War Without End

I should say one thing about John McCain. I disagree with him on policy. His policies, are, for the most part, those of his party and the current President. And they are policies that have done enormous harm to this nation and it's citizens. So I cannot support him, and won't. But his political style is certainly an improvement over the current occupant of the White House. He seems to actually believe that his colleagues on the left are patriotic Americans who can serve this country. Coming from the Party of Ann Coulter that's quite a nice thing to see.

Unfortunately I don't know if his party is going to let him stick to it. Consider Rush Limbaugh's response to speech McCain gave on Friday (I believe).

He [McCain] said, "Let us argue with each other then. By all means, let us argue. Our differences are not petty, they often involve cherished beliefs, and represent our best judgment about what is right for our country and humanity. But let us remember, we are not enemies." Yes, Senator McCain, they are our enemies. The left is the enemy of freedom and liberty in this country and they don't need to be worked with. They need to be defeated. It's just that simple.

I've often wondered how Limbaugh thinks they are going to defeat the left in this country. But let it go - that is what the Rush Limbaugh's in McCains party want to see. They don't want the slightest hint of compromise with Democrats. They want to see the Democrats (except Lieberman of course) defeated and humiliated, their beliefs mocked, their policies eliminated. And if McCain doesn't want that (and they seem to think that he doesn't) well he's not the candidate for them.

So there's the calculation. Should McCain woo the base by going after the Democrats or should he try to get the centrists by sticking to his guns?