Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Euphoric Maverick Blues


We can all be thankful that this very long and very tedious election season will be over soon. It can't come soon enough for the Republicrowd though.

They began their season with a determination that whoever they put up would have the very formidable task of defeating another Clinton for the top prize in an election that was admittedly an uphill battle due to the unpopularity of 'W'. Rudy Giuliani seemed to be 'the Man' in the beginning but his one trick pony show became tedious and even the Republicans got sick of that mantra. Besides that, the realization that a true Conservative, in the vein of Reagan, cannot get elected in New York City. That realization also doomed Romney when the crowd remembered that a Conservative can't get elected in Massachusetts either. Despite the best lip service that money could buy these two RINO's drifted to the back of the pack.

Huckabee's star shone brightly for a day or two but the "Cross is really a bookshelf" ad was the end for him. We already had a Southerner who took instructions from his god and that wasn't really working out that well.

Fred Thompson strolled in at last and seemed to be the one to pick up where Reagan left off. Almost literally straight out of central casting comes Fred, but the lack of a message and the perception of wanting the job without having to work for it wasn't what the 'crowd wanted.

After being counted down but far from out there was lonely John McCain. The guy's campaign was in so much trouble he had to fly coach to events where there was little to no media. Which is a surprise because for McCain, the media has always been on his side. It is where he got the 'Maverick' title. To top it off, the guys a genuine war hero. So what if people confuse 'heroic fighter pilot' with 'cowardly bomber', he was a POW and that counts for something right?


Since McCain was first elected to Congress in 1982, he has 'blazed his own trail', 'carved his path', and whatever other homespun phrase you can think of to denote his 'maverickiness'. He trumpets loudly that he has 'stood up' to his party many times and indeed he has. It is what endeared him to the liberal media and ensured that he got good press for years. His most notable 'Maverick-isms' are the McCain-Feingold-Cochran "campaign reform bill. Much derided by Republicans as 'anti-free speech' in its scope.

Then we have the McCain- Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill. You remember the one from last year that would grant a 'path to citizenship' to illegal aliens? That was a McCain boondoggle that when asked if he would support it as President, he interrupted the reporter several times stating that, "He had gotten the message to secure the borders first." When the reporter asked again if he would support the bill as originally written he said that 'it wouldn't come up period". In other words, he would support it again exactly the same way he did before. After all, he's a maverick. Going against the grain is what mavericks do. And therein lies the dilemma for the Republicrowd.

John McCain's career has been one of going against the grain, even of his own party. He admits to missing out on the Miss Congeniality award all these years. Haha, good one John. Kind of like your POW stories, we never get tired of hearing them. The base of McCain's support has certain expectations from their candidate. they expect him or her to be for smaller government, anti-abortion, against gun control, against amnesty for illegals, for free speech, and a whole host of other issues. And with any other candidate they could more or less count on that candidate to stick to their word. Kind of like Bush the Elder. But more so. For all his talk of being against 'pork' McCain voted for the pork heavy bailout. How's that for Maverick-y?


The Republican base is in for a rude awakening should Johnny McMaverick win the White House because on all the issues near and dear to his heart, he can be counted on to ' go against the grain' and 'reach across the aisle' to vote with the other side. "Sorry about that Republican agenda, I just have to vote against it." He has consistently voted against the Republican's and the base will be sorely disappointed when he votes against them as President. After all, it's what Mavericks do. At every opportunity, he and the 'little woman' are telling the supporters that they will vote against their interests yet they continue to cheer in a manner remiscent of Orwell's 1984-Two Minutes of Hate scene.

No matter who wins this election one sure fact is that the American People will lose but the most disappointed of all will be all those who are pinning their hopes to McCain's America. An America whose Son's and Daughters continue to die in foreign lands for no discernable reason other than to 'win'. Even Johnny can't tell us exactly what would constitute a win but we can trust that he'll know it when he see's it. We can also rest easy knowing that John will bring all those aliens out of the shadow of illegality and into the 'light' of public discourse with a grant of amnesty and finally, rest assured, my friends, the richest among us will continue to trickle their tax cuts down to you and his health care plan will provide you with an umbrella.

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