September 06, 2008

McCain's Masterstroke

Although politics invariably involves ups and downs, many conservatives have found more reasons to be "down" than "up" in recent years. That said, I can recall being particularly happy about at least four specific political events in recent times:

1. The withdrawal of the nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

2. The collapse of the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Bill.

3. The Supreme Court's decision in Heller v. D.C.

4. The announcement of Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate.

Above and beyond our basic frustration, as American citizens, over Bush Administration mismanagement, conservatives have had an extra dose of anger over the Party's abandonment of core conservative principles. We were put through the puzzlingly absurd nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and forced to stand by and watch the Republican Party apparently abandon all concern for fiscal responsibility and ethics. The Harriet Miers nomination was not merely a philosophical abandonment; it represented an almost unfathomably poor level of judgment. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together could have easily predicted, going in, that the Miers nomination would end up as a disaster of massive proportions. This was, of course, far from the only seriously poor decision by the Bush Administration. Americans were often left puzzled, wondering what the hell was going on in the White House and who (if anyone) was "minding the store."

Of course, the Bush White House didn't destroy the Republican brand all by itself. It had plenty of help. On the legislative side, we've gotten to enjoy learning way more than we ever wanted to about earmarks, about a "Bridge to Nowhere," and about the excesses of men like Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley, Don Young and Ted Stevens. Even in the wake of the losses of 2006, with an opportunity to demonstrate that they "got the message," the House and Senate Republicans decided instead to re-elect their failed leadership teams.

To be fair, there have been a few bright spots for conservatives along the way--most notably, the welcome confirmations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito--but these are rafts of smart in a flood of stupid. Nevermind that we had to scream bloody murder to get Alito in there. In general, the Bush years have not been a fun time to be a conservative.

Like many of my fellow conservatives, I've been cringing at the thought of a McCain-Lieberman ticket or a McCain-Huckabee ticket. If the insider tips can be believed, the former option was a very real possibility at one point. After eight years of Bush's big-government "compassionate conservatism," and with rumors that our center-right Maverick would be inviting a far-left maverick to join him on the ticket, many conservatives were asking themselves whether the Republican Party was still a place they could call "home." Others had already asked themselves that question and decided that the answer was "no."

There were those voices, even among conservatives, that counseled McCain to focus on victory November--by which they meant he should play hard for the middle. The conservative base, they argued, would fall in line when push came to shove. Many conservative leaders, and especially among the social cons, were having none of it. There were predictions that a McCain-Lieberman, McCain-Ridge or McCain-Huckabee ticket would go into battle at half strength and 25% morale. I'm not at all certain that this prediction was wrong.

Heading into the November elections, with many indications that the Republican Party would be continuing its leftward drift (or drive) for the foreseeable future and serious questions as to whether grassroots conservatives even had a meaningful seat at the table anymore, many conservatives were seriously asking themselves whether this was a movement that they could, in good conscience, ask their friends and neighbors to support on election day. How many of us can maintain a believable smile while chomping down a turd sandwich? Not many, I suspect.

Some of you, even self-styled "conservatives," counseled that we should close ranks with McCain early without preconditions, and leave McCain free to make his VP choice as he saw fit. Anyone who advocated that course of action was simply wrong--embarassingly so. The events of the last week should have made that abundantly clear by now. While victory in November is certainly not a foregone conclusion, it is much closer at hand than it was eight days ago.

To many conservatives, the VP choice was partly about November, but it was about much more than that. McCain's VP choice was seen by many as a pivotal moment for the conservative movement and the Republican Party. I know I'm not alone in my conviction that Reagan's choice of establishment moderate George H. W. Bush as a running mate in 1980 was a wrong decision for which the conservative movement, and the Republican Party, is still paying a price today. For many conservatives, McCain's choice of VP wasn't just about what happens over the next four years. It was about what happens over the next few DECADES.

Intentionally or not, a Vice President Lieberman would've been taken as a clear signal that the GOP was moving directly away from Reaganite conservatism as an organizing philosophy. Along a different vector, a Vice President Huckabee would have been taken as a signal that Bush-style "compassionate conservative" populism was still on the ascension--and you ain't seen nothin' yet. A Vice President Romney would have been interpreted as a sign that it would soon be time to submit to our new android masters. True Reaganite hangers-on, if any, would certainly be welcome to stay around and vote Republican, of course, so long as they didn't get any silly ideas about having any real influence over anything important. Federalists, tax-cutters, pork-busters, "leave me the hell alone" types and android-haters need not apply.

Pundits have been chewing up hundreds of trees and billions of electrons over the question of whether McCain should "solidify the base" or "play for the center." It seemed to be taken as a given through the Summer that uniting the conservative base and playing for independents were mutually-exclusive strategies. And yet, in hindsight, I think we can all see clearly that they weren't at all mutually exclusive. Credit to John McCain for having the smarts to realize that there was at least one option that could galvanize the conservative base and win over the American people. And yet, McCain wasn't the first national politician to realize that this could be done. Ronald Reagan argued this point persuasively at least as early as 1977. The more things change...

With the notable exceptions of Charles Krauthammer and Peggy Noonan, it seems to be widely acknowledged on the right that McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin was a strategic masterstroke by McCain. Sarah Palin's ascension to McCain's side was a signal to conservatives and to independents that he plans to shake things up and get the Republican Party back on the right track--and that was exactly the message McCain needed to send--both to the grassroots base and to the country as a whole.

Now, I'd be lying through my teeth if I claimed to have no doubts whatsoever as to whether McCain can succeed in that endeavor. Between now and November 4th, however, I'm willing to set those doubts aside and get 100% behind Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin.

We conservatives now have a ticket we can get behind with enthusiasm, and I strongly encourage my fellow conservatives to do so.

MCCAIN-PALIN '08!