The Pink Flamingo :: The McCain Surge Has Begun?

Saturday I mentioned the scores of retired generals and admirals who have endorsed John McCain. The Boston Globe has recently endorsed him over Mitt Romney, but then there’s no love lost between the Globe or Mitt Romney. Joe Lieberman is going to be joining the club. There are more than a few cynical conservatives who are making snarky remarks about Lieberman endorsing McCain, but frankly, I like it.

EyeOn08 reports that Giuliani is ‘pulling out’ of New Hampshire, basically leaving it to McCain.
The announcement coming out that Romney lied about an NRA Endorsement isn’t going to help him in NH or in Iowa.

I have this theory based on the way my thoughts are going. After hearing from several other bloggers of similar mind-set I have a feeling there may be more than a few who are feeling the same way I am. Right now, I think it would take a coin toss to decide between John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Let’s face it, Fred Thompson is increasingly irrelevant in much the same way the Drudge Report is. Romney has some baggage that isn’t going to be helping him in the next few weeks including the fake NRA endorsement.

The Palmetto Scoop endorsed John McCain.

“…Sen. McCain was one of the few politicians who vehemently backed the Iraq troop surge because he knew it would succeed. And now the editors of these papers recognize that, in such a fluid race, Sen. McCain’s primary surge is also poised for success. So if we want to beat The State and other major South Carolina newspapers to the punch if or when they choose to throw their support behind Sen. McCain, then we must now officially endorse the man best suited to serve as the next President of the United States. We agree that the Republican field is loaded with great choices and quality vice presidential candidates, but the future of America depends on Sen. McCain’s leadership. There’s no question that Sen. McCain deserves to represent the Republican Party in the general election. The question is, do we deserve to have him? We have 34 days before one of the most important votes we will ever cast. Let’s make the right choice. Let’s choose Sen. John McCain….”

SOMETHING AFOOT?
Is this a sign of things to come? The endorsements started on Dec 2 when the Union-Leader endorsed McCain. I’m starting to see whispers here and there that John McCain is not “out”. This is going to be fascinating.

CONSERVATIVE IRE
I am going to enjoy the ire of Rush Limbaugh as he tries to denigrate McCain and Lindsey. Rush has some respect for Joe Lieberman so this is just going to be fun. The only problem is I quit listening to the likes of Rush and Hannity months ago. We all know there is going to be mucho conservative spin against this starting Monday morning.

THE CONSERVATIVE SPIN
As I predicted, the spin against McCain and Lieberman has begun, starting with Captain Ed.

“…However, the endorsement also emphasizes a few other issues with McCain that has kept him from winning the confidence of GOP primary voters. McCain takes a lot of criticism for his efforts to compromise on key issues in order to get legislation passed. His work with Ted Kennedy on immigration pushes conservative buttons on several levels, and the BCRA with Russ Feingold has free-speech advocates still seeing red. McCain may have a better argument with the Gang of 14, but he also probably realizes that his pragmatism undermined the prerogative of Presidents to select the judicial nominees that best represent their views. In that sense, having Democrats cross the aisle to endorse McCain may not provide much of a boost among the voters McCain has to reach in the primaries, not even with a respected Democrat like Lieberman. Lieberman has risked much for the war, but otherwise he has little time for conservative policy, especially on domestic programs. He has voted solidly within the center of the Democratic caucus session after session on everything but the war….”

Conservatives are so predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I think Captain Ed is probably the most intellectually honest of the bunch, but we’re still dealing with extreme conservative group think that has absolutely nothing to do with the reality of the GOP. The “conservative” voters who are put off by this aren’t going to vote for McCain anyway, and never were. I would also predict that they are conservatives first and REPUBLICAN SECOND. But, among those of use who are LOYAL REPUBLICANS first, and lean conservative, but are so disgusted with conservatives, well, the Lieberman endorsement may prove to be a boon. The other fascinating aspect of all of this is the way the conservative blogs are ignoring the whole issue. This is the MSM conservative blogsphere Group Think way of handling issues, things, people, and bloggers of whom they do not approve. They simply ignore them and poof - in their little Group Think minds the annoying little gnat (of which I am one) simply go away. You just label someone you don't like a 'troll' then pass that label on so everyone else will do the same and just denigrate the competition. That only works for so long.

It will be interesting to see how long Conservative Group Think blogs continue to ignore the McCain story.

The thing that bothers me about Rudy Giuliani is even his pandering to the spoiled brat out of control conservative far right. At first he was quite reasonable and logical in his approach, offering those of us who are reasonable Republicans a better way, but even he has given in to their tantrums. John McCain has never wavered, and delights in thumbing his nose at the cry-baby far right. More power to him! I’ve read that there maybe be about 30% of GOP primary voters who are this far right ultra crybaby tantrum throwing conservative. That leaves two thirds of GOP primary voters who are REASONABLE thinking Republicans.

Conservatives need to start thinking beyond their Rush Limbaugh box. There are many people out in the GOP who now completely disagree with them. The tragic aspect of all of this is that most of us who are completely disgusted with conservatives and now absolutely refuse to call ourselves “conservative” are true Reagan Conservatives – but are also Republicans.

There are also INDEPENDENTS who qualify to vote in primaries in some states. Having a voice of reason like Joe Lieberman weigh in is only going to help John McCain, not hurt him.

It is time the ultra right conservative strangle hold on the perception of control of the GOP is broken – forever. It is time they stop dictating their demands to the rest of us. It is also time for reasonable Republicans to stand up and say, “I’m not going to take it anymore.” I have. It is a very liberating feeling.

Powerline

LIEBERMAN FOR VP?
In today’s Opinion Journal’s Political Diary, Brendan Miniter ponders if McCain would nominate Lieberman for VP. It would be a winning ticket that would break the back and the spirit of the far right conservatives who have attempted to hijack the GOP. I could go for it!

“…But Mr. Lieberman's ringing endorsement will echo far beyond the Granite State. Last year, he was snubbed by leaders in his own party when he faced a tough senate primary fight in Connecticut against upstart anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. Mr. Lieberman lost the primary but won overwhelmingly in the general election by running as an independent. Since returning to Washington, he's taken little direction from his party on the issue that now animates his public life -- winning the Iraq War. He sided with President Bush in surging 30,000 troops into Iraq at a time when his party's leadership was pushing for a precipitous withdrawal. He gave speeches that came close to suggesting that Democratic politicking was costing U.S. and Iraqi lives and giving comfort to America's enemies. Now, with his endorsement of another stalwart on the war, Mr. Lieberman can bask in the glory of having supported a war policy that is clearly working.

His endorsement also raises the question of how far from the Democratic Party Mr. Lieberman is willing to stray. After winning reelection last year, many wondered whether he'd return to Washington and caucus with Republicans and thereby tip the balance of power in the Senate to the GOP. He didn't, leaving Democrats with a narrow 51-to-49 edge. But with this endorsement of Mr. McCain, it's natural to wonder if Mr. Lieberman would be willing to run for vice president as John McCain's running mate. The idea is not without appeal. At a time when the GOP is struggling to win independents, Mr. Lieberman could bring along independents and cross-over Democrats. Besides, Messrs. McCain and Lieberman have long been in sync on domestic issues like climate change, media indecency and entitlement reform as well as the war. Politics once stopped at the waters edge. With Mr. Lieberman on board, Republicans would have a ticket that would itself go beyond party lines.”

The reason I want either Giuliani or McCain is to see the bunch of cry-baby, ultra right, spoiled, Group Think Conservatives rendered impotent. It's time their reign of terror over the GOP comes to an end. We're already paying the price for their bratty, racist, and completely irrational approach on immigration. It's time they start paying the price for their obnoxious behavior.

Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, Mark My Words, Faultline USA, DragonLady's World, Adam's Blog, Pirate's Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, Celebrity Smack, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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