SUPER TUESDAY - "The Die Is Cast"

Victor Davis Hanson on the consequences of McCain animus among the conservative base:

And given their furor expressed so far on the record, it would be almost impossible for them to recant, and they shouldn't be defamed or coerced to try. No doubt they will lead the charge in a year or two against the liberal Supreme Court nominations of a President Obama or Clinton, or payroll and income tax increases, or a timetable withdrawal from Iraq. Just as McCain is trying to win them back now, they will try to win back then those who are turned off by the venom expressed against the likely Republican candidate. In either case, it will be nearly impossible to do so....

It is clear that pragmatism or expediency is not seen as a sin greater than erroneous conviction, in the sense that it is to be understandable that Romney had to do or say some liberal things in blue-Boston to get elected, but that McCain did them willingly when he did not have to in red Arizona. Or maybe it is the magnitude of the sin (McCain-Feingold is felt worse than once being pro-choice and distancing oneself from Reagan)? Or perhaps the chronology of the sin (the 1990s were then, 2007 is now)?

Either way it doesn't really matter anymore, the McCain animus is deeply ingrained and apparently can't be retracted. It only makes things worse either to attack sincere anti-McCainites or to ask them to reconsider, or to ask them to vote for the lesser of what they see as the two evils.

As they say, the die has been cast, and everyone will have to live with the results.

Hanson doesn't believe that the anti-McCain people will not back down; and if the comments I have seen on my blog and elsewhere are any indication, I think he is right.

However, as a famous baseball player once said, "It ain't over till it's over." A lot could happen in the months to come, and everyone can keep fighting for their guy or gal, principles intact.

For me, the primary consideration remains Iraq and the war on terror, which has not gone away despite the MSM's focus on other things at the moment; and I will make my decisions accordingly.





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