More on McCain -- A warning to K-Lo

John McCain has quickly become a focus for us in the house as we see him surge in the polls and take dirty, underhanded swipes at Mitt Romney. But there is also a level of foolishness from McCain supporters/cheerleaders. K-Lo at NRO's The Corner received the following e-mail; the premise of which is patently absurd:

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.

I say it's absurd because McCain will take a victory as a mandate for himself, not for conservatism. He's a rank political opportunist that doesn't support what conservatism is. He supports populism, and you can't lead a nation through such means. Clinton tried from '92-'00 to do this, and it meant he governed and "lead" through the use of polls. That doesn't lead anything except the people whose lives revolve around polls. That means that he's appealing to those that change their minds as quickly as the wind changes direction.

But by stating that he'll pull Democrats into his camp is a veiled slap at conservatives that he doesn't need us. And should he win without us (fat chance in Hell) then he'll treat us like he treats those who opposed him or criticized him. We'll be the "fringe." We'll be the unhinged masses that stand in opposition to the status quo, which is exactly what we don't need in DC. He's an insider and will never change his stripes.

But if we help him win -- if we support his candidacy -- then we will be labeled as those persuaded by his recent statements. The simple fact of the matter is that IF he is the nominee, many in the GOP base would end up holding their noses to vote for him. It's not that we buy his statements, but rather we understand that a Democrat in the White House would be significantly worse than a McCain presidency. At least with McCain he could be reasonably kept in check by the people. (It was the people of this nation, in conjunction with talk radio and bloggers that stopped McCain/Kennedy.)

The statements that he is for enforcement and border security first, now. The debate that is raging over at The Corner between the best and brightest of NRO dealing with McCain staffers and supporters claiming that his statements in John Fund's piece today were incorrect. (The argument is that they haven't been verified. What people need to remember about Fund is that he's not going to toss out a quote without corroboration. As yet, Fund has yet to issue a correction or retraction.) His statements of late are contradictory to his record.

Furthermore, the base isn't likely to forget what he has done over the last eight years. His record is out there and in the open. All people have to do is research him, and then ask themselves if they can support him as a first choice, or a second choice.

McCain doesn't treat the base with respect. When people raised their voices over McCain/Feingold, his answer was "trust me, I know what I'm doing." Yes, he knew what he was doing, and it took seven years to get part of that law overturned by the Supreme Court. With the Gang of 14, again it was "trust me." That deal threw seven very qualified jurists under the bus in favor of bipartisan support for an illegal filibuster. When it came to McCain/Lieberman, his only answer to the base is "climate change is real and something needs to be done." He disregards the fact that there is no consensus on the subject, and in fact many climatologists are stating the global warming nonsense was overblown to begin with. McCain/Kennedy was met with ire from across the nation -- both Republican and Democrat -- and he lashed out at us; chastising us for some perceived, unconfirmed bigotry.

Yes, he's a maverick. He's also a good American. But given his stance on recent issues, and how he is willing to side with Democrats rather than his own party when it really matters, it makes voting for him very difficult. I'm not saying we won't do that should he, by some miracle, get the nomination. But it's going to be a tough decision. There is this to ponder when it comes to a McCain presidency: When he takes the oath, there will be an awful lot of people paying close attention, and he will be given no quarter should he decide to lead via populism rather than conviction.

Publius II