Thanks for Nothing, Senator McCain

When John McCain didn’t denounce his staff after the election for spreading scurrilous rumors about Sarah Palin and blaming her for the loss of the Republican ticket, I took the picture of Palin and McCain I had received from the RNC and cut McCain out of it. I called my little act of symbolic rebellion “dumping the dead weight” from the Republican Party.

Looks like my instincts were right on the money.

Now that the election is over, John McCain is, to quote Laura Ingraham, “free” from conservatives and is busy rebuilding the bipartisan credentials that traditionally served him so well with Democrats and their cheerleaders in the mainstream press. In an interview over the weekend, McCain chided the GOP for jumping all over the Obama-Blagojevich connection:

In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

What’s so surprising about that? Anyone who has followed John McCain’s career over the past 20-plus years should know that McCain is usually quick on the draw to scold members of his party for doing what political parties are supposed to do — act in a partisan manner to advance their own interests. Duh.

In the same interview, McCain pointedly declined to endorse Sarah Palin should she decide to run for president in 2012.

Think about it: The question about Palin was stupid. (Former Clinton hack George Stephanopoulos asked it — go figure.) Not even die-hard presidential candidates like Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, and John Edwards have announced their candidacy for 2012 yet. But did McCain have to say what he did? Couldn’t he have just said something like “You know, it’s a little early to be endorsing anyone at this point,” and left it at that?

To quote Dr. Evil: “Throw me a frickin’ bone here.” But in order to get back in the good graces of liberals, McCain had to make sure he distanced himself from Palin, who is reviled not only by the Washington elite but also by the liberal press that spent more time investigating Palin’s garbage than checking out the corrupt Chicago machine that spawned The One^TM.

I was reluctant to support John “Mr. Bipartisan” McCain, but by the time the dust was settled, he was the last man standing. It wasn’t until he named Sarah Palin as his running mate that I, along with countless others, became enthusiastic about McCain the candidate. So for him to give her such an obvious brush-off when she was the only thing his campaign did right — even though they completely misused her talents until the end, when it was too late to save the sinking SS McCain — is absolutely contemptible.

But then, McCain has shown time and again that the good opinion of conservatives is near the bottom of his priorities list. And once again, he pokes his finger into the eye of the conservatives who ignored that niggling feeling in the back of their minds and came out to support the Republican candidate because — well, what was the alternative?

So Mr. McCain goes back to Washington and is busy trying to resurrect his Maverick^TM brand. Fine, good for him. Conservatives have other fish to fry, and dried-up mackerel is hardly appetizing. What needs to be done?

• Push the RNC to change the primary rules so that only registered Republicans can vote during the primaries. Some states have that requirement, but not all. I say if you can’t bring yourself to commit to a party, you shouldn’t have a say in that party’s nominee.

• Put RINOs on notice. Those who say that conservatives need to move more to the center and become more “moderate” only need to look at the result of the 2008 presidential election to see how well that worked out. Voters who want a Democrat will vote for the real deal, not Democrat-lite.

• Get back to basics. Limited government, lower taxes, and traditional values are what made this nation great. Want big spending and out-of-control government? Look for the “D” next to the candidate’s name at the voting booth.

• Take advantage of the grassroots movement and fundraising potential available on the Internet.

And the next time McCain looks for conservative support, he’ll have to satisfy himself with once again being the New York Times’ favorite Republican. Not that he’ll consider that to be a consolation prize.