Posted by
Jed Merrill, ConservativeRepublicans.com on Friday, February 08, 2008 6:10:13 PM
The conservative coalescence for Mitt Romney continues...for 2012.
"Suspend" is a beautiful word. It captures a moment with the absolute intention of returning to that moment at some point in the future, and building on that moment, without the opposition that exists in the present moment.
Mitt Romney is not out of money.
He is not out of time.
He is not out of fans.
In fact, the only thing he has done is give himself four more years to build on his present success in anticipation of drawing the Republican Party even closer together in 2012.
His hair will be four years greyer, but some people age well, and a candidate who peels the skin off his KFC is sure to do just that.
Meanwhile, a disastrous conflict is averted, one that threatens to waste both candidates' money and time prior to a national campaign to stop two very well funded adversaries who could very well end up running together.
Republicans like Ann Coulter are calling for Romney to be VP. That may or may not happen. McCain is known to hold grudges, but that hasn't stopped the Party from embracing Mitt as a bit of a hero and almost annointing him for 2012. Certainly our talk show hosts have done so, from Rush to Laura Ingraham to Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Mitt's victory in 2012 may be our best hope of sending the message that Reagan conservatism is not dead.
It is hard to argue that John McCain would have even had a chance in this race, had he not run unsuccessfully in 2000 and built a rabid fanbase and organization in New Hampshire that was willing to put him over the top again in 2008.
There is an age old question that asks, "What happens when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?"
Mitt Romney and John McCain are two very large ships with valuable cargo seeking passage through a very narrow canal. (I see Huckabee as a little tugboat, helping pull McCain through the channel and clear the way.)
How does one reconcile this difference? Both are on the same time schedule.
Well, one of the two captains simply has to have the honor to change his time schedule. Romney is that Captain. He has made way for McCain, allowing both ships to pass through the same space, just at different times.
Now some of us suspect that McCain's cargo is less valuable than Romney's, but that is not what Romney says. Romney agrees that the contents of McCain's ship are of great value, namely making sure we don't withdraw from the war on (from?) terror without a victory. This does nothing to reduce the value or importance of what is on Romney's ship, namely a better domestic economy and global viability, health care, and a balanced budget.
Crisis averted. Problem (probably) solved.
Annointing Romney for 2012 also solves another Republican problem--how to maintain a long term conservative course in spite of a short term misdirection, whether that misdirection comes at the hands of a moderate Republican or a pair of Democrats.
I look forward to continuing my support for Romney in 2012!
Jed Merrill
ConservativeRepublicans.com
BloggingForAmerica.com