but you sheeple will still vote for her while condemning Halliburton, Cheney, Bush, and other rich folks, when in reality the richest families in this country all vote Democrat.
The truth is McCain could beat Hillary in the general election. SHE is the only one who can fire up the Republican base; it is for this reason that I hope she wins the nomination. Obama is a little more tricky, most likely he would beat McCain; great, an empty suit in the White House.
Independent voters hold the key to this election.
Let Hillary get elected, and the 2010 midterms will be her '1994,' turning back the House and Senate to Republican control. An economy that is sputtering, a dollar that is free falling, medicare and social security promising over 34 TRILLION in payouts to baby boomers over the next two decades...it ain't gonna happen. I can't wait for the collapse, and I hope a Democrat is at the wheel when it happens.
Hillary: the Democrat's Herbert Hoover!!
We are all underestimating the control of the GOP power brokers who orchestrated, not only state primaries, but the MSM in promoting McVain. He's the heir apparent who will self-destruct with the able assistance of the Clintons -- in the name of what? God help us.
I did not vote for McCain in the primary, but that doesn't mean I will denigrate or forget the remarkable things he did as a POW. Instead of making smarmy jokes about "Ace" crashing and burning, why don't you close your mouth and spend a few minutes in quiet gratitude that such men exist to preserve your freedom? Then feel free to go back to your pompous, sniffing existence. What a jerk!
Thank you for this long-awaited, glowing recognition that conservatives in this country don't walk lock-step with the views of their favorite pundits. The claim that they always do has been rabidly and wrongly asserted by liberal pundits for years.
Shame on you for trampling on the war record of an American hero. How much time did you spend in a POW hell hole or for that matter in uniform at all? McCain can carry blue states because moderate independants like myself who usually vote Democratic will vote for him.
So the voters have spoken, eh? And they've done what, exactly? Oh right; they've put Rush, and Ann, and Dobson, and all the conservatives in their place. Really? First of all, I wasn't aware that ALL the voters listened to these three. Do they? And the fact that there are, so called, "OPEN" primaries, where people from one party get a say on who's the nominee of the other party? Is it just me, or is that the STUPIDEST thing you ever heard of? Please, my liberal, brain dead friends, don't get excited. Actually, maybe you should get excited. You're, most likely, gonna win in Nov. I don't know who the winner is gonna be, but I know who it WON'T be. It WON'T be McCain. Maybe when it's all over, he can switch parties, and be where he belongs. We're not like the libs. They'ld vote for a sack of crap if it had a "D" next to it. The 90's come to mind. That's not us. Go ahead and win. You'll screw it up. Like you ALWAYS do. Then the country will come crawling back to the Republican Party to fix it. Like THEY always do. McCain? I don't think so.
I do love the fact that the fat disgusting dope head and a boney witch cant get theyre way.NOW the truth of why Willard the MORMON cant win he went to the funeral of his PROPHET a couple of Saturdays ago.Now let us use sanity for a second this is the year 2008 what INSANE moron goes to the funeral of a PROPHET??No way anyone in the south will vote for a demon lover like this worthless mormon.
the point being: no wonder-any deviation from BusinessAsUsual threatens the Echo Empire, its cronies and its synchophants, on a limbic , fundamental level. they all i am sure relish the thought of the Booby Prize: commencing w/ 8 yrs. of the swift-boat sliming of B.O. or Billlary for the edification of their dwindling audience of 28 yr.old Phyllis Schaffly-wannabees and disenfranchised White Male mysoginist [Anti-Hillary] Web-porn addicted day-trading middle-manager losers.
It's pretty telling that Heil Hannity came out right away for the ScumBag Extrordinaire Guiliani. And the impotent groundswell that clamored in hope against hope for the Gruff but Genial but Firm Uncle Fred to be an arousing 2nd Coming of Ronald RayGun speaks for itself.
Not that Billary doesnt come w/ BAU in spades. the prospect of losing middle-aged WASP Boomer male privelege to the ascendant Hordes is indeed unsettling, but the vision of yet another balding White male senior-citizen father-figure as Head of State and Leader of the Free World for 4 if not 8 yrs. is truly horrrifying. take a seat behind the Golden EIB microphone or something; at least we wont have to look at you, and the only damage you'll do is to the minds of your audience of 40-watt bulbs
Back when the Clintons were in office, I used to enjoy listening to Rush Limbaugh. He was a refreshing, funny and provocative alternative voice, but now he just seems snide, petty, and myopic. I consider myself a conservative Republican, and though I voted for Bush son and father in each applicable election, I voted for (heaven forbid!) McCain, who is one of the few Republicans who has dared to differ with the Bush administration. What Rush and others need to know, is that not all conservatives are robots. We believe in certain core economic and moral values, but neither do we appreciate being lied to and set up by our own party in their quest in the Middle East and while we want to win the war we don't want to continue to support it in lockstep with the bombastic rhetoric of Mitt Romney. We are looking for someone who dares to speak up, dares to say something about whatever sacred cows there be. AND someone who will extend their hand to work together in Congress with the opposition party. I am an evangelical Christian and while moral issues are important to me, religion is not an important factor to me in this eletion. I honestly don't care if Mitt is a Mormon - I was actually considering voting for him early on, but his ultra right position turned me off. The primary results show that most Republicans are looking for change, for a reasonable voice, someone who doesn't just spout high and mighty platitudes, but who talks like a reasoning human being. For those cretins who ridicule McCain's military service, that crashed 5 planes, I see that he survived and valiantly flew again; how many of you would go back up in a plane after a crash, or would you opt out and claim PTSD? McCain survived years of POW torture, and has managed to survive and answer the extremist elements in the Republican Party. I say that's a brave man, and he has my vote. Go McCain!
This article is right on - the business models of their guys come before their so-called "principles."
Some of the criticisms of McCain read right out of the talking points which Rush and crew (with Mitt's shadowy support) have supplied. Most Republicans actually can think for themselves, which means exhibit some capacity for independent thought (which entails the capacity to error and be self-critical).
The attacks on McCain's war record are simply another disgusting attack like the SC rumors back in 2000 about his supposed illegitimate child - later shown patently false. Christian conservatives, indeed.
Rush, Coulter and Dobson won't accept anyone who won't parrot back their positions. If they don't vote, fine. But let's all be clear that Republicans, as a party, don't have to follow their spoiled child, lemming-like example.