Posted by
richstacy on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 12:36:22 PM
Super Tuesday Winners and Losers
Super Tuesday gave a tremendous boost to the candidacy of Senator John McCain. McCain showed that he has great across-the-board appeal to the Republican rank and file, coast to coast and border to border. Mike Huckabee, the most personable of all the candidates, showed considerable strength in the south and in his Bible belt stronghold. Undeniably, the big loser was Mitt Romney.
There were, however, a number of other losers on Super Tuesday. Uber right wing radio god Rush Limbaugh, and lesser talking heads, Ann coulter, Hugh Hewitt, Laura Ingraham, and to some extent Sean Hannity, all came out of Super Tuesday considerably diminished. All have made a mockery of Reagan’s 11th Commandment by bad-mouthing John McCain and advising us to discard him like garbage, to work against him and even to campaign for Hillary in the case of Coulter. Despite the litany of unbelievably destructive and divisive negative comments, we didn’t take the advice. Indeed there was clearly a backlash against such apostasy bordering on rebellion. Limbaugh especially, has been marginalized in a way he is most unaccustomed to. Frankly, his massive ego could use some comeuppance. He is apparently nowhere near as relevant or as influential as he envisions himself.
To these ultra conservative, McCain haters, I say stop it -- now. Otherwise, write Howard Dean today, and make sure he puts you on the list to receive a “Republican Turncoat” Letter, thanking you profusely for helping to put either Hillary or Obama in the presidency, thus assuring Democratic power for a generation. Coulter has already offered her services and I’m sure Dean has drafted a special note of thanks for her.
To the rest of us, I say it’s time to remember Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Thou shall speak no ill of fellow Republicans. It is time also to examine the hard facts. The Democrats had a huge turnout on Super Tuesday. They are energized as never before. It will be exceedingly difficult for any Republican to succeed in 2008. Yet victory has never been more important. On inauguration day, four of the nine Supreme Court Justices will be over seventy years of age. The next president will probably appoint at least three, maybe four justices. Do Republicans want them to be in the mold of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or of Roberts and Alito?
We must put aside the destructive, divisive bickering inspired by Limbaugh and Coulter and return to Ronald Reagan’s “big tent.” It will take every ultra conservative, every traditional conservative, every moderate and every liberal in our party to have the slightest chance to defeat the Democrats next November. We must be a party of inclusion, not a party of exclusion. From this day forward, our mantra must be unity, unity, unity! United we stand, divided we fall!