The Gift That Gives

Ha! I just hear that Romney, the true conservative, the man competing with Huck for the social conservative ("Why doesn't Huck get out anyway?") has just now endorsed John McCain, the man most hated by talk radio, because he is not "a conservative", and will "destroy the party as we know it."

A man of principle, that Mitt, with the political brain of a spider. 'Course that is the mantra now, Party Unity!

I didn't hear that he officially released his delegates. Are they free now to vote as they want? Or is this just more words? Does he still control the delegates on the first ballot? If they have been released, how many will actually vote for McCain?

I don't know, I will have to read later and get more information. This does strike me as politically inept. The only people who are going to give him points for this are the party uber allas types. There is a time for party unity, but to my mind it's not yet. This merely offends those who think they've been taken for a ride. This strengthens McCain, but to my mind weakens the party. The party isn't unified until Huck has clearly been rejected at the ballot box.

Will have to think about this more later.

---------------
5:55

This is interesting. According to Geraghty, Romney has released his delegates, but of the supposedly 286 in his column, in fact only 28 have been pledged to him, the others, through the complex many layered caucus process, have yet to be determined. All of course, are now free to vote anyway they want.

CNN puts McCain at 827 delegates, and he needs 1,191. If all of them swing to McCain, it would put him at 1,113.

UPDATE: However, some of the caucus states where Romney has won or finished well, the delegates have yet to be named. (It's one of those things where the county delegates are settled on caucus day, but they go to the county convention, who go to the state convention, where the delegates to the national convention.) By one count from a campaign source, only 28 delegates are named and could change today.

Geraghty did say that Romney's endorsement was a "classy act". But he's a little off script, he forgot to say: "And he's really cute, too."

Meanwhile Huck is having a live telephone interview with Fox and has said: "This is the 'me too' party, well, I'm the 'not me too' candidate'." (I paraphrase a little). I sure am coming to like that guy.

Reacting to Romney's endorsement of McCain, [Huckabee] says, "There is a 'me too' crowd going on right now, and I happen to be the leader of the 'not me too' crowd.

I may get beat, but I'm not going to quit. I'm not a quitter." Asked for what constitutes his best shot, Huckabee raises whether either he or McCain gets to 1,191.

"When Republicans don't want to have elections anymore, let's let them make the decision in a back room, a couple of guys around a table smoking cigars. I say, let's give the people a choice. If I walk off the stage, the people of Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, they're being told 'thank you, we've already made the decision without you'.

If somebody gets to 1,191, I have to accept the verdict... The only people who are asking me to quit are the people who never supported me in the first place. To leave now would mean I'm listening to the people who never supported me, and ignoring the people who did support me."

But the upshot of all this is that Romney has given his personal endorsement, but has in fact not given one delegate to McCain. Technically, it's possible, he's given all 286 delegates to Huck.

This is fun. 'Course, it all depends on how many votes Huck gets. I don't have a problem with McCain as the eventual nominee. I do have a problem with coronation.

-------------------
8:55PM

I do find Romney's endorsement interesting, I simply do not understand the reasoning.

It is important that the party unite around McCain, but there is a top down and a bottom up way of doing that. If anything should have penetrated the consciousness of the political class this season it's that the top down approach hasn't worked well.

Romney was the top down elite choice. He was a massive failure. Take away daddy, Mormons, Massachusetts, and money, and he wouldn't have ten delegates. But they're still trying to do the same thing, top down: Unite around McCain because that's what Mitt wants and that's what we want.

How dumb anyway is this political class that is Republican?

Here's a really new idea: How about let the voters decide? I know that's an odd concept and foreign and revolutionary and not "gracious", but it is democracy. How about seeing how Huck does at the polls? If the voters don't like him he won't get their votes. If that happens there will be party unity, and it will be a real unity that will endure through November, because the expressed will of the people. If they do vote for him...? Well then I would say there are those in the party who are going to have to make some accommodations.