We are the Whigs
On the other hand....
I finally found an article that fit the clear mood I thought was missing from the election post-mortem.
McCain gains political capital in electionsUpon reading this, I went through several thoughts. First, that I'm not ready to re-evaluate the senator from Arizona. Then, I realized what I thought didn't matter - the fact is, regardless of what I think or what anyone else thinks of Senator McCain, there remains two factions in the Republican Party right now. One favors fighting over the middle ground with the Democrats. The other stands for certain principles, and will not yield to the likes of John McCain.Sen. John McCain emerged from yesterday's elections as one of Republicans' only winners as Democrats made solid gains and both parties turn an eye toward 2008.
The Arizona Republican, who wasn't up for re-election, rallied to the side of Republican candidates at 131 events -- a strong showing that displayed his rising popularity. His strength was underscored Monday when Charlie Crist, Florida's new Republican governor, chose to skip a scheduled rally with President Bush for an event with Mr. McCain.
"There's going to be a batch of people who are going to personally owe McCain and there's going to be another batch of people who are going to have to rethink their view of him," said Michael McKenna, a Republican strategist and pollster.
"He was a pretty solid party stalwart this go around, in a cycle when it was not easy to be a party stalwart."
It is 1852, and we are the Whigs - though, notably, no Lewis Davis Campbell has yet appeared to pronounce the Republican Party "dead".
I think Stephen Dinan and The Washington Times exactly miss the point. Surely, McCain has proven he is a good Republican. But he, like the President, supported a "squishy middle" strategy that has tried to fight for Republican numbers instead of the conservative ideology. Someone this morning should ask Mike DeWine (of the famed "Gang of 14", no less) how that worked for him. Someone should ask Lincoln Chafee (also of the "Gang") how well the President's help in defeating a conservative in the primary aided him in a general election in liberal Rhode Island.
Many conservatives will not stand with McCain and Rudy Giuliani any more. The question is, will they fight to retake the party of Ronald Reagan, or will they leave it to a fate like what befell the Whigs?
