The Political Inquirer

In an election cycle that has been filled with bizarre twists and comical changes, like Rudy’s inevitability to him on the verge of losing his own state, then to the rise of Mike Huckabee, and then the complete smashing of his record as Arkansas governor, it is unfortunate to say that the final chapter this primary season, probably the last twist, is not the least bit comical at all.

We have seen, as many conservative commentators have predicted, the end of the Republican Party as we know it. Being a member of an extremely liberal college in New York, I often found myself being the one to defend Republicans against the irrational generalization of many of my fellow students, ie. Republicans are bigots, they are backwards, they are stupid, they are ignorant, they are based fully on religion, and so forth. After the events that have unfolded in the past couple of weeks, and especially yesterday on Super Tuesday, I will no longer be defending against such remarks.

That’s right everyone, the John McCain and Mike Huckabee duo, also known as the Democratic Wing of the Republican Party, has nearly secured the nomination on the Republican side. After the results came in, I began to wonder if Huckabee was really taking more steam away from McCain than he was from Romney, but it’s almost worthy to note that it doesn’t really matter, since Huckabee might be auditioning for a vice-presidential role with McCain, or some other appointed position.

And if you think I am going over the top by calling them the Democratic Wing, then think again. According to The Hill, a large number of senators have claimed that McCain was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, bitter from his recent loss in the primaries to George Bush, and frustrated with Republicans overall. The article begins with the interesting context of these events:

In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.

Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them.

Further:

Daschle said that throughout April and May of 2001, he and McCain “had meetings and conversations on the floor and in his office, I think in mine as well, about how we would do it, what the conditions would be. We talked about committees and his seniority … [A lot of issues] were on the table.”

Some rumors even say that McCain was approached by John Kerry to be a running mate. This year there was speculation about former Democrat and close friend of McCain’s, Joe “More Surveillance Cameras” Lieberman being his running mate, which was denied, I guess Huckabee had already won the spot.

The second thing that amazes me is that apparent amnesia within the Republican base, regarding an issue that is very important to most conservatives, and that is illegal immigration. As we all know, John McCain spearheaded an immigration reform bill in 2007, as he was running for president, with fellow Democratic senator (surprise), Ted Kennedy. While he was working so nicely with the most liberal segments of Congress, McCain was also busy dropping f-bombs to respected Republican colleagues like Texas Senator John Cornyn, who rightly pulled out of the bill, saying he had serious concerns that it was similar to the 1986 amnesty.

John McCain also voted against the Cornyn amendment to the immigration legislation, which would have barred gang members and felons from trying to reap the benefits of the amnesty visa. McCain was joined by close friend, and fellow champion of McCain-Kennedy, Lindsey Graham. The trio of stupidity, McCain, Kennedy, and Bush, were all sad and bitter over the defeat of the immigration reform, which saw the closing of the Congressional phones because of floods of calls.

Americans for Better Immigration give John McCain a D on their immigration reduction report card, for his career, and another D for recent times. On the category of amnesties, he received an F. His best category was border control. McCain has tried to explain that he has changed his views and got the message. Considering how hard he fought for it, I highly doubt that. Plus, he will go along with his party colleagues, the Democrats, in determining immigration policy.

It seems very few people in the Republican base remember any of this, or even care right now. Though I will give props to those in Michigan, who not only rejected McCain and picked Romney during their primary, but a crowd also boo’ed McCain when he talked about immigration. This caused a quick retreat by McCain, back into the only subject he knows, the military.

I also have stated in a previous rant against McCain, that I personally believed that if the Democratic Congress put an amnesty bill in front of a President McCain, he would sign it. After making that statement I began to wonder if I had gone overboard, but once again, McCain’s own statements came to the rescue and reaffirmed my fears. Click here to see the video of McCain talking to Tim Russert this January. Apparently he hasn’t seen the light.

RUSSERT: “If the Senate passed your bill, S.1433, the McCain/Kennedy immigration bill, would you as president sign it?

SEN. MCCAIN: “Yeah. But look, the lesson is, it isn’t – one, it isn’t going to come. It isn’t going to come.”

Now think about this situation. It seems highly likely that the Democrats will keep control of the Congress after 2008, if not gain more seats. Note that about thirty Republican congressmen are retiring or not running again, including Tom Tancredo and many other immigration control advocates. In the senate it also looks bleak for Republicans. I think the bill WILL come, and if McCain is president? You see the problem. McCain has also hired an open borders advocate as an adviser. He hasn’t learned, and if you think he has, you need to get real.

McCain is also a vocal supporter of the surge in Iraq, that is, according to him, “working”. He also whines constantly that he is the only one who supported it and the Republicans were so mean to him. Some of them expressed doubts, a lot of them expressed support for it. During a debate, Rudy Giuliani openly stated that he supported the surge at the time. Graham also did, and Brownback, and a number of other GOP politicians. The claim that he is the only one who supported it is false, and the claim that it’s working is also false. But as long as he can milk the pro-war, veteran, military vote to the nomination, he will.

He stated during a 9/11 event that the important thing is that we don’t let it happen again. If we leave Iraq, it will happen again. This is what I call the “follow us home” theory. Sorry to break this to all of you out there who believe this, but it’s the stupidest thing you can possibly say. Why? Who were they following home on 9/11? Who were they following home on 7/7? Great Britain was still in Iraq at that time with no intention of leaving. Madrid? Attacked because they were also in Iraq, they left only afterwards and haven’t been attacked again. What about us? We are still in Iraq and reports are coming out now that Al’Qaeda is planning new attacks on the U.S.A. Are they following us home?

McCain makes Mitt Romney look like someone with solid opinions. I’m not sure about straight talk, but I would certainly say double talk, or triple talk, or more. First he was against the Bush tax cuts the first few times they were voted on. Then miraculously, as his presidential bid got close, he changed his mind. When his immigration bill went down the toilet and it looked like it would hurt his presidential bid, he miraculously changed his mind yet again. This is not just on one issue, but on quite a few.

There is also a tendency to support regional and state issues when their primary or caucus is coming up. In Michigan McCain’s top priority was re-energizing the automobile industry. In Florida it was dealing with veterans health care and benefits for the elderly. In California it was all about climate change with fellow RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger. That’s a lot of top priorities.

Do you really think he’s going to take care of all these top priorities with less intrusive government, less taxes, and less spending? I’ve had it with these guys. This isn’t about my preferred candidate vs. him anymore. I’m sick of the phonies that are in every single direction. I’m talking about complete shallow fakes like Mike Huckabee and John McCain, the likely ticket of the Republican Party in 2008. I’m talking about Rudy Giuliani, and the rest of them.

Mitt Romney, drop out. Save your cash. Ask Fred Thompson to run with you and start a third party run, you’re currently in the middle of a lost cause. Having Fred would increase Mitt’s viability in the South, it almost seems like a perfect fit. Ron Paul, drop out and go third party, it isn’t worth it. Anyone out there that will do it, for God’s sake, please do it. Don’t give a rip about what the party establishment says, drop out, and run on your own, take votes away from him, even if it means a Democrat has to win. Show that we aren’t going to take this crap anymore, and maybe they will get the message.

And don’t expect any help from the media. The rise of John McCain is almost nearly a full creation of the media. The Politico cited a recent report that researched media exposure in the critical time leading up to Super Tuesday, and their findings were not surprising at all:

In a pivotal week leading up to Super Tuesday, McCain received significantly more media coverage than his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee “almost invisible,” according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

McCain was featured or played prominently in 37 percent of 597 campaign stories analyzed, compared with Romney, at 21 percent. Perhaps even more surprising, McCain topped fellow Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who were in 34 percent and 32 percent of the stories, respectively.

You read right, that’s almost twice the level of coverage that Mitt Romney got, who was also competing heavily for most Super Tuesday states. Just think about where McCain even got his initial boost. He was endorsed by a popular Iowa newspaper, and got around 14% in a state that didn’t match with his policies. He won New Hampshire, getting a big boost from the states major newspaper. He got the endorsement from countless others, including the New York Times (is that a good thing?).

The results of Super Tuesday were unsurprising for two more reasons: complete ignorance of the Republican base in regards to religion and policy. McCain again got a very large portion of the anti-war vote around the country, if you can make sense of that one. His chance to win independents in the general election could be hampered by his insane obsession with the Iraq war, which a majority of independents don’t like. Second, there is strong evidence from exit polls and county demographics suggesting that bigotry could have played a role in the defeat of Mitt Romney in the South, due to his Mormon denomination.

Nothing like reinforcing the rest of the country’s and the world’s stereotype of the South. A bunch of rednecks emerging from their trailer homes and churches, and voting for a baptist minister, completely disregarding his disastrous record as governor of a state right next door.

As for direct bigotry, McCain dispensed some of that recently, and it remained fairly uncovered in the media.

On his campaign bus recently, Sen. John McCain told reporters, “I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live.” Although McCain said he was referring only to his prison guards, there are many reasons why his use of the word “gook” is offensive and alarming.

It is offensive because by using a racial epithet that has historically been used to demean all Asians to describe his captors, McCain failed to make a distinction between his torturers and an entire racial group.

It is alarming because a major candidate for president publicly used a racial epithet, refused to apologize for doing so and remains a legitimate contender.

Authentic conservatives need to keep up the heat on John McCain, and do not relent even when he wins the nomination, which is almost guaranteed at this point. He is the absolute bottom of the barrel, voters have let a man who nearly left the party become their party’s nominee, it is surreal. He is unstable, incompetent, a liar, and that is being nice about it.

When you get to the bottom of a Dorito bag and there is nothing but unrewarding little crums, that’s like John McCain. When you’re house and you notice a bunch of annoying ants got in, that’s like John McCain. The scum on top of a dirty pond is like John McCain. He’s the last resort, the climax of idiocy in politics, and come the general election, if there isn’t a decent third party alternative, I’m happily voting for Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton. I’ll do so with no remorse. To do otherwise would go against all common sense. Election a president in our current times, that has no clue about the economy, goes against all survival instincts.

And when idiots like Bill Kristol and Newt Gringrich tell us all to hush and follow McCain into oblivion, it just further makes me believe that I am right.

Call me a liberal, call me a traitor.

I call it tough love.