By that I mean: Will John McCain abandon the Republican Party? Not, will he abandon his race for the presidency, because that's not like the good Senator. And if I'm reading him correctly, he's pissed. With good reason. The GOP has a long tradition of awarding the nomination to the next in line. On many occasions, that has been a previous presidential contender who - though qualified - has been passed over. This time, the nod was supposed to go to McCain.
Fate, timing and circumstance have conspired to deny the Senator from Arizona and war hero his due, and after all he's been through who could blame the man if he's good and mad? So I'm betting he'll fold his current hand, put his Republican campaign to bed, reorganize his staff and bolt the party for an independent run. The staff reorganization piece began after his last quarterly reporting and accelerated today with the departure of his two, top campaign managers.
Being a man of conviction, McCain is not likely to go quietly into the night. No, a much more likely scenario is that he will abandon the party completely and join Joe Liberman and Michael Bloomberg among the ranks of the newly independent. And Chuck Hagel may not be far behind, as the GOP goes the way of the Whigs. It's just the perfect election cycle for that scenario, don't you think? Just when you think nothing else could happen, it may.
John McCain understands two important facts about this time in history. First, the Grand Old Party has hit historic lows among all groups polled because conditions at home and abroad really are disastrous. And second, American voters are looking for a hero - or a heroine to extract us from this mess and restore our quality of life and reputation worldwide. Not a technocrat or benign, smiling puppet this time around. No, we want a real, red-blooded American hero to get busy and dig us out of the nasty hole this administration has created. At the grassroots level, we're all pretty clear on that.
Article comments
1 - Chris
Wouldn't straw polls be indicative of the early opinion of the mainstream electorate, at least moreso than some landline telephone polls? Ron Paul has done quite well in early Utah, Atlanta, California and New Hampshire straw polls that were largely comprised of active members of the Republican Party in those respective states.
When combining both types of polls, straw and landline, then adding the Internet into the mix, he's doing a lot better than folks are giving him credit for.
2 - Bob Dobalina
"Ron Paul is a hero among the Netroots, but that hasn't translated yet into gains with the mainstream electorate. And probably never will."
Amazing how clueless people still are about Ron Paul's chances.
I mean you, Yo-Duh.
3 - DJ
The nod was supposed to go to McCain? I think his campaign free-fall was his own making by pushing immigration reform. 85% of the people hated it and the other 15% were here illegally.
I really appreciate a politicion who stands a fights for what he thinks is right, it is rare indeed. However, I appreciate it even more when they fight for things that will make MY life better as opposed to the lives of the 10 billion people who want to come to America.
That is why I support Ron Paul every time he opens his mouth common sense spews out. I like the waw he fights for feedom and liberty.
4 - bliffle
Bah! McCain could never make it. The GOP/Rove axis will subvert his "War Hero" status by bringing forward 100 Swift Plane Veterans from his old Navy unit to show that he was never in that commie POW prison, that he was actually sojourning all that time at a luxury Country Club in Thailand and that his famous shoulder dislocation was caused by overswinging with his #1 wood on the long par 5 10th hole.
5 - RJ
"as the GOP goes the way of the Whigs."
It's funny. Right after the 2004 election, there was much talk on BlogCritics about how the Democrat Party was doomed, and could fold at any minute. Now, just over two years later, there is talk on this site that the GOP is doomed and might soon fold.
Well, the former did not happen, and the latter isn't going to happen anytime soon either.
The way in which our political system was devised by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution encourages a political duopoly. Much more so than in European parliamentary democracy, which usually has three or four (or more) major parties battling for power every election.
The GOP has been around since before Lincoln. The Dems have been around since well before then. And neither party is going to go away in the near future.
That's just the facts.
6 - bliffle
The Swift Plane Veterans For Truth will also reveal that the reason George Bushes Texas Air National Guard record is spotty is because he was sent an a Secret Mission to Indochina to rescue John McCain.