An Empty Warning from a McCain Supporter

At the Corner:

I know a lot of people who are a political or are lifelong Democrats who will vote for McCain over Hillary or Obama. Has it ever occurred to "conservatives" that they might sit out and McCain might still win? What happens then? If there is a surer path to irrelevancy I can't think of one. I will tell you what, if Hillary slimes her way past Obama and it is McCain versus Clinton, I am not sure McCain will need the conservatives. Something for the right wing punditocracy to chew on as they declare jihad against McCain.

This warning is entirely empty, as McCain will take a victory as a mandate for McCainism -- anti-conservativism -- no matter what true conservatives due.

If he wins without us, then we are fringe "agents of intolerance" (as he said of Falwell and Robertson and, by extension, most social cons) and he takes it as a mandate to govern as an anti-conservative liberal-leaning moderate.

If he wins with us, then we have been persuaded by his righteousness and the soundness of his program, and he takes it as a mandate to govern as an anti-conservative liberal-leaning moderate.

In what fantasy world does this guy lives in in which conservatives have any influence over McCain at all? He doesn't treat us as constituents, allies, or friends. He treats us as whipping boys to be denigrated and thwarted for the purposes of goosing his appeal to moderates and liberals and of course his friends on the New York Times editorial board.

The fact is that if McCain had bowed to the conservative majority on a single issue -- immigration -- he would easily win the nomination. He refuses to do so. So appeasing and reassuring conservatives is not a priority.

posted by Ace at 03:59 PM

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