John McCain has just experienced a political Trifecta garnering the coveted conservative base that is absolutely necessary for any Republican to win an election. It is the very oxygen of the party i n much the same way liberals are the core of the Democratic Party.
The first win for Senator McCain that shook his slumbering base was the Saddleback Forum where his direct answers that revealed conviction and resolve stood in sharp contrast to Barack’s fumbled, arrogant, non-answer responses. So distraught was the left that=2 0they had to create an immediate spin that McCain had the answers before hand. Although that has totally been disproved, let’s run out that scenario and look at the idiocy of it.
First of all, you would have to be totally out of touch with reality to not think a question on abortion would be asked at a religious forum. Either get new advisors, or go into a different line of work that’s not above your pay grade. But let’s say that McCain did have knowledge that an abortion question would be asked. Advisors and handlers to politicians work diligently to make sure their candidate never answers a question directly, but handles it with obscure nuances that seem wonderful on the surface but when transcripts are read, there is no there there. If McCain’s advisors had seen that question they would have briefed him on a more eloquent answer, inste ad, he answered the question of when life begins, from his heart, when he simply said, “conception.”
So, if he had been alerted that, shock, there was going to be an abort ion question, he realized he didn’t have to spin an answer to appeal to a broad base of voters, he just had to answer it honestly and forthright, and that is what ticked the Obama people off. Heh wait, that’s not allowed . . . he didn’t do that obscure nuanced thing like our candidate does, and it gives him an unfair advantage, so we better spin it that he had the questions first. Talk about sore losers. But the real winners were not only McCain, but his base that finally saw the resolve they had been waiting for.
The second laurel wreath for McCain was the Republican platform that has in the past few election cycles, been a blood bath between the right to life group and the liberal, pro-abortion wing of the party. Always the life plank is at risk of being sawed off, and always a small remnant of determined warriors ride in to save the day. That was good news for conservatives and hope was once again in the air.
But the coup de grace, the Kentucky Derby, Wimbledon, Olympic Gold for John McCain was his selection of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
I just happened to be in the Petri dish of political experimentation with almost 300 conservative leaders from around the country who were gathered for a meeting. The speaker was interrupted to pipe in the live feed of the announcement. The discussion in the group for three days before the announcement concerned who the pick would be and what the response would be if it was x, y or z. The responses varied depending upon the possible choice from, “I refuse to vote for that ticket,” to “Is it too late to form a third party?” to, my own which was, “Let’s select a write-in candidate and do a protest vote.” If you have been reading my columns, you know that is what I have been saying.
So, imagine our surprise when not only Sarah Palin was announced as McCain’s VP candidate, but that the whole room erupted in thunderous, standing ovation support. It was as though everyone in the room had a horse in the race and that collective horse made it over the finish line as the clear winner. Women were crying, men were high-fiving, everyone was hugging and celebrating because now . . . they had a ticket they could get behind, they could believe in, and they could enthusiastically support.
Those leaders represent millions of people around the country and several, including me, have since made public announcements that they have switched from an adamant position of not supporting McCain to being excited about the race.
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