Ron Paul… Last Comic… uh… Conservative Standing??
O.K. Please humor me here.
With the “suspension” of Mitt Romney’s campaign, the lukewarm reception of so-called “conservative” John McCain at CPAC… and the continued campaign of evangelical-but-not-very-conservative Mike Huckabee, what is a Conservative to do? It seems Mike Huckabee, who garners conservative support he may not deserve, does not have the mathematics in his favor. Rove on Hannnity laid out the numbers, showing that the Huckster would need 83.3% of the remaining delegates, while McCain only needs 40%. If Mitt had stayed in it, he would have needed about 60%. So, it seems the former POW just about has the nomination locked up. It is far from a coronation, as a good number of conservatives will not be voting for him… at least not ’til the General, then some may come around, but some will not.
So what are we to make of the Primary coming up Tuesday? Do we hold our noses and vote for McCain, hoping he really will grow into the conservative he is claiming to be? Do we do a protest vote for those still on the ballot, since it will not matter in the great scheme of things? Huckabee’s still on the ballot, but we still have questions about him, but so are Tancredo, Thompson, Hunter, and even Rudy and Mitt. We could throw Marylander (I thought he ran in another state last time) Alan Keyes a bone, but he (the other, real conservative preacher) doesn’t have a chance. So, other than Huckabee, who also doesn’t stand a chance, who else is out there that has any possible delegates to “send a message” to the convention? Ironically- it may be Ron Paul.
Not that that will do a lot of good, if Mitt dropped out with all his delegates, and Mike is sticking in with a lot more (than Ron), Paul’s meager amount of delegates really can do little but “send a message”… but what if he tries to run as an independent? He has money. Could he split the pro-maverick vote and take some independents from McCain. That could be bad, and wind-up helping Hillary. But he could also take some votes from Obama, if Barak is the Dem nominee. Barak’s reaganesque rhetoric inspires many, and could bring to the polls those tired of Hillary. If the Dems pick him, he may actually be a formidable opponent (without Hillary’s negatives), contrary to popular belief.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not necessarily endorsing Ron Paul, or Barak Obama for that matter. I am just posing the question, asking about the possibility, of a possible vote by those who would otherwise stay home Tuesday, those who absolutely will not vote for John McCain. If it is important to do one’s civic duty to vote, and you absolutely have no candidate you want to vote for, isn’t a “protest vote” still better than no vote at all? It gives you the right to gripe about the government for another four years. Your thoughts???
Crossposted on Maryland Chesapeake Blog
