organized chaos

choosing sides

There is nothing guaranteed about a possible Republican recovery in 2010.  In case fellow Republicans get too overconfident about our chances due to some current Democrat chaos over health care,  let me remind them that voters hate us too.   Perhaps that is a slight overstatement of our position, since there are many contributors on both sides to American discontent with our political system as it stands in February 2010.  But our hands aren’t all that clean.   The Republicans also contributed to our own demise by failing to learn the lesssons of the past.  It’s my belief that there have been Republicans who have acknowledged those mistakes and have committed to fix what’s broken.   With all due respect to Glenn Beck and his acolytes, blame should be applied selectively when choosing Republicans to criticize for our recent struggles.  We can’t just declare a pox on both of their houses, and consider starting a third party.    It doesn’t work here in America, because no third party has ever had the popular support or legitimacy to be a threat to the Republicans and Democrats except as a spoiler in contested elections.

About choosing sides– Why did anyone assume that Scott Brown would cast 100% conservative votes when he got to the Senate?   He’s a Republican from Massachusetts.   While he is a significant upgrade from the Democrats Massachusetts voters usually elect, he’s still not going to be a conservative Republican like Senator DeMint.   Time to lower expectations here.   If Brown votes against health care, it’s still important enough to forgive him for voting for the jobs bill, although that was a really stupid decision on his part.

Speaking of Massachusetts Republicans — or is he a Utah / Cali Republican now? –  former Governor Mitt Romney went out of his way to endorse John McCain in his AZ re-election bid.   Romney is choosing to have a short memory here.  He was absolutely trashed by McCain and his silent partner Mike Huckabee during the campaign, and Romney is still endorsing McCain?  Classy move.   Not so smart for his future political ambitions.  This could hurt Romney going forward, since many conservatives still don’t trust him, and this adds to the distrust factor with them.

On the other hand, Sarah Palin will probably get a pass for her endorsement of McCain.   Everybody understands why she felt that she had to do this.   It’s a loyalty thing, and I respect that.   But being stuck with the baggage of McCain is not a desirable position for anyone with future political aspirations.   If you’re anyone other than Sarah Palin, a McCain endorsement doesn’t do you any good anyway.   What could possibly be gained by the favor of a failed presidential candidate with limited future prospects?   I don’t know the answer to that.