The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Spewing Forth The Lukewarm GOP

Posted on | February 22, 2014 | 53 Comments

by Smitty

We don’t really have explicit proof that John McCain threw the 2008 election, like Butch Coolidge was supposed to do in Pulp Fiction. I’m sure McCain must’ve felt a little sting at some point, but the old chap is far beyond pride.

The 2010 Tea Party uprising seems to have caught the GOP by surprise. The GOP leadership’s body language to the base seems to be: “Shut up and get back to manning the oars; navigation input from the rowers is neither necessary, nor desired.”

Thus we saw no significant rallies in 2011, and 2012 was a reversion to McCain form. Again, I’ll fall short of explicitly saying that Mitt Romney himself deliberately wasted everyone’s time. But if BHO gets to own the demise of Ambassador Stevens, then Mitt owns the failure of his campaign. Why might these failures be occurring?

For starters, Daily Pundit chides Stephen Green over being willing to vote for Zombie Nixon over Udall, pointing out that, on the issues, the two are about as distinguishable as chicken-fried steak and schnitzel:

Sure, some elections matter, but what matters even more is why we are electing people, and what they do after we elect them. If, as is the case with Udall and Nixon, the party label is a distinction without a difference, then advising people to crawl over broken glass to vote for one or the other may result in a lot of eviscerated voters, but no material changes.

On a related note, we have Joan of Argghh’s feedback to Sowell on Ted Cruz, where the normally awesome Thomas “expresses concern” over Cruz’s popularity, and Joan responds:

As if we on the Right are no better at evaluating an ideal from reality than the mascots of the Left. I take strong exception to that aspersion. I’m listening to Ted Cruz and find him interesting in that he seems to know what it will take to grab attention in a Media stronghold, not that his ideas leave me breathless. He has moxie and he has solid values and he’s unafraid. Will he be a good leader if given the chance? Ah, there’s the rub.

Now, I’m as reasonable as the next person, even willing to be shown a better way, but if Mr. Sowell is asking me to seriously consider the possibility that Ted Cruz is promising me things that appeal to the same crass envy that Obama gleefully cultivates in his own followers I must scratch my head and wonder if his disconnect with his own supporters can be so vast. It may simply be an emotional ploy, wrought by an old man’s fears. If so, I share them and sympathize. But either way, it’s obvious that the GOP hit squad is starting early with the Palinization of Ted Cruz. Instead of being cast as an air-head, they’ll demonize him as dangerous to their plans. Those “plans” that will work this time, they swear!

Over here at the navigation plot, I can tell you that our current Progressive course is breeding collapse. Herbert Stein is kicking in. If the Vichy GOP have some kind of reform plan, they need to circulate it STAT!

Karl Rove and the High Priests of Progress are already trying to circulate dead fish such as Chris Christie and Jeb Bush. If the goal is to serve up a third un-inspirational piece of work, to complete some sort of Tri-f**kta of Fail, then we need only listen to what the Really Smart Guys and the codpiece media are saying.

And I’m not trying to sound like some kind of Cruz sycophant. It is entirely possible that, for all he seems a guy sticking to his principles, his soul could be devoured by Cthulhu. Truly, we need adherence to principles, not hero worship. It is not enough that Ted be Cruz; we all need to be our own variations on Ted Cruz.

But the broader point here isn’t about Ted Cruz. Rather, that the vacuum left at the top of the GOP by the lack of leadership like that of Cruz is truly devastating. You can love or hate McConnell and Boehner all day long, but if you took them both to court, you could not convict them of having any vision. They’re both just caretakers of the Progressive regulatory State, here to make sure that we’re only buried in 9,000 pages of new regulations, instead of the Democrat’s full 10,000.

Dump that noise. It’s high time for reform.

Update: Hot Air’s quotes of the day post is timely:

Notwithstanding the Republican establishment’s campaign to marginalize them as what the Journal obligingly labels a “rump kamikaze caucus,” their ranks are swelling. Without them, the Republicans would not have recaptured the House in 2010. Increasingly, they mount primary challenges against Beltway relics. They don’t win all the time, but they win quite a few — like long-shot Ted Cruz’s stunning primary rout over the party’s preferred candidate. And there is a more serious danger for GOP leadership: The conservative base increasingly wears the establishment’s disdain as a badge of honor.

Beltway Republicans do not seem to grasp how ominous this is.

We’ve trusted the GOP’s words, and will now set about using those words on the GOP elite as a suppository.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Category: GOP

Comments

53 Responses to “Spewing Forth The Lukewarm GOP”

  1. CapeMayMeg
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:00 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: Spewing Forth The Lukewarm GOP http://t.co/0ul057BKJj #TCOT

  2. Dave
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 8:16 pm

    I’m annoyed with Cruz right now because he’s aggravating everyone but the converted with his tilts at windmills. YMMV.

  3. ArdvarkMaster
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 8:27 pm

    As opposed to Boehner, McConnell, et al who have annoyed the base with their progressive proposals of “amnesty” and capitulation on any attempt to reign in spending. If the GOP keeps running these neo-progressives, the base WILL stay home, and rightly so. The base will not vote Republican just for the (R), they vote for policy.

  4. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 8:34 pm

    I like Ted Cruz, a lot.

    But so far I have not seen him have the ability to win a national election like Ronald Reagan. But I am mostly liking his conservative instincts. I just hope he is serious about winning and not show boating.

    Of course, people said that about Reagan (he could not win) before he actually pulled it off. But Reagan was a gifted communicator and was not a complete outsider with the GOP establishment.

    I think Rand Paul could potentially do it…because I see the GOP direction to be more libertarian leaning (leave the social issues to the states and deal with spending and national defense). My concern about Rand is while I do not want to be engaged in endless war, I also recognize isolationism is a dangerous course too. But I am willing to see where Rand goes on that.

  5. smitty
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 8:39 pm

    Reagan was a gifted communicator and was not a complete outsider with the GOP establishment.

    Both of which can be said of Cruz.

  6. Ergo
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:10 pm

    Tilt at windmills? Huh? Reagan himself stood athwart his own party on several occasions to draw a distinction between us and them–was that also tilting at windmills??

  7. Shawny
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:13 pm

    Yeah, and Rand Paul just skewered whatever policy points he had endorsing McConnell. It smacks of capitulation to get elected. Maybe it’s even a valid strategy. But if he (or any conservative candidate) is willing to bend his principles and values to get into the race with the big boys……how far and how much more willing would they be after they get in office? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t vote for him and I come closer to Libertarian in views.

  8. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:16 pm

    I agree and I am hoping you are correct. I have just not seen the moment when I can see him winning a general national election (yet). Obviously he was able to win state wide in Texas.

  9. DaveO
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:25 pm

    There is a difference between leadership and managership, and there are differences between types of leaders. John Keegan describes leaders in his work “The Mask of Command.” Conservatives expect a Hero leader. The managers of the GOP want an Unhero. Unheroes are manageable, and the paradox of their being a leader while being very unleaderlike makes them predictable. Progressives want a False Hero – a fraud who resembles the Hero in all the trappings, but lacking in courage, vision and the capability to be out front of all things. Like the old saw about never sharing a foxhole with a hero, Progressives never have that fear – Dear Leader will never assume risk.
    Conservatives must discern between the Hero and the False Hero, and reject the Unhero. Cruz is either a Hero or a fraud. Rand Paul is more of the Anti-hero, which is altogether different and possibly serviceable if his talents are larger than his ambitions.

  10. smitty
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:30 pm

    Neither Cruz nor Paul’s deeds have yet shown them to be false. Even Rubio is mostly a straight shooter, for all he got roped in by the amnesty crowd.

  11. Arnold Townsend
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:39 pm

    Amen, amen, amen and hallelujah. I went with Mitt because of the McCain disaster and the huge bankroll I felt it was going to take to have even the slightest chance. But just when Romney had some momentum, he did his best to undermine his own campaign. It is one thing to be true to one’s ideals but don’t run to represent me and then do everything you can to distance yourself from my beliefs.

    We aren’t asking politicians to go against their own beliefs. If your political philosophy does not already encompass the conservative wing of the GOP then don’t campaign for my vote as if it does. Your lie will become apparent to me sooner or later and it will cost you th election, regardless.

    We need all the Palins and Cruz’s we can get. Whatever warts they have are tee-tiny compared to stinking mess that McCain and Romney became (no personal disrespect intended). The GOP will not win the White House again until a candidate steps forward and campaigns as a conservative on all the important issues and does so with enthusiasm. The GOP will find at that time that it will be giving a lot of voters a real reason to show up on election day.

    Personally, if Cruz decides not to give it a go this time I would like to see Sarah Palin run. Maybe Cruz would accept the VP slot. If Hillary is to be crowned by the Democrats, a real battle between two female candidates, one a libertarian conservative and the other (insert descriptive here), would certainly give Americans a real and contrasting choice. Death by state hug or Reagan Reborn.

  12. Shawny
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 9:41 pm

    Sorry, but I disagree. Paul endorsing McConnell is false to what he preaches. And as much as I love the strength of character and values Cruz has shown, I can’t entirely believe the narrative when he waves the Constitution but wants to ignore the eligibility clause in it which would challenge his right to run for president as though it doesn’t matter. It does and our opponents who never questioned it with Obama will eat Cruz for lunch. The only proven conservative who has shown by actions and not just words what he will do is Scott Walker. Go back and watch some of Obamas old campaign speeches. Even I was impressed with his speaking skills and what he was saying. This time we can’t just listen to the words. We have to look at the votes, look at the endorsements, look at the history and connection, look at the actions.

  13. William T Quick
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 10:10 pm

    Evi, you apparently don’t remember what was said about Reagan’s “doomed chances” (by the paladins of his own party, no less) before he won the third biggest landslide in presidential history. Mark Levin ran a refresher course on his Friday show, complete with the damning quotes – George Will was particularly tasty when he called Reagan the doomed leader of the “Kamikaze Conservatives” – a line which is being recycled against Cruz today.

    Also, Reagan had never proved he could win a national election before than monumental landslide, either.

  14. riverlifecallie
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 10:13 pm

    I don’t believe Rubio got roped into anything. He was pro-amnesty from the start. Look to his tenure in the Florida House.

  15. Jazz1232
    February 22nd, 2014 @ 10:29 pm

    If you aren’t disdained by scum like McConnell and Boehner, you are doing it wrong.

  16. Matt_SE
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 2:04 am

    Cruz birtherism? Really?

    And I don’t mean to be glib about that. I’ve seen the arguments against his being eligible, and they are more than a little wanting.

  17. Matt_SE
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 2:10 am

    It’s disconcerting to see people like Will, Krauthammer and Sowell, with whom I normally agree, taking on the mantles of defenders of the establishment.
    I guess all their philosophizing is safe, because it never gets put to the test. When a real threat appears, they run for cover.

  18. Matt_SE
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 2:17 am

    I agree with riverlifecallie. Amnesty without prior securing of the border is not a thought that should EVER occur to a conservative.
    Since it obviously did occur to Rubio, he must be something else. That could be OK if, for example he were a libertarian. I can tolerate them well enough.

    But the duplicity he demonstrated in his front-man work for the gang of eight gives me pause.
    He tried to sell us amnesty, and then tell us it was something else.
    And that makes me very nervous about him.

  19. Adjoran
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:31 am

    Please link me to a Boehner or McConnell “proposal of amnesty.”

  20. Adjoran
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:37 am

    I doubt that McCain intentionally sabotaged his 2008 campaign. He had taken the risk with Palin, which paid off, and had kept him either leading or behind for weeks, both within the margin of error, anybody’s race. But he took a little dip in the polls as the financial crisis began drawing attention. I think he panicked and gambled on the campaign suspension and return to Washington where he was a figure with far more gravitas than Obama. It was a stunt, some leaners perceived it as such, and he never recovered.

    Obama won by shrugging off the crisis and keeping doing what he wished to do, and has adopted that policy in every crisis since.

  21. smitty
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:50 am

    I guess all their philosophizing is safe

    Which is why I hold these Prophets of 20/20 Hindsight in some disdain.

  22. smitty
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:51 am

    No, I think that Palin was something of a pawn in 2008.

  23. smitty
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:52 am

    And Palin supported McCain’s re-election. So, even if there is policy friction, there is an effort made to maintain personal comity.

  24. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:36 am

    The major concern with Cruz is whether his most strongly-help principle is the advancement of Ted Cruz. I don’t mind if his personal ambition comes in at third or fourth, so long as adherence to the Constitution and defense of the nation (including defense against sneaky alien invasion) take the first two places.

    We haven’t known him long enough to be sure.

  25. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:43 am

    As I can swear from long experience with politics on the county and district level, the typical party leader would rather lose with himself in charge than step aside for a potential winner. An innate characteristic of politics is that it strongly tends attracts this type, just as show business tends to attract the egocentric.

    In other words, we can’t expect the establishment to resign gracefully, although they’ll happily jump on the bandwagon of someone who looks like a winner, so long as he/she doesn’t threaten their jobs.

  26. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:46 am

    Not necessarily proposing, but giving the clear impression they’ll go along with amnesty rather than get into a bare-knuckle brawl with the proponents thereof.

  27. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:49 am

    Correct and double correct regarding Cruz and Paul. But even Scott Walker, regardless of how good he has looked at the state level, is still largely unknown to us.

  28. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:52 am

    Secure the border first, then just say NO to amnesty.

  29. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:56 am

    The ironic thing is that McCain broke the deadlock on TARP but Obama, who came late to that particular fray and never bloodied his sword, was given credit for it. Better Dem propaganda and a helpful left-wing media.

  30. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 8:59 am

    McCain and his staff threw Palin to CBS and the mainstream media like Russians throwing passengers off a troika to delay the wolves.

  31. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 10:18 am

    Excellent point.

  32. DaveO
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 11:59 am

    You’re correct, but Rubio’s constituency is Cuban, not Central American. The context of illegal immigration is something we used to support until Obama changed our relations with Cuba. Illegal immigration weakened Castro’s hold over the Democrats who worshipped his totalitarian rule. Most Americans won’t understand that, since Cubans speak Spanish just like illegals from Central America, and illegal = illegal. An analogy would be for us to return Ukranian dissidents to Moscow because they all look the same.
    This difference in context does illustrate that the US of A does not have an immigration policy that is integrated with national security, the economy, and our State Department makes a 10-week process into 10+ years.
    This permits slave-runners like Senator McCain and the Dems to fill the vacuum.

  33. Matt_SE
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 12:44 pm

    “…resign gracefully…”

    Reminds me of Dick Lugar after he lost his primary. If McConnell loses his primary, I wonder if he’ll run as an independent?

  34. Matt_SE
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 12:50 pm

    I don’t know enough of the details to know what went on behind the scenes, but it seemed that McCain was co-opting Palin for her conservative street cred. He never has any intention of letting her have input.
    When Palin discovered that she was a token, the campaign friction increased. Being respectful, she did her duty but my guess is that this experience soured her on the establishment from then on.
    That experience is what made her decide she could have more influence outside the system than inside…and I agree with her.

  35. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:25 pm

    At that age, I doubt it. Might be bitter, though. Problem is, Bevin looks like a character whose main (and perhaps only) value is as the non-McConnell.

  36. Quartermaster
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:30 pm

    For now that value is enough.

  37. Quartermaster
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:34 pm

    Sowell is usually not involved such things and I’m a bit surprised that he wrote the three columns he did. They certainly are not up to his normal standard and appear not to be well thought out. I’m wondering if he may have been pushed to write them. His heart certainly does not appear to have been in them.

  38. Quartermaster
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:37 pm

    My understanding is that he was born a US Citizen, even if born in Canada.

  39. Quartermaster
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 3:40 pm

    The initial indications, however, are good. People that have met him after speeches have said very good things about him personally. He seems to have many of the same virtues as Reagan and by the time he runs for POTUS, if he does, he won’t be an outsider either. The GOPe already hates him as much as they did Reagan, and that’s a very good thing.

  40. Art Deco
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 4:12 pm

    Agreed. The Republicans got stuck with the bill for the financial crisis, though the perpetrators were casino bankers (a Democratic interest group) and the Financial Products Unit of AIG in London.

    The Washington figures most to blame were the characters at Freddie Mac who slashed underwriting standards in 2003 and their advocates in Congress (foremost among them Barney Frank, whose boy toy was employed at Fannie Mae). The crew in charge of the mortgage maws included James Johnson and Jamie Gorelick (Walter Mondale’s campaign manager and Janet Reno’s deputy). The Commodity Futures Trading Commission attempted in 1998 to institute a rule requiring that over the counter derivatives be exchange traded and were sabotaged by Lawrence Summers, Robert Rubin, Arthur Leavitt Jr., and Alan Greenspan.

    John McCain sponsored legislation to improve accounting practices at the mortgage maws. Among those who blocked this were… Barney Frank.

    It was just wretchedly ironic.

  41. Art Deco
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 4:16 pm

    McCain hired a pair of careerists – Nicolle Wallace and Steven Schmidt – to run his campaign. They were both last heard from signing a petition calling for appellate judges to annul duly enacted legislation defining marriage in a conventional way. Wallace in particular was apparently a chronic problem for Gov. Palin.

    Much commentary on McCain is silly, but he did exhibit serial bad judgment.

  42. Dai Alanye
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 4:29 pm

    People that have met him after speeches have said very good things about him personally.

    A statement that could be made about practically every politician out there. I’ll make up my own mind.

  43. Quartermaster
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 4:42 pm

    That’s not really the case. OTOH, no one is trying to force you to accept something without personal evidence. I don’t and that’s why I used the term “initial indications.” My opinion has not formed yet either, but I am not far from an initial opinion. And, even then, such things are always tentative.

  44. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:16 pm

    Unlike the case of Sarah Palin endorsing McCain in his re-election, which was a matter of Honor, I see no legitimate excuse for what Senator Paul is doing.

  45. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:19 pm

    Quick is right, Evi [ouch – that hurt]. I was there and remember it well.

  46. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:20 pm

    Well put, QM.

  47. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:22 pm

    As I stated above, but just in case you all missed it: Mrs. Palin’s action was a matter of Honor and, therefore, forgivable.

  48. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:25 pm

    Exactly, Callie. For a man to rise to Speaker of a state House Of Representatives so young means that he possesses the low-cunning of a smart politician / deal-maker. In other words, it is more than likely that Rubio is part of The Culture Of Corruption.

  49. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:30 pm

    I like the idea of Palin/Cruz, so that he can gain some more Executive seasoning.

    BTW: Even if it turns out the P and Z and Paul are not the most dedicated conservatives, let us all not forget the wisdom of Milton Friedman: ‘The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing’.

  50. Bob Belvedere
    February 23rd, 2014 @ 6:31 pm

    Also, old men tend to scare easily and for irrational reasons.