The McCain Mutiny

Over at TownHall.com - Mike Gallagher writes an open letter to John McCain. The article is quite worth reading. The whole deal reminds me of why its not worth the trouble to bother supporting McCain. As soon as you do, and as soon as you start to trust him a bit - he’ll stomp all over your conservative sensibilities.

Here’s the gist:

• Mike says, “John, I’ve been supporting you buddy. I’m taking heat, but conservatives were starting to warm to you.”
• “Then, you threw Bill Cunningham under the bus for using Obama’s middle name. You’re really blowing it!”

Noteworthy excerpts:

And you know what? I sensed that I was persuading the cynics. I know you have a spotty track record on the subject of illegal immigration, but you keep saying that you’re hearing the American people now and you absolutely understand the need to secure the border. I realize that campaign finance reform is a sore spot for many, but practically speaking, that’s only a life or death issue to mostly inside-the-beltway-ers.

I could hear it in my callers. Even the most ardent McCain-basher was starting to come around. Person after person called to tell me that I was convincing them of the importance of keeping Obama or Clinton out of the Oval Office.

And then along came Cincinnati.

and this on Bill Cunningham’s introduction:

As we all know by now, he got up on stage and railed against the Democrats. He did what he does on the radio. He complained about the media’s love affair with liberal politicians and he referred to Sen. Obama by his full name.

So Sen. McCain, I’ve gotta ask: whose bright idea was it for you to run to the microphones and cameras afterwards and act as if Cunningham had smothered a puppy on stage?

Was it you, sir? You actually felt a need to formally apologize for a speaker to refer to Obama by his full name?

I spoke to Bill Cunningham right after this entire episode. As you might have heard, he is now positively furious with you. I believe his exact words were, “There is now no way I will vote for Juan Pablo McCain after he threw me under the wheels of the Straight Talk Express Bus.”

And all of this just as you were gaining some ground with a bunch of worried conservatives.

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