What a difference 12 years makes redux

The other (esteemed? nah, neither of us are that good) poster makes an insightful observation regarding the state of the GOP/conservative relationship. That, I think, is where the conflict is. That is why we are are seeing what we are seeing. The GOP Is fine. It's the conservative wing that is desperate and now lashes out at someone such as McCain. After Bush, the conservative movement is desperate to regain some affirmation not simply of their relevance but of their rightness (pardon the pun and the awkward language). 1996 followed the 1994 "revolution" which saw the conservative movement attain complete control of an institute of power which had alluded them (and the GOP) for decades. That being Congress, of course. One could almost see them taking a risk, feeling lucky and also feeling confident enough to open up the theretofore small tent to those other questionable politicos. But that wasn't the GOP that did that -- the moderates had been there all along. The big tent was a product of a loosening of the grip that the conservatives had ruled the GOP with since Reagan.

So, the debate surrounding McCain (and the stats from the ACU I think provide some credibility to this) is not a debate within the GOP proper. It's a debate between (and within) the conservative movement against the GOP. I don't think the GOP has any problem with McCain. The conservatives, turning into one or two issue caricatures of themselves (he's "strong" on foreign policy, aware of the greatest existential threat to our existence, the Islamo-fasicsts; but, he's a traitor to our country for his weak position on immigration. He supports campaign finance reform. He's therefore un-electable. That's just one example of the rather twisted values system the conservatives are employing to measure McCain's "purity").

What I think we're seeing is, in preparation for the post-Bush era, a fissure between the conservative movement and the GOP, two very different, yet mistakenly thought synonymous, groups. Those are the two dogs in the fight, so to speak. As questionable as I find McCain, on say, foreign policy (he's a little out there I think), he's not "conservative" enough on those issues that define the mainstream conservative movement, if the spokespersons such as Limbaugh are to be believed. What is going on is a re-self-definition of the GOP, and the conservative movement which governed it is threatened with marginalization (though not irrelevance) and a massive backlash, because of the extremism of the Bush presidency. The conservatives don't like that. They don't want to lose their powerful grip on the GOP. But, they may lose it with a McCain nomination, and that scares them.