Conservatives of the World Unite?

It's finally down to 2 candidates on each side leading up to the all-important Super Tuesday primary. I know there are still 4 names on the GOP ballot, but the choice is really simple: John McCain or Mitt Romney.

Let's be clear. Mike Huckabee is finished as a presidential contender. He is only in the race at this point to be a stalking horse for John McCain and angle to be vice on McCain's ticket. A vote for Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul is a vote for John McCain, plain and simple.

It's come down to a choice. Do we want the candidate we think is the most conservative or the candidate that we think can win? Do we want the guy the GOP establishment and "drive-by" media is shoving down our throats or the guy who is outside the establishment and promising to shake up Washington?

Let's take a closer look at these two. Sen John McCain has some good points. Steadfast support of the Iraq war and advocate of the most recent surge. Consistent pro-life voting record. Budget hawk, hates pork-barrel spending. Promises to reduce it. His problems are fairly well-known-advocate of amnesty for illegal immigrants, McCain-Feingold, McCain-Leiberman, etc.

The thing that makes this thing so complicated is that I honestly don't think those issues are all that major. I mean, President Bush has the exact same position on immigration, yet I had no problem supporting him in 2000 and 2004. The most recent debate this past Wednesday at the Reagan Library in California reminded people of the main reason why conservatives have a hard time supporting John McCain, he's an a**hole!

This guy is a total jerk. He beats Romney by a hair in Fla, then he acts smug and arrogant at the debate a couple days later. He seems to have this love for attacking fellow Republicans and gets off on the reaction he gets from the media. Seeing this kind of stuff incenses me and I'm sure many others and causes us to question his stability as president.

I think the reason Mitt Romney hasn't united the conservative base behind him and against McCain is simple, he doesn't have a conservative record as governor of Massachusetts. I suspect that if he did, he never would have been elected there in the first place and would have likely been thrown out of office.

McCain's accusation that Romney is a flip-flopper has stuck to a certain extent. It makes it very hard for conservatives to rally around a guy like that. Mitt Romney definitely has some great qualities, especially his business credentials, and he's got all the right positions now, but there's something missing.

I can't put my finger on it, but I just don't feel all that enthusiastic about Romney. As president though, I would definitely prefer him over McCain. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that McCain has about a 70% chance of locking up the nomination next Tuesday.

In my view, the only force that can stop McCain is the new media-talk radio and the blogosphere. Conservative talk-radio is largely opposed to McCain and I expect them to mobilize strongly for Romney this week. But is it enough to overcome McCain's advantage? In this crazy election season, anything's possible.

I do believe it's worth a shot. If McCain is worth trying to stop, and I think he is, now is the time to do it. Even if we don't succeed, if we can at least force him to reach out to conservatives and show some grace and humility once in a while, it will be worth the effort.

So now is the time. Conservatives of the world unite! If you're in a primary state next Tuesday, vote Romney!