“Nominating McCain is the gesture of a desperate party.” Well, that’s what Ann Coulter said. And as nutty as Coulter is – and as desperate as the Republican Party might be – her comment highlights a trend within the conservative base of the Republican Party. For all of the blood-thirsty, right-wing talking points Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., can muster, there is something conservatives just don’t like about the guy. The scattered “boos” McCain received at the Conservative Political Action Conference and former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s victories in the Louisiana and Nebraska contests indicate how much base resistance there is to McCain. According to CNN, former Gov. Mitt Romney beat McCain in a straw poll conducted at the CPAC, even though he is no longer a candidate, and 31 percent said they would vote for someone else or not at all if McCain is the Republican nominee. But even more ridiculous than the conservative animosity toward McCain is the notion that Democrats are the ones who have been going out to the polls and voting for McCain to become the Republican nominee. It is important to note McCain is – with nearly unanimous consent among pollsters – the GOP’s best shot in the general election. Why would Democrats want McCain to become the nominee if he has the best shot to win in November? I was pulling for Sen. Sam Brownback. McCain is the guy who said we would be in Iraq for 100 years if he is elected president. He also voted to give tax cuts to the wealthiest one percent of the country and is committed to repealing a bunch of taxes I’ve never even heard of. To fix the healthcare crisis, McCain proposes “fostering competition and innovation” – which is really conservative doublespeak for “don’t worry conservatives, I don’t plan on doing anything about healthcare.” So McCain is the GOP’s most viable general election candidate who falls on the complete opposite side of Democrats on the three most important issues in the election – the economy, Iraq and healthcare. Forgive me, but I just can’t imagine Democrats are rushing out to the polls to cast a vote for him. Unless McCain’s opposition to torture and support of a reasonable solution to immigration really has the right-wing angry, there must be something else fueling the bitterness projected toward McCain. Part of that hostility is probably because conservative pundits like Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are failing to come to terms with the declining influence they have on the Republican Party. This country, and their party, is moving forward. The GOP’s future is not a reincarnation of Ronald Reagan. Republicans who are more liberal on social issues and still fiscally conservative are where the Republican Party is headed. McCain’s reputation as a “maverick” senator does not help his conservative appeal. He voted against the Bush tax cuts twice before he voted for them, and he was a vocal critic of Bush’s initial strategy in Iraq. McCain has violated Reagan’s “golden rule” to never speak ill of a fellow Republican – even if that means betraying your personal principles. McCain also has a willingness to work with Democrats and author compromises, and this really angers people like Limbaugh who just want McCain to hate Democrats and never compromise. Their issues with McCain are really issues with themselves; the neocons are quickly becoming paleocons, and they are angry because they will be left behind. Blaming Democrats is just a delusional explanation for why McCain has become the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party. Conservatives should really be happy. They have another very viable, very old white male who is willing to follow Osama bin Laden “to the gates of hell” for a nominee. And with the Democrats’ very unique way of screwing up elections, we may be closer to another 100 years of war in Iraq on our hands. 
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