John McCain Wins FL Primary

[dalem]

I remain hopeful that Mitt won't quit, and that he sees it through to a brokered convention, so that the rock-ribbed conservatives will hold their ground and absolutely, categorically and FLATLY refuse to nominate McCain.

ANY other real conservative, and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, my wife and some credible pundits are right re: Hillary's 48% negative is just something that cannot be overcome...and she gets shellacked in a straight-up shoot-out, losing 49 states, and we'll see the last of the Clinton Plague.

And if whatever cosmic force that's out there loves us VERY, VERY MUCH, the down-ticket damage happens to THEM, and we return to GOP majorities, before the Democrats can do too much more to wreck the place.

Since I started taking the Percocets two-at-a-time, my world has taken on a decidedly rosy tint.

I will say this for McCain:

He'd be better than Hillary, and a damnsight better than Obama.

I do think that his probably-accurately predicted ability to crush Hillary into corn meal in a national election is worth a conservative plank or two, especially if such a win could and did translate into the infamous coattails.

People like you and I, Bluesman, need to hold to our guns through Super Tuesday, and hope for a clear Romney swing. But if that doesn't happen we have to pack our 100% hopes away for next cycle and think beyond McCain.

So for whatever reason the country wants to elect a super Moderate with a Lefty swing as a Republican President? Then fine, let's do that sh*t, help it happen, and use that momentum to get in some Santorums and Kyls and Thompsons and Steeles and Coburns and the like. Hopefully some young slick, hardfighting tomcats who understand they're being watched like hawks and every move, sound, and signature they make is being scrutinized and evaluated by folks who know the Constitution, know about budgets, and know about the nasty real world out there that wants to change us or kill us trying.

If we can help make that happen, isn't that worth a limp dishrag like McCain?

-dale

[Ironduke]

Actually, if the base stays home in large numbers, and they WILL, the Democrats will not only CRUSH them, they'll likely see enormous carnage down-ticket, as well.

McCain needs a Southerner to bring out the Southern wing of the Republican party, those who tend to be more evangelical voters, but like the blacks are for the Democrats, their votes can more or less be taken for granted.

So, how bad would THAT be: Hillary being sworn in as the Senate convenes with a 60+ majority that can literally do ANYthing they want for the next four years, until the American people sober up and get over their massive snit?

If Mitt Romney were to win the nomination (which he won't), we'd see exactly that. Mitt Romney quite simply cannot carry the nation. He would lose badly against Hillary in the November election.

McCain on the other hand will carry not only all the Republicans, he will also carry Independents and even some Democrats. Let's face it, the Republicans are a minority in this country. Right now 50% of Americans self-identify as Democrats, while just 36% self-identify as Republicans.

So not only can McCain carry the majority of the Independent vote and a small yet substantial portion of the Democratic vote, his popularity can transcend himself and give Republicans a fighting chance for election to Congress. Only McCain would have momentum to share with Republican candidates for the House and Senate.

We've done nothing to earn his slaps at us, his tacking against us when we needed him most, and the fact that he's MOSTLY on the right side of things doesn't really even it out, not for ME, anyway.

Virtually every bill you view as a slap in the face was approved and signed into law by President Bush. Campaign finance reform not only banned big money from corporations, it also banned big money from labor unions, trial lawyers, etc. to the Democrats.

1. WIN THE WAR!!! This is SO major, that the next four combined don't equal the importance of Numero Uno. Well, McCain has got the best record on this one, going away, of ANYbody that has a shot at being our next Prez, so for that reason alone, I'll hold my nose, and cast a bitter, resentful vote if he, gawd forbid, ends up being our nominee.

Agreed here... McCain is an author of and the man responsible for giving momentum to the idea of the Surge... which has been working.

2. Cut the taxes. Well, he tried to screw us here TWICE, and we need not make any guesses about how he'd differ from a REAL Republican; his cards are on the table.

In 2000, well before the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts were even passed, McCain proposed $500 billion in tax cuts over ten years. So he was against the particulars of the Bush tax cuts, it's still quite clear that he supports tax cuts.

3. Cut the spending. See above. He's been a Senator since Christ was a corporal, and SPEND is what Senators DO. Again, we need not guess about how Checkbook Johnny will do in the budget giveaway sweepstakes.

John McCain was awarded "Taxpayer Superhero" in 2007 by Citizens Against Government Waste with the highest rating of 95%. He didn't have a single earmark in any legislation in 2007. John McCain voted against the two largest expansions in federal and entitlement spending since the 1960s, the two Medicare bills that were passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Republican president.

4. Confirm the judges. [...] And ALL of this Senator John Mccain has wrought with his aptly-named Gang of Fourteen.

Was one activist judge appointed to the courts? The actions of the Gang of 14 prevented a filibuster that would have prevented any judges from being appointed at all.

5. Secure the borders. For somebody from a border state, he shore dew have a tin ear, don't he? I mean, HIS constituents are the ones paying an enormous price for his utter failure to live up to the Reagan-era promise that we'd have this one, itt-bitty limited-time-only amnesty, and then, boy-oh-boy, that border would be SECURED, man, and you can bet your bottom dollar on THAT, I can tall ya! Except it didn't happen, and here we are, getting over-run with illegals, WHICH HE HELPED ALONG, and he STILL wants to grant every single person that can get here the means to STAY here, and claim every single benefit of American citizenship, but bear almost none of the costs.

Again, the biggest problem with regards to immigration is domestic demand. Domestic demand insures a steady flow of illegal immigrants into this country, just as domestic demand ensures a steady flow of cocaine and heroin into the US. Last time I check, McCain supports employer sanctions. Arizona has passed the Employer Sanctions Law which should be a model for the rest of the country.

I remain hopeful that Mitt won't quit, and that he sees it through to a brokered convention, so that the rock-ribbed conservatives will hold their ground and absolutely, categorically and FLATLY refuse to nominate McCain.

Mitt Romney is not a rock-ribbed conservative. He's a liberal Northeasterner putting on a show to gain conservative support. He reminds me alot of another liberal Northeasterner who ran for president, I swear it's deja vu, John Kerry.

Mitt Romney is a recent convert to conservatism, and I personally believe he's as phony as a three-dollar bill. He was an independent during Reagan-Bush and said he didn't want to return to Reagan-Bush, and as recently as 2002 he said he lived in a state where Republicans were the majority in every branch of government and said it was horrible.

ANY other real conservative, and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, my wife and some credible pundits are right re: Hillary's 48% negative is just something that cannot be overcome...and she gets shellacked in a straight-up shoot-out, losing 49 states, and we'll see the last of the Clinton Plague.

Not a credible point when every hypothetical matchup between every Republican candidate against Clinton show a Clinton win... except when it comes to McCain. Right now people feel even more negatively about Republicans than they do about Hillary Clinton, and only McCain can transcend this divide created by the Rumsfeld f*ck-up and share his momentum with other Republican candidates campaigning for office this November.

Since I started taking the Percocets two-at-a-time, my world has taken on a decidedly rosy tint

I didn't finish my prescription, still have twenty-five left, along with two oxys and seven vicodins. They're good though. I'll be giving mine to a vet who could use them. :)

[Bluesman]

I will say this for McCain:

He'd be better than Hillary, and a damnsight better than Obama.

I do think that his probably-accurately predicted ability to crush Hillary into corn meal in a national election is worth a conservative plank or two, especially if such a win could and did translate into the infamous coattails.

People like you and I, Bluesman, need to hold to our guns through Super Tuesday, and hope for a clear Romney swing. But if that doesn't happen we have to pack our 100% hopes away for next cycle and think beyond McCain.

So for whatever reason the country wants to elect a super Moderate with a Lefty swing as a Republican President? Then fine, let's do that sh*t, help it happen, and use that momentum to get in some Santorums and Kyls and Thompsons and Steeles and Coburns and the like. Hopefully some young slick, hardfighting tomcats who understand they're being watched like hawks and every move, sound, and signature they make is being scrutinized and evaluated by folks who know the Constitution, know about budgets, and know about the nasty real world out there that wants to change us or kill us trying.

If we can help make that happen, isn't that worth a limp dishrag like McCain?

-dale

It's like we share a brain, ole buddy.

If we MUST bow to inevitable reality and accept President McCain - dammit - then we'll make sure his rule is as frustrating for him as he's made his Senate tenure for us. I intend to make certain the White House switchboard puts me on a watchlist before his term is up, and that the Democrats will mistake me as being on their side, so fierce will my opposition be to ANY position taken by the President that is not explicitly conservative and partisan.

I will help deliver the office unto HIS hand, for no better purpose than keeping it from HERS. At that point, my interests and McCain's diverge, and I'll treat him just as he's treated me for the past twenty years: a political ally of convenience, with no shared love nor philosophical underpinnings to bind us one to the other.

And as soon as he becomes superfluous and useless to me, over the side he goes.

And he dam' well better fight this war to victory.

[Bluesman]

Ironduke, I'd love to fisk that post properly, but I can't. Just one hit before I leave for the night:

You:
Was one activist judge appointed to the courts? The actions of the Gang of 14 prevented a filibuster that would have prevented any judges from being appointed at all.

INCORRECT. The Nuclear Option would've broken IN OUR FAVOR, and McCain took it out of our hands. It would have ensured that while we had the majority, we could use the old, accepted Senate rules to bring each and every one of the President's appointment nominations up for a straight up-or-down vote, and instead of requiring the 'super-majority' 60+ necessary for the novel, new way the Democrats chose to read the rule, ALL of the appointments would have had their fair shot at the Senate's actual, CONSTITUTIONAL role of advise and consent, instead of rank partisan obstructionism on political and not legal qualifications grounds.

And McCain OWNS the credit for all of that. HE DID THAT TO US, and of ALL the things he's done to us, THAT will have the greatest and most long-reaching impact.

And there's LOTS more that you need to understand about him, as evidenced by your post.

But no matter how many times he's flipped me off and stabbed me in the back, I agree with dalem: if he's our nominee, he is STILL better than whomever his opponent will be.

[Ironduke]

INCORRECT. The Nuclear Option would've broken IN OUR FAVOR, and McCain took it out of our hands.

The nuclear option requires a majority of 60. The Republicans had 55 seats in the 109th Congress, so we could be blocked by as few as 41 Democrats.

Ironduke, I'd love to fisk that post properly, but I can't.

There's always tomorrow. :)

[dalem]

Virtually every bill you view as a slap in the face was approved and signed into law by President Bush.

Bush is irrelevant in a discussion about McCain's actions. It doesn't get to Bush's desk if McCain doesn't squat down and grunt it out.

-dale

[Ironduke]

Bush is irrelevant in a discussion about McCain's actions. It doesn't get to Bush's desk if McCain doesn't squat down and grunt it out.

So what are you trying to say? McCain is the sole arbiter of the legislation that reaches Bush's desk?

Come on now Dale, I've said alot and I like a good debate. You've got to have more counterpoints to what I've just said than just that. :)

[dalem]

The nuclear option requires a majority of 60. The Republicans had 55 seats in the 109th Congress, so we could be blocked by as few as 41 Democrats.

There's always tomorrow. :)

Ironduke, you have to at least acknowledge that McCain was the driver for two of the three issues that lost Republicans the majority in both houses last cycle:

1) His Gang of Fourteen was perceived as an abdication of leadership and authority by MANY conservative Republcans who worked hard to put those guys in office. They WARNED the party that they'd stay away and let the Dems take it if the leadership didn't lead. McCain's back room deal cut the legs out big time.

And he's PROUD of that.

2) His handling of Immigration reform, trying to manhandle it through in the dead of night, refusing to engage in debate, his tantrums against other Senators, and his dismissal of the desires of the voters, were pure poison for the Republican majority.

And I actually think it was a pretty good bill. I would have gladly supported it and its supporters with a little modification. It certainly was better than nothing at all.

Once again, the base WARNED the party that they would stay away in droves.

And they did.

3) Corruption and general ickiness and fiscal irresponsibility. McCain was far distant from that sinkhole - he had nothing to do with that.

But again, those 3 issues torpedoed us in the Fall of 2006, and McCain owns 2 of them. Thanks for nothing, Johnny.

-dale

[Ironduke]

I don't think the two factors you claim had anything to do with the massive Republican defeat in 2006... the Democratic sweep was going to happen no matter what.

[dalem]

So what are you trying to say? McCain is the sole arbiter of the legislation that reaches Bush's desk?

Come on now Dale, I've said alot and I like a good debate. You've got to have more counterpoints to what I've just said than just that. :)

I'm pointing out what I think are flaws in your methodology of debate there, that's all. You're never going to get me to respect or like McCain so there's no "debate" on that point between us. I think he's a first-rate shitbag whom I'd sooner hit with a sockful of mud than vote for.

But the stakes are too high, as I've admitted, for that to be my final choice.

I was thinking about this in the car ride home and I think I've figured what I dislike the most about McCain:

There is almost nothing in the world I despise more than a jerk who pretends he's not a jerk.

Hell, I'm a jerk, and I have a bit of a temper, but I know it. And I admit it. When it gets the better of me and I say something or write something or do something that pisses someone off, I don't tilt my head and stick a finger in my dimple asking "Aww, why are you mad at me?" I either apologize or retract or bull forward.

I don't pretend it didn't happen, and that I'm not the guy who did it.

McCain runs around wiping his butt on the furniture and then acts all surprised that people are upset with him. It's disengenuous, it's childish, and it makes my skin crawl.

-dale

[dalem]

I don't think the two factors you claim had anything to do with the massive Republican defeat in 2006... the Democratic sweep was going to happen no matter what.

Then you are out of your ever-lovin' mind.

-dale

[Ironduke]

Then you are out of your ever-lovin' mind.

-dale

The situation foremost on the voters' minds in 2006 was IRAQ. If the surge had been successfully implemented earlier, I'm sure it would have blunted the Democratic victory though a Republican victory wouldn't have been ensured.

I can research and draw up very quickly much better reasons than the two you named, seat-by-seat, all the factors that resulted in key Republican defeats that handed the majority to the Democrats.

[dalem]

The situation foremost on the voters' minds in 2006 was IRAQ. If the surge had been successfully implemented earlier, I'm sure it would have blunted the Democratic victory though a Republican victory wouldn't have been ensured.

I can research and draw up very quickly much better reasons than the two you named, seat-by-seat, all the factors that resulted in key Republican defeats that handed the majority to the Democrats.

Go ahead. "Iraq" didn't keep the base at home.

-dale

[orthocat]

Bad news for conservatives continues

Since I'm a John McCain supporter, I encourage all who want to see Mac win to donate to his campaign. I've donated $75 myself.

https://www.johnmccain.com/Contribute/ContributeA.aspx

Whereas I encourage all who oppose him to contribute here:

Border Fence Project (This will dry up his support.)

America under McCain: "Please press 2 for English."

[lwarmonger]

But again, those 3 issues torpedoed us in the Fall of 2006, and McCain owns 2 of them. Thanks for nothing, Johnny.

-dale

The 2006 election was more of a protest vote against President Bush and the Iraq War than it was about any of the issues you named.