Politics

Bruce Chapman of Seattle's Discovery Institute has penned a nice overview of the primary process (both Democratic and Republican) in Washington State. I recommend it for all of you who may be interested in what's going on here.

As for the Potomac Primary tomorrow, I foresee a Huckabee win in Virginia (the sizeable military vote for McCain notwithstanding) and more than a few of the proportional delegates from Maryland going his way. DC belongs to Senator McCain't-Yet-Close-the-Deal.

It seems that Gov. Huckabee, failing to major in math, also skipped pre-law. The Washington State caucus rules are located on the website for King County here.

Did the State GOP make a stupid mistake in calling the winner here? I don't know enough about what exactly happened. Perhaps Luke Esser got ahead of himself and announced McCain won (which was not appropriate given the close tally so far reported). I doubt that the Washington State GOP would have committed such a blatantly stupid "manipulation" of the results in plain view of the whole country during this highly energized election cycle. At least, I hope not.

Seriously, I'm supposed to support John McCain? Really? What exactly do I owe him?

The Senator pays lip service to the areas where we agree. He promises to toe the line on judges and taxes, but he has consistently demonstrated an eagerness to stick it to the party's base whenever it suits him. The only promise I expect him to keep as President is staying in Iraq forever and ever. And I suppose that if he feels the need to raise taxes in support of unending war spending, he will do it.

The strength of the Republican Party is derived from its conservative base. Moderates represent many branches of the Party, but they all draw their sustenance from the roots. One can cut a branch from the tree and survive. But to cut out a root weakens the whole tree.

I am not going to fall in line and cast a vote for John McCain. I am not going to move to the middle in support of his positions simply because the Democratic candidate presents a "worse" alternative.

The Senator from Arizona tells me he's going to unify the party and win the Presidency. He says it as though it's the natural order of things. He seems to think that the political realities of the day favor his ultimate ascendancy. He is wrong because he mistakes my firm political loyalties for his malleable ones.

Here's some straight talk for the Senator. My vote does not belong to him simply because he is the default candidate. It does not belong to him any more than it belonged to Bob Dole in 1996 or to George H. W. Bush in 1992. He has never earned my vote. And his speech at CPAC did not earn it today.