Big Republican Tent, Big Fight

Conservatives are struggling to come to terms with a presidential candidate who doesn't share the nativism of Tom Tancredo, voted against tax cuts, sponsored campaign-finance reform law, and once demonstrated an indifference to abortion and an animus to the leaders of the Christian right.

The attacks on John McCain began before he won the Florida primary. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay said McCain "has done more to hurt the Republican Party than any elected official I know of"--and he will not vote for McCain even if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

DeLay is indicted in Texas, working to remain relevant, and hardly a threat to McCain. Rush Limbaugh, however, talks to the largest radio audience in the nation. Electing McCain is "going to destroy the Republican Party," Limbaugh said on the air. "It's going to change it forever, be the end of it."

Limbaugh isn't alone. In one week, right-wing talk show host and author Hugh Hewitt attacked McCain on the radio, in his column, and in a CNN interview. Focus on the Family's James Dobson, whose TV, radio and book combine is focused on the reproductive rights of women and the civil rights of gays, is sitting out the election because McCain doesn't "respect traditional marriage."

Keep reading.

Comments

[elsylee]

Great article! Also, check out the article “Romney’s ‘Huckattack” on www.SavagePolitics.com. Here is an excerpt: “Mitt Romney’s exit from the Presidential race was already expected. His campaign knew that it was very important for Romney’s reputation to remove himself from further embarrassment, and thus ensure a clean slate for his next bid towards the White House. Although he did create some impressive waves amongst many Social Conservatives, who chose to believe his political posturing, his campaign never made the impact that it needed to achieve a complete victory. Realistically, he would probably never have made much inroads in the first place if it wasn’t for John McCain’s apparent Liberalism and unpopularity amongst Conservatives. Today, only Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee remain against McCain, men who the Media has always taken for granted, dismissing their campaigns as “radical” whims and relegating them to the bottom of the list in exposure and respect. Even so, Huckabee, who has always been the candidate with the least money (with the comical exception of Mike Gravel), has nonetheless survived most of the other “serious” candidates on the race; Thompson and Giuliani. Should Huckabee succumb to the Media and his Party’s pressure to give up his run for the nomination? To Huckabee, this may sound a bit insulting when you consider the fact that he has been consistently underestimated throughout this election. Now, if he wants to increase his almost impossible odds, he needs to seek Romney’s endorsement, in an attempt to accumulate enough delegates (around 500 if Romney joins Huckabee) and face the upcoming primaries with a competitive number of delegates. What are Huckabee’s possibilities? What would be the consequence of such a strange victory?..­.” Get the rest at http://savagepolitics.com/?p=80

[whiteathame]

Without Bush, Cheney, DeLay, Limbaugh and Rove to stifle all but hawks and conservatives, the Republican party has a chance to heal. Maybe conservatives need a party of their own. Their party logo could be an Ann Coulter caricature riding an elephant (or maybe Limbaugh?).

[chocolate]

The GOP os falling apart because negativity can get a crown revved up but cannot sustain support over the long haul. All the rhetoric has been about the fear and hate for gays, people on welfare, illegals, liberals,etc. Anything postive they might have been offering has been drowned out by the nastiness of Limbaugh, Coulter, et al. Those of us wandering around the middle get tired of that rather quickly. And pretty soon they end up with the die-harsd in-fighting and everyone else just walking away. And look at the results when they did prevail -- the current administration. Yikes -- who in their right mind would want a repeat of that.

[Abbybwood]

Hey Lou:

Check out the speech Ron Paul gave at the Conservative Political Action Conference:

http://www.ronpaulforpresident2008.com/news/#RonPaulspeechatCPAC278

Now that Romney is gone, that leaves McCain who is LOATHED by conservatives, Huckabee who thinks he has a higher path to God than the Pope!!!, and the only TRUE conservative, Ron Paul.

Ron Paul was VERY enthusiastically welcomed at the CPA Conference and now Romney's delegates are FREE!! FREE!!!

Don't rule Ron Paul out yet!

[sonofloud]

Oh give me a break.

That giant sucking sound you will soon be hearing is Mccain sucking up to the religious right.

[BobOnThis]

To McCains credit he is a man that doesn't respect religion or tolerate the dictates of the delusional mental-masterbaters that claim moral authority over us all.

The conservate party, opposed to change & rooted in ancient mythology, is well past its prime and offers little succor in a modern egalatarian society!

Under no circumstances though should you consider my disgust for the religious right as an endorsement for the equally delusional socialist left.

No matter who becomes president in 2008 the country as a whole will be worse off after 4 or 8 years of left/right delusional thinking, tinkering, coercion & extortion in the name of god and/or government.

God & gov't is not the solution to our troubles, they are in fact 'the' problem, severely antagonistic to a free, responsible, egalatarian society.

If you truely wish to SAVE the CHILDREN..­.
Just say NO to God & Gov't!

[sir ken g]

And Mitt just quit! LOL...well there is still Paul ROFL.

[KarenZipdrive]

The GOP are drinking each other's blood and I couldn't be happier.
The pundits and GOP voters who hate McCain have two odious choices- Romney or Huckabee-neither of whom are electable.
I hope they continue this catfight well into next year. Once they lose the election they can make peace. :)

[talkstocoyotes]

The hysterics of the talk radio screamers has been the best entertainment around this week. That could just possibly work to McCain's advantage, unless he decides to make a Faustian bargain with Huckadoodle.

[ZedLoch]

All this because McCain is willing to let States decide the marriage issue, is at WORST ambivalent on abortion (his website says "Overturn Roe v. Wade"), kinda gray on stem cells (again, his website lists him as AGAINST funding for embryonic lines, and support outright ban on cloning), wants to invest in alternative energies to combat global warming/oil dependency, and didn't think Bush should cut taxes during WARTIME (duh).

To these so called "conservatives" out there bashing McCain: You have GOT to be kidding me!! McCain has been top dog in leading the charge for fiscal responsibility and cracking down on corruption. AND he's also a HAWK so that should be a plus for you guys.

In my opinion, the only stance McCain has that is completely incompatible with the "conservative platform" is immigration. The rest of the differences are a wash.

[RJAP]

Who cares what Limbaugh & DeLay have to say? They are entitled to their opininos just like anyone else.Why give so much ink to these pundits? Does Limbaugh, Coulter, DeLay & others have as much influence on the republican base as the media makes them out to have? NO.I am a conservative republican that will never agree with the so called "elite club" that this group belongs to.The last 7+ years of the present administration has been nothing short of a nightmare.­Will I switch to Obama &/or Clinton as a result? NEVER.
Do I want to see the republican party return to
its founding principles? YES.

[SamEllison]

Limbaugh is using McCain as the scapegoat for the Bush/Cheney/Rove destruction of the GOP.
Bugsy DeLay hates McCain because he put Abramoff in jail and shut down the condo(Armstrong Strategy Group?) and incriminated Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist, you know, just rained on his parade.

[Pdubya]

i'm no fan of the current republican party, but a destruction of a party (when we have a two party system that is hardly discernable today and a closed third party system) is bad for America.