Watched the ABC debate, which, as Jim Geraghty at National Review described it, was actually the Romney Piñata Debate. Mitt got it from all sides, whether it was McCain and his snarly “You certainly are the candidate of change” jibe, or Huckabee, after Mitt said the guy was misrepresenting Romney’s position, Satan’s Brother shot back with “Which one?” See, Mitt’s a flip-flopper. We get it. Har har har. Giuliani and Thompson both got some jabs in, too. You’d think, watching this debate with no preconceptions, that Mitt is the front-runner. He’s not. He’s just the guy everyone needs to get out of the way, and quickly. He’s got enough money to make himself a nuisance for quite some time.
This actually presented an opportunity for Mitt that he fumbled badly. He didn’t look indignant; he didn’t have a sense of humor about it; he just sort of winced and whined and looked unpleasant. And he said some stupid things. “I like mandates. Mandates work.” Uhhh… hello?
So, yes, Mitt remains dead in the water, but the question is … why McCain? How in the name of Sweet Fancy Moses did this guy get conservatives to take him seriously again? He has spent the past eight years sticking his thumb in the eye of the conservative establishment with reckless glee, and suddenly he’s the standard bearer? Author of McCain-Feingold, the single most egregious assault on free speech in over 200 years? One of only two Republicans who voted against the Bush tax cuts? The guy who cut his fellow Republicans off at the knees with his “Gang of 14” that allowed Demos to continue judicial filibusters? The guy touted as a big Iraq war supporter who spent the past four years whining about how Bush and Rumsfeld weren’t doing anything right? New Hampshire, this guy is not just a bad Republican, he is not a Republican. He met with Tom Daschle back in 2001 to discuss switching parties. Would that he had. After all, doesn’t McCain-Feingold demand truth in political advertising?
If I have to choose between two Democrats in ’08, I’m going to vote for the one who honestly labels himself as such.
And if, heaven forbid, Huckabee wins the nomination, watch how quickly Utah becomes a blue state.
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