McCain vs. Romney

Here's John Cole, a conservative who recently switched to the Democratic party over disgust with the current state of the Republicans:

One of the things that I am really, really not getting about the right-wing freak-out over John McCain is how they have managed to COMPLETELY convince themselves that McCain is not a real conservative, yet Mitt Romney is a bonafide conservative.

[...]

For as long as I can remember, McCain has been anti-abortion, for fiscal conservatism and balanced budgets and against wasteful spending, and an avowed and committed hawk and ardent military supporter. By my count, that is, or at least used to be, the trinity for the modern GOP. Those were the issues that, at a glance, defined conservatism, and McCain was on the “right” side of every one of them. Mitt Romney, not so much.

So how is it that these lunatics have so completely convinced themselves that Romney, who will say ANYTHING to get elected, is the actual conservative? It is becoming clearer and clearer that Mitt Romney is little more than the Manchurian Candidate for the oligarchy, and the notion of their puppet figure losing to someone who will occasionally tell them to go fuck themselves has them in a real tizzy.

The whole right-wing preference for Romeny over McCain. has baffled me as well. Anyone who thinks that someone who got elected as the governor of Massachusetts is more conservative than John McCain is smokin' sumthin'. But I've written before about how the right-wing loves to see their candidates grovel and compromise their principles to bow at the altar of right-wing orthodoxy. And Romney has certainly out-groveled McCain (though McCain has done his share of genuflecting to the right wing as well).

McCain, though thoroughly conservative, has, on occasion, broken ranks with the right wing herd (most recently on immigration and torture). Romney, on the other hand, seems to be saying, "Regardless of my past liberal positions, I'll be your docile puppet!" But if Romney gets the nomination, what evidence do the right-wingers have that he won't immediately start pandering to the center? Indeed, everything about Romney so far suggests that's exactly what he'll do: tell people what they want to hear so that he can further his ambitions. The fact that right-wingers are putting their eggs in Romney's basket shows how desperate they are. I think the animosity McCain stirs must be on a real personal level. He's by far their best bet for the general election. And far more "conservative", back when that word meant something about your stances on issues rather than your willingness to mindlessly submit to the current brand of radicalism ascendant in the Republican party.