Youth is wasted on the conservative
Feb 7, 2008 Politics and Poker, Stragety
It’s bad enough being part of Instapundit’s “army of commenters” — but here I have to reprint his entire item (not a one-sentence special, either) to make my point:
NOBODY HAS TRIED HARDER FOR ROMNEY, OR AGAINST MCCAIN, THAN HUGH HEWITT. But now he’s beginning the reconciliation process: “These aren’t the years to wish a pox on your primary opponents’ heads beyond June.”
UPDATE: Thoughts on talk radio from A.J. Strata.
ANOTHER UPDATE: More from John Hinderaker.
MORE: Dan Riehl isn’t following Hugh’s lead.
What does Dan — whose work I love, we’re never-actually-met “friends” on Facebook, he’s a go-getter, he’s a bigger fish than I am, the whole thing — but what does Dan not have that the others on this list do?
Answer: From what I can figure, grey hair. That’s the only way he could write this:
The grass roots doesn’t take its marching orders from Right-side pundits. Independent registrations are growing, both parties numbers have been struggling. Many that would normally support the GOP simply won’t show up. I’ve been hearing that from plenty of people who are not bloggers, and such. They’re fed up and this would be the final straw.
I say this as a former College Republicans president, a Federalist Society chapter president in law school, and all around curmudgeon starting at age eight: Only someone who actually lacks the long view — not, as Dan and the many other young conservatives I read on the web, the other way around — would write such silly, fantastic and politically naive things.
Pardon me for repeating myself, but I am going to say this again:
The electorate is not all that conservative. We will not win the Presidency with a strong conservative candidate. You can’t deduce anything from Ronald Reagan. There was one Ronald Reagan [and as Bob Miller reminded me, only one Jimmy Carter for him to run against]. If another one emerges, we’ll know (some of us were not fooled).
And if you think that you (we) will “teach the nation a lesson,” a la Jimmy Carter, by not supporting the GOP candidate and letting a liberal run the country for four — or eight years — and appoint judges and commissioners, and sign legislation, and take control of the national political dialogue during that time… good luck. See you at the People’s Reeducation Center and Tax Labor Farm. We can plan the next revolution with the other zeks.
But if you want to win, and have any shot at having any of your ideas reign, and to make incremental progress in government, policy and the popular imagination — then you have to realize that politics is now. And act accordingly.
Will the GOP choose “principled” self-castration? Or will it call up the testosterone to fight this November?
UPDATE: Perhaps some carbs would help, for if McCain plays his cards right, as Frank J. says, “Conservatives will say, “McCain may be against us on many issues, but he’s the only candidate who gave me candy!”
ONE MORE, AND THEN MAYBE WE MOVE ON ALREADY: Roland Dodds hits it:
If Republicans want to wait around for Reagan to walk from the grave and “save the party” then they can sit out the election and “punish” the American people in the name of their superior purity. Wait until Jesus walks the earth; and then you can vote for him. In the meantime, the world will move on without you, and you won’t be able to bitch about what it looks like while your head is stuck in the mud.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Well, Romney just showed some wisdom, IMO.
Now it will be extremely interesting to see how many of the folks who were supporting him switch to McCain vs how many switch to Huckabee.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
McCain/Sanford. You read it here first.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I’m not for castration, but something has to give. If it doesn’t the McCain style Republican (I shant use conservative) will continue to move left. At what point do we stop holding our noses when we vote, and just decide that the stink of the dead elephant is too much to bear, and a lesson needs to be learned.
I am, of coursed biased, being a Republican who holds conservative economic principles…I suppose we’re just a dying breed.
February 7th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Stout,
McCain’s speech to CPAC was phenomenal, IMO.
(I have the “benefit” of being at home, sick today. And what a day it’s been….)
If you get a chance to see the whole speech, I suggest you do. He addressed financial and economic concerns quite often, and I liked his positions. I’m sure transcripts will soon be available, but his emotion was surprisingly strong and convincing.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I’ll check it out when I get home then. West coast time, youtube block at work. Huzzah!!!
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical when it comes to McCain, and promises.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I just want to pipe in and say: I’m 26 years old, I registered with the Republican party before my 18th birthday, I have voted for a Republican in every race except one city councilman’s race, I was the grassroots coordinator for a gubernatorial candidate at my university, I was the vice president and then president of my law school’s Federalist Society…and John McCain has my full support. I voted for Romney and I’m no fan of McCain. But we are looking at the possibility of four Supreme Court nominees this next Presidential term, not to mention fighting a war on two fronts. We cannot afford to have a Democrat in office. Any Republican who votes third party or who doesn’t vote at all is a self-absorbed idiot.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:06 am
From someone who was there when McCain spoke:
Those observations notwithstanding, McCain will be a tough competitor. I expect him to press all the jihadists-want-to-come-here-and-eat-our-babies hot buttons. And why not? To the Republican base, it’s what matters. His campaign will also tout his courage and bravery. The result will be that this mixture of fear and pride will overwhelm any doubts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter might have about him.
And of course, they’ll paint Hillary as a shrew and Obama as a dhimmi.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
[...] Sounds familiar. It’s like I told you months ago: Youth is wasted on the conservative. [...]