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Republicans entertained by Democrats - Comments (3) View Comments
Mike Clark - 4/25/2008
Conservatives across the country are naturally apprehensive about their values being properly represented in the White House come this time next year. Lots of things could get in the way between now and then, including the Republican nominee. When John McCain is the conservative standard bearer, there are holes in the traditional, small-government Republican platform that someone the size of Rush Limbaugh could fall through. So things are not all rosy in GOP-land.
But in spite of the nervousness, Republicans have been entertained by the spectacle of the two Democratic front-runners doing the Republicans’ heavy lifting for them. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are wearing each other down in that most public forum imaginable – an American presidential race.
Hillary has taken flack from Obama over having to admit to a huge fib, repeated endlessly, about landing in Tusla, Bosnia under sniper fire in 1996. Turns out it was a total fabrication, exposed by actual video of the landing in question. As a result, we are reminded of the Hillary who found her Rose Law Firm billing records in her bedroom after “misplacing” them for two years during the Whitewater investigation.
Obama has been tainted by his associations with a host of questionable characters, and by his condescending description of small-town Pennsylvanians as “clinging to guns and religion” because they are “bitter” that the government has failed to improve their lot. He also seemed a bit lost and stumbling under tough followup questions in last week’s Democratic debate. Consequently, as predicted in this space recently, he is starting to look less like the Second Coming and more like any other compromised Chicago pol.
The happy outcome for Republicans is that both Democrats look less electable than they once did. The air around the Democratic primary has become so supersaturated with vitriol that it fairly drips any time either camp talks about the other candidate. Hillary has been called a “monster”, and Obama characterized as both a “plagiarist” and “elitist”.
And the best news? This cage match will probably go right down to the Democratic convention. Obama is obviously winning, but Hillary is convinced, and not without some justification, that Obama will eventually implode over some rookie gaffe or undiscovered weakness that will be ferreted out by August.
Meanwhile, John McCain is trying to patch the gaping holes in his network of conservative supporters, but, given the bitterness of the Democratic race, the lapses in McCain’s conservative resume might actually attract more independent voters than the number of conservative voters he drives away. A quarter of both Hillary’s and Obama’s backers have vowed, if their candidate loses the nomination, to vote in the general election for the Republican rather than the other Democrat. What’s not to like about that?
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