I know it’s asking a lot, but you should be reading him, too. Last night, 9:14pm
It is stunning that Fox cannot call Arizona for John McCain. In the very unlikely event that McCain loses his home state, I don’t think his campaign could recover any more than Romney could survive a loss in Massachusetts or Huckabee a loss in Arkansas.
Given the Rush blast, the Dobson declaration, and Huck’s strength in the south, McCain can’t be considered a frontrunner by any conventional standard.
All eyes on California.
Which McCain won. He also won his home state by 14 points. My personal opinion on the “Rush blast, the Dobson declaration” is that they’ll only help McCain. I believe moderate conservatives are getting sick to death of getting talked down to by these clowns. A little later:
Rush and Dr. Dobson are aligned against the front-runner, which complicates McCain’s task enormously.
Not enough so that it’s complicating his ability to uhm, win. My feeling is that the far right is going to become very marginalized in this election which, one can hope, will cause them to re-evaluate how they’ve behaved over the past 7 years (ok, I actually chuckled and laughed at myself when I wrote that.)
Republicans like to whine about how Democrats are out of the mainstream. They say the same thing about McCain – that he doesn’t represent mainstream conservative thought. If the definition of what’s mainstream is what most people think, then clearly McCain is becoming the new mainstream in the Republican party. I agree with him on only a few things, but it’s fun to watch the apocalyptic writings of the right, isn’t it?
But hey! Keep wishin’, Hugh. Normally, I read your blog and just roll my eyes. Now, it’s just downright entertaining. Delegate count as of this posting:
McCain: 615
Romney: 243
Huckabee: 169
And if it turns out to be a brokered convention, don’t expect Huckabee to throw his support behind Willard. Judging from WV, it looks like McCain and Huckabee have been talking.
calipygian
My email to Malkin and K-Lo (may they cry in their Cheerios this morning):
bernarda
Huckabee won in Arkansas and Tennessee, and then tornadoes struck those states killing dozens. What was Jesus doing?
Wilfred
They’ll be expecting McCain to come calling and court them, this after they ragged the guy mercilessly for years – the narcissism of these people is beyond belief. McCain is thinking: “Do I even want to have these stupid motherfuckers near me?”
It would be lovely if he told the ‘wronged’ right to go fuck themselves: “I’m running with and for moderate Republicans, conservative Democrats and independents. Help me if you want but expect nothing in return because you’re not getting anything from me. If you don’t like it, talk to Clinton or Obama”.
I’ve heard McCain holds a grudge – I hope so.
Jen
Damn voters just won’t listen to the pundits.
Did anyone see Mitt’s speech last night? Can’t find it on the youtube. Say what you will about the triteness of “yes, we can”, it beats Mitt’s rejoiner of “HAVEN’T!” by a country mile.
Jake
It is teh funny. But we all know a resounding Fuck You from the majority of Republican voters will only make them worse. Surely you’ve heard the fRight saying Bush is a closet librul. Why? Because some of them are just bright enough to realize all of his glorious policies are complete and utter garbage. But admit that a Republican got the country into this mess? At this point, forget it. Never, ever, gonna happen. I don’t count people like you because so far as I can tell you’ve never been a blank-eyed cheerleader.
As a result, all of the Republicans who voted for McCain will become Closet Democrats. Or even real Democrats who messed things up. Expect to hear mumbling about voter fraud in the very near future.
The only mystery: Why the flaming hell do they think Romney is the Conservative Savior? My 2 cents: Pimply arsed Flush and his ilk hate McCain because he actually served in the military. Fake bravery (flight suit photo ops) are one thing, the real deal counteracts the effects of Viagra and leaves Flush limp with shame. For the rest, well, we know the die hard GOP loves them some whores.
No, no, no. Only people who are about to lose their homes have to S.I.U. Spit-flinging freaks who stalk 12 year olds and throw tantrums when every thing doesn’t go their way have to be coddled and cosseted.
Actually, the thought of her squinching her face as she angrily deletes your message is making me laugh.
John S.
Not true.
Wait until the topic of the FAIR tax comes up, then Michael breaks out the pom-poms and does his best Michelle Malkin impersonation.
brendancalling
This is hilarious.
I’ve been listenign to the local right-wing talk station for weeks, and the depth of hatred for McCain is, well, totally insane.
I cannot WAIT to listen to Glenn Beck lose his shit this morning. And Hannity after work is going to be a TRIP: last friday, he had Santorum on and together they trashed the hell out of McCain.
Awesome.
Dennis - SGMM
Hewitt, Limbaugh, Dobson, etc., confused fanning the sacred flame of George Bush with leadership. They confused the bits of kibble thrown them by Bushco with influence.
Wednesday morning coming down.
Jake
Shit, I thought that was John Cole.
Well, if Michael has ever been a blank eyed cheerleader of the Bush Admin., I retract my statement.
I kan haz Moar Kofee?
Neal
Romney’s results make me giddy. No matter how much money he throws in, no matter how much the bloviators try to help him, he just CAN’T WIN. HA HA.
Oh, and as a southern white man, I’m a little proud of the south today. We chose the black man by a mile. Considering where we were 40 years ago…it’s a good thing.
4tehlulz
Will this be the day that Limbaugh et al. decide to start slobbering over McCain? Or will they just turn their focus to TEH HITLERY/BARACK HUSSEIN OSAMA and just happen to neglect the Republican primaries?
DougJ
I believe that unicorns are sick to death of being depicted in children’s stories.
I will say this again: there are no moderate Republicans. The entire party is batshit crazy.
If you want to fantasize about moderate Republicans, there’s a number you can call: 1-900-DBR-ODER
dslak
It’s a bit of a dilemma for the right-wing talking heads, isn’t it? They need to establish a narrative that handicaps the Democratic candidate, but it’s harder to kill a two-headed beast. Add in the fact that, despite all their attempts, they can’t take down McCain, and you’ve got some serious disarray.
The longer the Democratic race stays close, and Romney still has a chance (in wingnuts’ eyes) of getting the nomination,the less time the right-wing/media doublepunch will have to focus its aim.
NonyNony
Not likely. If McCain gets the nomination and then loses in the fall it will be victory for the “conservatives” like Hewitt, Rush, Malkin, Coulter, etc. This is like their answer to why the Republicans lost in ’06 – “because they weren’t conservative enough”. McCain getting the nomination and losing will be like Ford getting the nomination over Reagan in ’76 and then losing to Carter – “proof” to the batshit wing that they were right and the moderates in the party were wrong.
The only way the far-right whack-jobs of the GOP start re-evaluating their tactics is if McCain gets the nomination and then wins the presidency too. At that point, GOP politicians start realizing that they aren’t really beholden to the batshit-insane part of the party and can win elections without them. But, frankly, I’m not going to push for a McCain victory because I think he’d be a lousy president. Even if it would drive Rush stark raving bonkers.
Frankly, all that a McCain nomination victory will do is drive the batshit crazy part of the party even crazier. Which will push moderate voters and pols out of the party even faster. Which means that the Republicans won’t be ready to take the reigns of government again when it comes time to throw this crop of Democrats out of office. And we’ll get a reprise of ’96-’06, but probably worse.
I was really pulling for the Huckster or Romney this cycle on the GOP side. Not because I’d like to see them as president, but because defeating either of the annointed standard bearers for one of the loony-bin factions of the GOP would be a way to give some level of influence to the moderating forces in the party – if there are even any left at this point.
dslak
This is exactly the point. They’ll say he wasn’t conservative enough, and that the GOP needs to move farther to the right, thus alienating them more. There won’t be another Dubya to unite them, so McCain is probably the GOP’s best hope of wielding any power in government for a generation.
4tehlulz
Note to Far Right: There is no new Reagan on the horizon.
NonyNony
dslak –
NonyNony
Stupid blockquote. Stupid mornings. That last one was all me – the part I quoted from dslak got eaten.
PaulW
Dear DougJ:
I am a moderate Republican. Or I was, until the far right wing psychonuts drove me out.
If/When McCain wins, I will come back. So there.
Dennis - SGMM
At 1:32 AM MSNBC reported that the Super Tuesday delegate count was 841 for Clinton, 837 for Obama. Neither candidate can claim inevitability. I would say that Obama is picking up some momentum and that Clinton is losing some. My feeling is that Obama may well come into the convention with a slight (2%-5%) edge in delegates.
This brings up my greatest concern. If the Super Delegates vote for Clinton, giving her the nomination in the face of even the slightest Obama majority, the headlines will scream: “Democratic Party Defies Voters!!!!” The winner in that scenario is John McCain. The losers are the Democratic Party and every Democratic candidate for the House and Senate.
Neal
Good point, Dennis. And since we know that the Democrat party will do anything it can to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, that is exactly what is going to happen.
The GOP is batshit insane. The Dems are just dumb.
Digital Amish
Because he was the one candidate (minus the obvious whack jobs like Tancredo et.al.) that they fooled into thinking he could get elected by pandering to the crazy wing of the party.
Zifnab
This is one of the guys who insists we are winning in Iraq, right? Just checking.
I don’t know. The party footsoldiers just goosed their commanding officers pretty hard last night. I think Limbaugh/Hannity/et al will have some choice words for the 3vi1 lie-brul infiltrators who have decimated their once great party. I’m betting wingnuts break out the tin-foil hats and start looking for the Manchurian voters.
Dennis - SGMM
Look for Limbaugh and his cohorts to come with “proof” that the McCain vote was comprised of illegal immigrants using forged paperwork and Democratic sleeper cells within the Republican party.
Face
Right-wing radio in KC had caller after caller after caller just trashing McCant. Called him liberal!
So we’ll have Clagina v. McCant, two prospects reviled by a significant portion of their respective parties. This promises to be a GREAT time to own a blog.
Neal
Both states went to Hillary as well. I’m going to blame it on that.
Jesus doesn’t like Hillary.
Dr. Squid
What will happen: McCain loses in November, then those snot-nosed punks will go with their nasally whine, “I told you so. You can’t win without us.”
Then some of them will get violent because, well, that’s just them being their version of conservative.
Dr. Squid
As for Mittens, I’m with TBogg: I wish he’d have won something yesterday so he could plow even more of Tagg’s inheritance into a losing cause.
RSA
Reading TownHall, and remembering hopeful predictions that the Republican Party will end up being just a regional party, I’m realizing that the current problem for Republicans isn’t “the” far-right wing, but that there are actually a few far-right wings that want nothing to do with each other: the anti-tax wing versus the pro-war wing versus the Jesus Land wing. There’s some overlap in their goals, but they don’t yet seem willing to throw their support behind a leader from a different wing.
Punchy
Of all the pompous, scumball fuckers I hate the most on conservative radio, Hannity takes it by a mile.
I cannot wait to hear what he has to say today. That smug asshole deserves this comeuppance.
Wilfred
I saw Hannity on Fox talking to Brit Hume. Either Hume is quite tall or Hannity is very short. He looked like the second coming of Lou Costello.
Kynn
Better post! You are improving after all, Michael D. Maybe the vacation helped?
stinky mcgee
Doesn’t everything help John McCain?
Enlightened Layperson
I could almost want to see McCain win the election just so he can give the wingnuts the finger.
Fritz
I only hope that Obama doesn’t have the coattails to give the Democrats a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. I want at least some brake on enthusiasm. Well, and a Supreme Court decision recognizing the 2nd Amendment as an individual right would be nice also.
Other than that — the GOP has had this coming. I hope they learn from it.