Obama Longs For His Old Punching Bag John McCain

I bet he does:

Faced with deteriorating economic conditions and an unexpectedly aggressive Republican opponent, President Obama and his aides are expressing nostalgia for Sen. John McCain, the Republican opponent Obama defeated handily in the 2008 election.

At a rally in Minnesota Friday, Obama said Republicans today are in the grip of a "fever" that has caused them to oppose his initiatives virtually across the board. That "fever," Obama said, will make this presidential race against GOP nominee Mitt Romney particularly contentious -- in contrast to the last time, when Obama faced an opponent, McCain, who declined to engage in the kind of hard-hitting fight that many of his Republican supporters hoped he would.

"I mean, 2008 was a significant election, obviously," Obama told the audience at a Minneapolis restaurant called Bachelor Farmer. "But John McCain believed in climate change. John believed in campaign finance reform. He believed in immigration reform. I mean, there were some areas where you saw some overlap."

Now things are different, Obama said, and "we're going to have as stark a contrast as we've seen in a very long time between the candidates." It will only be when Mitt Romney is defeated, the president continued, "that the fever may break, because there's a tradition in the Republican Party of more common sense than that."

That's another way of saying "there's a history of Republicans giving in and doing whatever the Democrats want." McCain was famous for that. Romney...not so much.

McCain wouldn't fight back.  He was too preoccupied with being a "noble loser" rather than fighting to win.  Romney has shown he wants to win more than McCain did and that means Obama is in for a fight that he didn't get last time.

Romney's Campaign is Showing A Lot More Willingness to Fight Than McCain's Ever Did

And that's a good thing.  McCain just wanted to lose as a nice guy - he didn't really seem interested in winning.  Romney wants to win.  Jim Geraghty says this in response to the quick way the Romney people have responded to the whole Prez eats dog story:

In 2008, John McCain's presidential campaign wouldn't have touched this anecdote with a ten-foot pole. Between this and the Romney camp's rapid response to the [Hilary] Rosen comments, we are seeing a Republican presidential campaign that is exponentially faster on its feet and way more nimble than the previous general-election campaign against Obama.

This campaign will be an endless string of attacks, many of them hyperbolic nonsense that the media will be all too happy to pump up, and a Romney campaign that can respond quickly with humor and at times sarcastic ridicule will be able to defuse those attacks.

And we know from multiple examples that Obama and his minions have very thin skin - they react with over-the-top silliness to things they really should leave alone.  Romney can certainly use that to his advantage.  Little  jabs and pokes here and there will have a multiplying effect when the Obama team overreacts.  It's a basic part of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals and the Obama people don't realize it can work for Romney too.

If there was ever a job in a campaign that I would want, it would be the guy in charge of making sarcastic remarks about my opposition.  I'd almost do it for free.

Has the Tea Party Become the GOP Establishment?

I hope so, and George Will seems to think so:

Many have suggested there is a schism within the Republican Party between the tea-party wing and the so-called GOP establishment. Has the tea party taken over the Republican Party?


Sunday morning on ABC’s “This Week,” syndicated columnist George Will explained – as he has before – that there is no Republican establishment anymore. But this time he had a slightly different take.


“There is no Republican establishment,” Will said. “Its newspaper died, the Herald-Tribune in New York in 1966, and it died too … Google the Republican establishment and you’ll get 20 million hits. Google the Loch Ness monster and you’ll get a whole bunch. “


Then Will said something surprising.


“They are the establishment today if there is such a thing,” he declared. “The Republican establishment died at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1964 when Goldwater was nominated against their frenzied wishes.”

There is still a country club GOP set that thinks they control the party, and they're the ones most vocal in their opposition to the Tea Party. They're the people that gave us John McCain and hope to give us Mitt Romney this year. I think they're going to be disappointed.

McCain Won't Screw Up Some Poor Republican's Campaign

No endorsement, says Maverick:

Republican John McCain says he has no plans to give his seal of approval to any of the numerous GOP candidates thinking about running for the White House.

"I think I'm staying out of this for the first time in many years," the Arizona senator told Politico.

When asked if that meant if he would stay out of the 2012 presidential race completely, McCain replied: "Most likely."

I doubt if any of the GOP candidates will be moderate enough for McCain. If anything, he's likely to endorse Obama.

Who's the "Next Guy" for the GOP in 2012?

The GOP has a nasty habit of choosing "whoever's next" to be their presidential nominee. That's how we ended up with Bob Dole in 1996 and John McCain in 2008. Neither nominee inspired GOP voters - they just had the best ground operation that was able to use the primary rules to their benefit. Right now Mitt Romney is sitting in the "whoever's next" chair, and that's not an inspiring choice for conservatives.

Mark Steyn, talking with Hugh Hewitt, does a little riff on the subject that's worth noting:

Hugh Hewitt: Oh, that brings me, though, to the NBC dictate, that they will run the first Republican debate at the Reagan Library on May 2nd, along with Politico. It will be hosted by Brian Williams. They just told people to show up. And you know, I’ve got to assume that Brian Williams and Chris Matthews talk a little bit. Why in the world would we allow, Mark Steyn, the conservative movement, to allow the MSM to mediate these debates?

Mark Steyn: Oh, come on, Hugh. I mean, I think Brian Williams is the perfect man to moderate the debate, and determine who is going to be this year’s Bob Dole or John McCain. We’re interested, I think in this political season, we need to identify as early as possible the decent, dignified Republican loser who knows how to give a great concession speech. And I think that’s what Brian Williams and NBC are hoping to get a jump on. And now if you’re actually interested in saving this country from sliding into a multi-trillion dollar abyss, then letting Brian Williams dictate your nominating process is a complete waste of time. But I’m not sure the Republican party at heart quite gets that yet.

The GOP doesn't have to do an NBC/Politico-sponsored debate, but you know the frontrunners won't want to make any waves with the mainstream media. It's a mistake.

Remember back when Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus planned to host a Democrat debate during the last election? Barack Obama said he wouldn't participate (dissing his own people, no less) and the other candidates quickly pulled out as well. If Mitt Romney were to tell NBC 'no thanks' it would have the same effect on the GOP field and would allow them to hold their debates on their terms and not the MSM's.

Having NBC/Politico host the debate means the candidates will get questions on abortion, on creation/evolution, Obama's birth certificate, and other stuff that has nothing to do with their ability to be president but everything to do with trying to embarrass GOP candidates and get sound bites the Democrats can use against the GOP.

We don't need another Bob Dole or John McCain, and we don't need to let the MSM dictate our debate schedule or format.

Tea Party Shows Its Strength

Harry Reid learned the hard way that the voters will no longer be taken for granted.  Although he won re-election over a weak candidate, he was effectively stripped of his powerful position by the power of grassroots outrage:

The defeat of a pork-laden $1.1 trillion “omnibus” spending bill in the Senate Thursday night was the first serious indication after the Nov. 2 election that the Tea Party movement has staying power and will be a force into 2011.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill said Thursday night that GOP leadership played a pivotal role as well. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was said to have pressured key GOP lawmakers to stand firm against the legislation, though some in leadership said the conference was fairly united against it from the beginning.

What was agreed upon by most is that the same grassroots wave that propelled Republicans to a huge November win had just made its sting felt for the first time in the legislative arena.

“[It was] 100 percent grassroots … The American people took it down,” said John Hart, spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, agreed, though with a far less triumphant tone.

“Today’s maneuvers demonstrate that the House and Senate Republican leadership from here on out should be considered a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tea Party,” Manley said.

Brian Darling, who manages Senate relations for the conservative Heritage Foundation, laid success for the big GOP win at the feet of three Republican lawmakers who channeled Tea Party energy and ideals: Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Coburn.

“But for [them], the Omnibus would have passed,” Darling said, pointing to DeMint’s threat to have the entire bill read on the Senate floor, consuming nearly 40 hours, which was joined by McCain, who emerged Thursday as a high profile and vehement opponent of the bill.

I don't know what's gotten into John McCain. There was a day when he would have eagerly joined with Democrats to help pass a bill such as the this, but suddenly he's riding the populist wave of opposition...and he won't be running for election again. If we'd seen more of this John McCain in 2008 he might have made it a much closer race...or perhaps even won.

By the way, this Tea Party victory came on the anniversary of the first Tea Party in 1773.

Political Ad of the Day

Although it appears that John McCain will win his renomination to the Senate rather easily, his opponent, J.D. Hayworth, has unleashed a haymaker of an ad:
If anyone seriously thinks McCain's newfound conservatism will last beyond election day, they're kidding themselves. As soon as he's assured another six years he'll go back to being Sen. Maverick and looking for ways to help the Democrats pass amnesty and other parts of their agenda.

Plurality Now Wishes McCain had Won

How the mighty have fallen (from John Fund):

Democrats will be gulping this morning at the Quinnipiac Poll's latest results. For the first time in the survey's history, Americans believe by a 48% to 40% margin that President Obama doesn't deserve re-election. Almost as stinging, a plurality believe the country would have been better off if John McCain had beaten Mr. Obama in 2008.

The Quinnipiac Poll is pored over by political observers because it has a good predictive record and because its large sample size of nearly 2200 people implies a much smaller margin of error than most surveys -- around 2 percentage points.

Mr. Obama's approval rating continues to slide, and is dragging his party down. While last July Mr. Obama had a 57% positive rating, Quinnipiac now pegs him at just 44% approval -- a number below President Bill Clinton's approval rating just before his party lost control of Congress in 1994. When asked which party they plan to vote for this November, likely voters in the Quinnipiac survey picked Republicans by 43% to 38%. This was despite an expressed lack of confidence in the ability of Republican leaders in Congress to tackle the nation's problems.

I'm sure that by this point in his presidency John McCain would have done plenty of things to tick off conservatives, but he certainly would never have approved all of the crazy left stuff that we've seen come out of Congress these past 18 months.

Political Quote of the Day

From Sen. John McCain, referring to President Obama:

'There are legitimate questions as to whether he’s out of his depth or not'

I would have gone with "out of his mind", but that works too.

McCain Gets Nervous

Ben Smith reports that John McCain's re-election campaign is looking nervous:

This isn't a sign of confidence:

John McCain’s campaign manager Shiree Verdone and part-time deputy campaign manager Mike Hellon are both leaving their posts, the campaign confirmed to POLITICO Sunday....

The strategy team including Rick Davis, Charlie Black, Mark Buse and Mark Salter remains in place in the same roles, Rogers said.

The move came days after McCain unveiled a new television ad stressing the importance of stronger border fence to combat illegal immigration. "Complete the danged fence," McCain says in the ad, which features McCain walking along the border with a county sheriff.

The spot was widely mocked as a dramatic reversal from his position during the presidential campaign, when he told reporters that "walls and fences" were not part of his plan.

The campaign of his primary opponent, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, seized on the phrase to launch a website, The Complete Danged Truth!, highlighting the incumbent's modified positions during the primary campaign.

McCain is doing everything he can to run from the "maverick" label he embraced during the presidential campaign because with no independents and Democrats to vote for him in the GOP primary, he's got to convince conservatives he's one of them. It's a tough sell given McCain's support for a lot of things conservatives don't like, like the McCain-Feingold legislation that infringed free political speech and the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill that would have greatly compounded our illegal immigration problems. Add to that the Gang of 14 which effectively stopped some of President Bush's conservative judicial appointments and you have a record of a politician who has been anything but consistent.

Arizona could do better.

Anybody Seen John McCain?

Because the guy running for Senate in Arizona doesn't sound anything like the John McCain we knew two years ago (from Morning Jolt):

John McCain 2010's Next Attack Ad Will Target the John McCain of 2008 

How badly does John McCain want to win his Senate primary? Well, he's now got a get-tough-on-the-border commercial that completely ignores his previous positions, statements, and attitudes and that would probably bring tears of joy to Tom Tancredo.

At this rate, next week he'll denounce McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform as an unconstitutional restriction on the First Amendment.

Allahpundit is left sputtering: "I don't know what to say, guys. I'm genuinely speechless. Pandering is one thing, shameless careerist pandering is something else, and then there's John 'Goddamned Fence' McCain marching along the border in a badass Navy baseball cap looking like he could choke out a coyote with his bare hands. And you know what? If he thought he'd get a few points' bounce from it, I bet he'd do it too. How long before he's spotted on the trail wearing a 'Viva Los 1070' T-shirt? Consider this a preview of the 2014 'Reelect Lindsey Graham' ad campaign, featuring Grahamnesty piloting a Border Patrol chopper and lending a hand on an oil rig."
Doug Mataconis: "I really don't know what else there is to say. In the face of a stronger-than-expected challenge from the right from a candidate who has flirted with the birther movement and made rather bizarre comments about gay marriage, McCain has effectively abandoned any semblance of the politician he claimed to be in the past, even to the extent of denying that he had ever called himself a maverick. It's really rather pathetic."

I would note that the Obama campaign put up a ludicrously over-the-top attack ad against McCain in 2008 that accused him of anti-immigrant pandering and racism, a charge so wildly untrue that even the mainstream media had to declare "real factual problems." In other words, all of McCain's previous efforts to appear sensitive, moderate, and welcoming of immigrants, legal and illegal, were tossed out the window once the Democrats needed votes. If you're a Republican, your record is irrelevant; your opponent will call you racist and xenophobic, guaranteed. Perhaps McCain is realizing that if you're going to be called a xenophobe no matter what your position is, you might as well court the voters who want a more secure border.

John McCain is in full-blown pander, hoping that the voters of Arizona don't remember who he really is. Sadly, they seem intent on sending him back to Washington where he'll revert to his frequently RINO ways and once again the voters will be stuck for six years.

As far as that wall goes, look for McCain to lose his enthusiasm for it just as soon as the primary is completed.

McCain Panders, Conservatives Mock

John McCain has a tough fight ahead to keep his Senate seat.  The lead he currently enjoys must not feel very secure because he chose to pander on an issue that he probably thought would appeal to conservatives, but in fact is backfiring on him.  From Morning Jolt:

Here's a bit of a surprise: John McCain, who wants to close Gitmo and who, I'd say, demagogues on the issue of waterboarding and hard interrogation techniques from time to time, argues that the Times Square bomber doesn't have Miranda rights. ("I'm J. D. Hayworth, and I approved McCain's message.") And much of the righty blogosphere responds, Like heck he doesn't.

My reaction was much the same as many on the right. Miranda rights are not something you can take away from citizens, regardless of how despicable their acts. Although it is puzzling to think an American citizen would do something like this and we certainly want to get all the information we can, Faisal Shahzad is a naturalized citizen and that gives him access to all the same rights I have.  I don't have to like it, but that's the way it is.  When we start making exceptions to rights for citizens we head down a road I don't think we really want to take.

McCain seems to find himself on the wrong side of way too many issues.  It's a reminder that if he's returned to the Senate he will be unpredictable and inconsistent in his beliefs.

Arizona Doing a Lot of Things Right These Days

First they passed a law removing the requirement for permits to carry concealed weapons, and now they've passed a tough illegal immigration law:

Lawmakers in the Arizona Senate voted 17 to 11 to approve the bill, widely regarded as the toughest measure yet taken by any U.S. state to curb illegal immigration.

The state's House of Representatives approved the measure last week. Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, has five days to veto the bill or sign it into law.

Immigration is a bitterly fought issue in the United States, where some 10.8 million illegal immigrants live and work in the shadows, although it has been eclipsed in recent months by a healthcare overhaul and concern over the economy.

The law requires state and local police to determine the status of people if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are illegal immigrants and to arrest people who are unable to provide documentation proving they are in the country legally.

It also makes it a crime to transport someone who is an illegal immigrant and to hire day laborers off the street.

"I believe handcuffs are a wonderful tool when they're on the right people," said Russell Pearce, the Republican state senator who wrote the bill.

We want to "get them off law enforcement and get them on the bad guys," he told Reuters.

When the legislature is done in Arizona, maybe they can come across the border and fix California.

I wonder how Senate candidate John McCain feels about this new immigration law?  He was a big proponent of an amnesty program a few years ago, but I have a feeling he wouldn't promote that today.  He's made a pretty sharp move to the right to try and combat the challenge from JD Hayworth.  My guess is he'll be fully supportive of this new law...now.

Thank You, John McCain

On this day when Sarah Palin is campaigning for McCain in Arizona the courts remind us of why we'd prefer to see JD Hayworth take over McCain's Senate seat:

The Republican National Committee has lost its bid to raise soft money, the unlimited contributions from corporations and individuals banned by a 2002 campaign finance law.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled Friday that it lacks the authority to overturn a Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban on soft money fundraising by the RNC and other national party committees.

That ban is a cornerstone of the so-called McCain-Feingold law—and one of the few major parts of the law to survive court challenges.

The RNC had argued that it should be able to raise soft money for state election, congressional redistricting, legal costs and other activities that it said had nothing to do with federal elections.

I understand why Palin is campaigning for McCain - it's all about loyalty and the fact she'd be a nobody if he hadn't plucked her out of relative obscurity to be his running mate. I can forgive her for all of that.

However, McCain is not the answer for Arizona or the country. We need a consistent conservative in that seat, and Hayworth is the guy.

John Kerry Stands at the Edge of the Cliff Urging His Fellow Dems to Jump

Just because global warming has been thoroughly debunked as both a religion and science doesn't mean John Kerry isn't still a true believer:

In an already challenging election year for the majority, Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) rush to pass a climate change bill has many Democrats scratching their heads and charging that their 2004 presidential nominee could further imperil vulnerable Members this fall.

Climate change had been considered all but dead this year, and Senate Democrats have little appetite to take up the controversial issue after the beating that they have endured over their as-yet-unfinished health care reform efforts.

“The United States Senate is not going to transition from doing health care to a [global warming] bill,” one Democratic Senator said. “It’s not going to happen.”

But that’s not what Kerry believes. He said last week that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is “determined to bring it to the floor.”

Unfortunately at least one Republican, Lindsay Graham, is working with Kerry on this, thus making it "bipartisan". That won't be enough to pass it, though:

Though Kerry has argued he has new momentum for a global warming bill given his collaboration with Lieberman and Graham — Kerry previously co-authored the bill that passed Boxer’s committee last fall — Democrats of all stripes said the political risks of taking up such an explosive issue are too great.

“It is laughable if Kerry and Boxer think Senate Republicans are going to pass a major environmental bill and have [President Barack] Obama sign it right before the midterm elections,” one Senate Democratic source said. “They make Don Quixote look like a realist.”

Indeed, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said doing climate change would “absolutely” be a gift to the GOP in an election year in which they already feel they are riding a tide of angry voter sentiment against Democrats.

“It would be, I think, further gasoline on the fire,” he said.

Cornyn added that Graham’s bipartisan stamp would not stop him from branding the issue a “job-killer.”

“I just hope Sen. Graham doesn’t provide cover for a really bad idea,” he said.

I don't know what Graham is thinking. He's completely ignoring the ClimateGate info that debunked global warming and is pressing ahead with a guaranteed job killer in the form of cap-and-tax. No wonder so many conservatives don't trust him.

In days of old he probably could have counted on good friend John McCain to side with him, but not this year. McCain has a re-election battle in Arizona and I doubt the senator wants to give people another reason to vote against him.

Global Warming Quote of the Day

Another good reason to get John McCain out of the Senate - from his floor speech yesterday:

Let me say to my colleagues, I am proud of my record on climate change. I have been all over the world, and I have seen climate change. I know it is real, and I will be glad to continue this debate with my colleagues and people who do not agree with that. I believe climate change is real.

Yes, Senator, climate change is real. It's always been real. The climate is changing all the time. There's never been a period in recorded history when the climate wasn't changing.

What he's really saying, without saying it, is that he believes the changes are being caused by man, and that's just stupid. It is the height of arrogance to assume that puny little mankind is capable of altering the climate of this planet, or capable of stopping whatever natural processes are going on. We can't do it, and we certainly can't do it by passing some expensive and useless tax regulations.

J.D. Hayworth for Senate in Arizona. McCain needs to go.

Romney Endorses McCain in Arizona

I don't think this was particularly well thought out:

Mitt Romney is endorsing former rival John McCain as the 2008 Republican presidential nominee fights to keep his Senate seat.

Romney said in a statement Tuesday the Arizona senator's "record of service and sacrifice for America is honored by all." The former Massachusetts governor added, "It's hard to imagine the U.S. Senate without John McCain."

There's really no reason for wannabe presidential candidates to get involved in primary races, especially involving the last presidential candidate who was not terribly well loved by his party. Romney risks ticking off a lot of Republicans with this move.

I can understand Sarah Palin's endorsement given that nobody would know who she was had McCain not chosen her in 2008, but there's really no reason for anybody else to choose sides in primary contests.

JD Hayworth Makes the Case Against John McCain

At RedState former congressman JD Hayworth explains why he is challenging John McCain in the GOP primary. Here's part of it:

I have the utmost respect and admiration for what John McCain has given to our country over the years. And this election will be about serious policy differences, not personalities. Let me begin by detailing where I think John McCain has gone wrong. For starters, John:

• Voted against the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 (which I helped write), echoing liberal Democratic arguments that they were tax cuts for the rich;
• Voted for an $850 billion bailout for banks and car companies, which was loaded with special interest earmarks totaling $150 billion;
• Proposed spending $300 billion to buy up every bad mortgage in America, which National Review called a “full bailout for lenders” (McCain said he got the idea from Hillary Clinton!);
• Supports a cap and trade scheme that the Wall Street Journal called “an expensive, invasive government bureaucracy” - indeed, McCain once proclaimed, “I don’t know how any conservative cannot support cap and trade;”
• Wrote the campaign finance law just struck down by the Supreme Court that denied free speech rights to groups like the National Rifle Association while carving out an exception for media corporations like the New York Times;
• Opposes drilling in ANWR;
• Opposes the use of the enhanced interrogation techniques that we know prevented at least 4 major terrorist attacks; and
• Helped write an amnesty plan that would let illegal aliens qualify for Social Security and Medicare, and which the Heritage Foundation estimates would cost taxpayers “at least $2.6 trillion.”

This is not the record of a true conservative, much less a fiscal conservative.

You can read the whole thing at the link. I like Hayworth and while I think McCain has served his country admirably, but it's time for him to go home.

Harry Doesn't Love John Anymore

Poor Harry Reid. John McCain doesn't want to play with him anymore:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he has been “shocked” at the behavior of John McCain since he returned to the Senate from his failed White House bid.

“My disappointment — no, that’s the wrong word," Reid declared angrily. "I’ll try to find a better word. My amazement has been John McCain. I thought he’d turn out to be a statesman, work for things. He’s against everything. He’s against everything! He didn’t used to be against everything.”

Gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that McCain is facing a primary challenge from a conservative this year?

Could be.

The GOP Doesn't Need a Presumptive Nominee...Again

For some odd reason the GOP has a habit of nominating for president whoever's "next". That's how we ended up with Bob Dole in '96 and John McCain in '08. Melissa Clouthier has a good piece on Facebook encouraging GOP voters to avoid that trap again:

After George W. Bush left office, the presumptive nominee was John McCain. McCain was a relatively weak candidate but he had suffered a humiliating loss to Bush, and he was consoled with the notion that he'd get the backing of the Republican establishment this time.

Once McCain got the nomination and lost, who was second and who stepped back and waited his turn? Mitt Romney.

So now, Mitt Romney quietly raises money. He helps guys like Scott Brown get elected behind the scenes. He tries to avoid too many specific questions about the health care situation in Massachusetts.

And here comes CPAC. He's won the Straw Poll how many times?

Here's the thing: If Romney lost to a guy like McCain, what makes anyone think that he has what Americans want in their president this time around?

The Republican Party needs to stop king making. They need to stop throwing their resources behind the guy who has "waited his turn" and start looking for the nominee who is right--both literally and figuratively.

There should be no assumptions when it comes to who should be leading. The establishment folks have consistently screwed up in both message and messenger.

The Republican Party needs new blood. The people who watch, need to keep an open mind.

2012 isn't around the corner but the politicians are laying the groundwork now. Hopefully, no one is presuming the mantle. Our next president needs to earn the presidency the hard way and prove he or she has what it takes to lead the country.

Exactly.

I tend to think that the availability of other means of communication, such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, will tend to keep the establishment GOP from simply anointing whomever they want. The voters and the grassroots activists will have a lot more to say about things in 2012.