The Patriot That is Rush Limbaugh

This is a post that will summarize what I think of the state of the Republican race before tomorrow's Super Tuesday primaries. (To be followed by a post describing the Democratic race.) I am still waiting to be convinced that there is a good candidate out there for me. Though I have already ruled out a certain someone. (You know who you are, Mitt Romney.)

John McCain has emerged as the clear favorite to gain the nomination of the Republican Party. People are very surprised by this because at least two different issues arose last year that were supposed to have sunk McCain's campaign. The McCain candidacy almost ended when money was wasted on frivolities that didn't matter and when McCain supported George W. Bush's comprehensive immigration reform plan. I am not President Bush's biggest fan by any means but I think one of the things he has done right is to treat immigrants with a great sense of fairness. I was born and raised in Texas and President Bush has lived most of his life in Texas. Mexican immigrants are so part of the fabric of our lives in Texas that it would make it near impossible for a native Texan to join the hateful campaign against immigrants that is consuming a part of the Republican Party.

McCain was able to overcome his early disasters for one simple reason - the other candidates he was running against turned out to be a true conservative but a mediocre campaigner (Fred D. Thompson), a niche social conservative but economic populist (Mike Huckabee), a liberal mayor of New York with lots of skeletons in his closet who also happened to be truly unlikeable (Rudy Giuliani), and a phony conservative who alienated all the other candidates because he accused the others of positions he held just a year or two earlier (Mitt Romney.)

A mediocre conservative candidate would have had this nomination wrapped up by now but there was no such candidate this year. Of course, Mitt Romney is trying to be the candidate that speaks to the traditional three prongs of Republican conservatism - the social conservatives, the national security conservatives and the tax-cutting conservatives. Romney has been harmed by a lack of a magnetic personality and his flip-flopping on issues important to Republicans. Still he continues to try to push on us the idea that he is Ronald Reagan Jr. (Sorry, Mitt, but such a person already exists.)

What is emerging from the Republican race is the fact that only one prong of the so-called "three prongs of the conservative stool" built by Reagan actually matters. John McCain has spent much of his career in the United States Senate focused on national security matters and is a genuine war hero. ("We will stay in Iraq for 100 years if that is what's needed.") Mike Huckabee has advertised himself as a "Christian leader" in his political ads. He is on the right side of all the issues important to social conservatives. Huckabee is a former Baptist minister who speaks in terms that show he is an ordinary person, not a person pretending to be an ordinary person. This attribute helps Huckabee conform with Republican voters' anti-elitism beliefs. These two men should be embraced by Republicans because of their respective life stories.

The thing is...they have not been. The reason for this is simple. McCain and Huckabee see there are things more important than tax cuts. McCain thinks that we need a strong military and that veterans need to be cared for after their service to our country is over. Huckabee says that children need to be cared for even after they have been born as opposed to those people who thinks life begins at conception and ends at birth. ("No health insurance for you!") These two men probably feel taxes can be cut but only after their agendas have been addressed.

This is the wrong answer according the Republican establishment led by Rush Limbaugh. Of course, Rush will pay lip service to the social issues and a strong military. But what exactly has Rush ever done to prove he cares about social issues and a strong military? Did he serve in the military? No. When it comes to discussing people with drug abuse problems, Rush says, "Don't ask, don't tell." Which leaves us with the one thing Rush Limbaugh truly cares about - tax cuts.

I can understand tax cuts. I really do. Heck, I am about to become a small-business owner. I am going to love tax cuts. It is common knowledge that Rush is struggling by on an average salary of about $20,000,000 a year. According to Rush, charity begins in the homes of people making $20,ooo,ooo a year or more.

John McCain and Mike Huckabee don't believe in this principle. Therefore, they officially suck!