The Wet Blanket

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Out with friends at a local eating establishment last evening I had occasion to watch (after the Giants' victory over the listless Redskins) Sen. John McCain accept what he said was "our party's nomination for President of the United States".

The problem is that once again, on balance, I'm not really at all certain that Sen. McCain and I belong to the same party.

It has been rather well established that John McCain is not the best and/or most dynamic of speakers and I for one have no intention of nit-picking the delivery of the speech - which I thought, for the record, was adequate for the task at hand. This is not to say that the GOP nominee's life story is not, well, unbelievable. And I do think we were treated to aspects of that life story last night for the first time that were enlightening and surprising - and spoke well of the Senator as a man and as a patriot.

But on matters of policy, I have no more confidence this morning than I did during the primary campaign that the GOP nominee actually believes that "The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics" under his leadership.

It is, frankly, impossible for me to understand what John McCain was trying to accomplish with this speech last night before a Republican Party that was, for perhaps the first time in over a year, actually starting to at least seem excited about this race. Such newfound enthusiasm was not, I believe, without merit - after all, with the announcement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, the prospect of having the opportunity to attempt to promote a, ahem, Republican agenda after 16-years of bipartisan "The Era Of Big Government Is Alive And Well" - coupled with the Democrats' nomination of a ticket hell-bent on giving us more of the same only on steroids - seemed not only remotely possible, but actually achievable. Further, given Sen. McCain's credibility on fiscal issues, certainly at least the chance existed that "basics" included an attempt at modestly conservative governance.

To be fair, John McCain can be credited for raising such issues last night during his speech...

In all these there is precisely nothing with which I can argue, except perhaps with the tone. We have spoken at rather substantial length here about the GOP having lost its way on the watch of Misters Bush, Hastert and Frist - and perhaps John McCain is the solution to that.

So what's the problem?

Well, it's that, during the speech before The Republican National Convention we were treated to these gems...

Crap.

But, I hear you say, on balance of words alone, it would seem that I have precisely no point in this story – John McCain spent the overwhelming majority of his address talking about things that are pretty solidly conservative. So, why the problem?

It's pretty simple, actually - the problem stems from the fact that what I've highlighted just above, the return of Senator Maverick, directly contradicts a great deal of the "good stuff" I've highlighted previously. And it further highlights to my mind that John McCain simply does not understand the party to which he has claimed membership for a longer period than I've been alive - and the party he is now charged to lead into this election battle.

So let me personalize this - I do not find a single thing consistent with "getting back to basics" in any of the multitude of instances where Senator McCain "worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed". And there's a reason for that - it's because there is nothing "conservative", nothing "small-government", nothing that says "get government out of the way", nothing "first principles", about this, or this, or this, or this. I could go on.

In other words, I cannot recall a recent circumstance whereby “Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn't think of them first, let's use the best ideas from both sides” would be an even remotely operative consideration. This is not to say that the GOP has had many great ideas lo these last couple of years, to be sure – but could someone please point out to me what was the last truly good idea to come from “the other side”?

Take your time on that one.

What this means is that, at the end of the day, I don't oppose Democrat public policies because I have some generalized personal animosity for Democrats. Seriously, it's nothing personal. Really.

I oppose these policies because, well, I think they are wrong, stupid, harmful and in some cases downright dangerous for the country. And I am therefore far less than enthused about the necessity of having to compromise with what I consider stupid and harmful – something for which John McCain has evidently no qualms and, his choice of Gov. Palin notwithstanding, all indications are such SOP is going to continue apace should he be elected.

Compromise, while important and inevitable in a system of government such as ours, is only helpful to the point that it helps advance what you believe to be the right thing. And here’s a hint – this is not a compromise, it’s a sell-out. But it’s the future for us under the best of cases – in other words, if we manage by some miracle to keep The Professional Community Organizer out of the White House for the next 4-years.

And so, we’re back to being that we’re confronted with the choice of a prison colonoscopy and the only difference is that John McCain is offering us lubrication that is well past its born-on date while The Chosen One is telling us to take it like, well, a certain Atlantic Monthly blogger would relish it.

You may think that's an overly harsh assessment today. Give it a year or so under a President Maverick - then tell me if I'm being harsh.

And for the record, I'll happily eat whatever sized bowl of beer-battered, deep-fried crow you chose should I be proven wrong.

In sum, John McCain is an honorable, heroic man. And is a far better man in every way I can think of than the candidate with whom he will be forced to share the stage in debates this fall. He knows war, loves peace, but is experienced enough to know that sometimes you don’t get one without having to live through the other first – in other words, that the unicorns, puppy kisses and constant appeals to “Hope” is not nearly a sufficient plan when confronted with people who mean to kill us all. And that alone, on sober reflection, is sufficient is enough for any patriotic American to do the right thing come Election Day.

But the reality is that there is only one actual, functional Republican in the race – and her name is Sarah Palin, GOP nominee for Vice President. And for this well-right leaning voter, that’s just going to have to do to keep-up my enthusiasm as we press-on to November 4th and beyond.