Senator McCain, could Rudy be your VP?

Okay, so I'm not as melancholy as I was watching President Bush's last State of the Union last night. Now I'm just plain scared. There was a time, oh, six months ago, when I could have seen John McCain as our Republican nominee in the general election; electability when faced with Hillary Clinton was so important and I thought he could probably do it. Then, other candidates surfaced and did really well...Rudy was out front there for a long time and McCain faded far, far away.

Tonight we see McCain pulling yet another victory over Mitt Romney, and Rudy pulling a poor third with a drop out in the near, near future. Rumor has it that he will support McCain as early as tomorrow. I watched McCain's speech and he touched on security and strict constructionist judges...good, but what else? I guess a lot of what I don't like that much about him can be construed in a different way. Maybe I'll take some of that psychology I learned and start "framing" things differently and I will soon become a hard core McCain supporter.

McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and the Gang of Fourteen...instead of looking at these past positions as moving away from conservative ideals I will start looking at them as "reaching across the aisle." If McCain has a good working relationship with these democrats perhaps it will be tougher for the dems to fight him on policy once he moves into the White House. As much as I was a fan of George it is clear, there are those that LIVE TO HATE HIM, and it drove them in their votes, their policies and their point of view while serving in Washington.

It is ironic because as I listened to Senator McCain tonight I found myself being uncomfortable with one of the same things I first fought when I listened to W...his speaking style. Where George was a plain spoken cowboy McCain is grandpa reading me a bedtime story. (Nothing seemy here, I swear...) I start wondering if I can listen to the guy for four years, during good times and bad, and I have to hope that as I got used to George I will, if necessary, get used to John McCain.

I heard a very interesting thing on Rush Limbaugh's show today...a gentleman called in who had a friend that was a blogger and considered himself a conservative, and explained his support for McCain this way: Because of McCain's age he will only seek one term. Because he will only seek one term, he will not do ANYTHING with an eye to a future election for himself. He will get things done, take no prisoners, (no pun toward the Hanoi Hilton...) and just plain move things on through. This will leave his VP in a firm position to be the nominee four years later so we do not have to fear another democrat for some time to come.

Rush said he'd not heard this before, but it clearly interested him. When the caller said that he too had thought about it quite a bit but hey, McCain has come out for term limits so this might make sense...Rush LAUGHED.....Sure, he said, McCain has supported term limits, BUT HOW MANY YEARS HAS HE BEEN A SENATOR? This is the problem with John McCain...he says the right things when it matters, but does he really believe it? If this IS true, who could be a VP pick for McCain if he takes this win on through Super Tuesday? Rudy? Thompson? It was just announced that Rudy will bow out tomorrow and endorse McCain...Who would the conservatives that are so far bucking the McCain trend want to see as a VP if the McCain train keeps on rolling through the St. Paul convention?

Another interesting thing off Rush's show today...(I do listen to everyone a bit, today was just a great Rush day...) Rush was mentioned prominently in Carol Devine-Molin's blog, American Daily, where she asked, "Who is Rush Limbaugh..." and asked why is he trying to tear apart the Republican party? It is clear, if you listen to him, that he disfavors McCain and thinks a little more highly of Romney...but while he has a huge audience, of which I have been a regular member for many years, he is still free to give his opinion! He is not a "spokesman" for Republicans or conservatives...he just happens to BE a conservative, albeit a prominent one. Devine-Molin missplaced her comment that Rush should enjoy free speech...well he sure should, he's a private citizen!

Who's Rush Limbaugh? He is a dedicated commentator, conservative, and private citizen who enjoys sharing his opinions, researching political stories and the future political landscape, and telling us what he thinks of the past, present and future, with respect to the politics within our country. He is funny, human, sarcastic and self-depracating, and he is not responsible for the rise or fall of any particular political candidate. Rush takes pride in the fact that his audience is full of people smart enought to think for themselves, and he will never take them for granted.

And...I'll be listening tomorrow to see what he has to say about his home state's pick for the GOP candidate...