Posted by
Bill Lewis on Friday, February 01, 2008 4:58:59 PM
I'm becoming convinced that the Republicans want to lose the Presidential election. I've been voting since 1964 and have never seen such self-destructive internal fighting in a political party.
The impression I have from talk radio is that the commentators and most of their callers would rather have Hillary or Obama win than John McCain. They prefer to sink the ship rather than have it commanded by a person who lacks their requisite "conservative" credentials. To them, they are the "base" of the party and anyone who does not subscribe totally to their mantra should be thrown overboard, to use another nautical metaphor.
I do not believe that if John McCain wins the nomination, they will suddenly rally around the flag. The damage has been done, and the R's are digging themselves in deeper every day. The talk show hosts and their followers are throwing the game, and trying to take the party along with them.
I confess that I never really noticed the zealotry before John McCain emerged as a front runner. I knew he was disliked by the talking microphones, but I didn't realize the depth of their hatred. I also realized that they think they "own" the Republican party, and that anyone who is not a Reagan conservative is a heretic and should move over to the Democrats. I'm not going there, but they sure have shown me that the crazies on the right are as bad as the crazies on the left.
I can only guess that they hope for the loss so they can say "we told you so", to find an approved candidate for 2012. I only have one question at this point:
If conservatives are the "base" and majority of the party, why is John McCain in the lead?