The GOP race has now narrowed down to two viable candidates. On one hand, there's Mike Huckabee, whose no-nonsense old time revival preacher style looks prophetlike to the bible belt and like a carnival hawker everywhere that they believe in evolution. And then there's McCain, the senator with years of experience, hard-ass conservative bonafides on foreign policy, an 80-some percent conservative voting record aside from that, and a proven ability to work on both sides of the aisle. He might be the most likeable figure in the GOP to come along in a generation. What's the problem here?
The problem is McCain's proven ability to play with others. Conservatives (by that I mean the conservative "base") have been seeking a genuine "conservative" to promote "conservative" policy, appoint "conservative" judges, and to just sound "conservative. It's not actually about problem solving, engaging in a democratic process, or moving this country forward. It's about following a set of often untested principles at any cost. The spirit of compromise and pragmatism is as alien to this group as good coffee and economical cars. The fact that a decorated war veteran with his credentials has to go before conservative groups and beg for their approval tells the rest of us just how narrow and isolated their thinking must be. How could a guy like McCain actually be answerable to Rush Limbaugh?
This is America. People are welcome to have whatever political opinion they can think up. We have as wide a range of views here as you're likely to find anywhere. In his heart, I'm sure that McCain shares most the conservative ideals of those he must now convince on the solid right wing. What he does not have in common with this group is the practical realities that are part of working in a democratic government.
It was not long ago that the same conservative groups were calling for the ascendancy of a permanant Republican majority, following in lockstep with their notions of what's right and wrong. Since the '06 congressional elections, the idea that America ever did, or ever will have one idea on things from religion to regulation is just plain laughable. The idea of a permanant majority of anyone should strike anyone with real democratic instincts as repugnant and counter to American values.
You may have noticed that I haven't made any attempts to analyze conservative policy here. That's precisely the point. The problems that conservatives have with McCain have little to do with policy and much to do with process. Sure, people will haggle over McCain's stances on immigration, or his opinions of this or that Supreme Court justice, but the real reason they have reservations is in his unpredictability and his threats to the (somehow still) monolithic conservative agenda. Their hang-ups with McCain are really about who has the power.
Sooner or later, this group of uncompromising idealogues will face up to the fact that, barring a military coup or constitutional crisis, the other guy will always have a voice in this country.
The question for the GOP is now: do you deep-six this guy because he doesn't follow the self-anointed leaders' scripts, or do you get behind a candidate who may actually lead. I think GOP voters, and many independents, will choose the latter.
This will be a close race-- one whose outcome will be decided less by power brokers (and more by the voting public) than any other in my lifetime. It's been a long time coming.
