A funny thing happened

on the way to the primaries

The progressives hate Hillary

The regressives hate McCain

Their hatred for McCain is even stronger

than the usual hard-right fury

directed towards Hillary Clinton

Loathing makes it all go round

Almost every time I write about McCain I say the same thing,

and I'll keep saying it until someone listens.

When are those tumors in his face going to be questioned?

Are they massive clusters of cancer cells,

some of which have floated up to his brain

and are slowly eating it away?

Or, are they merely nasty looking benign body invaders?

And look at the hard-bitten wife by his side

Hate Will Tear Them Apart

On a 500 mile drive Tuesday from San Diego to Yuba City, I listened to hours and hours of conservative talk radio — at least five programs.

And if you tuned in not knowing who McCain was, you’d swear they were talking about Democratic Senator Teddy Kennedy.

The anger towards McCain seemed even angrier than the usual fury directed at conservative talkers’ favorite subject, New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

Many talk radio hosts, enjoying legions of loyal listeners who trust their favorite hosts, want to stop McCain who they paint as a Democrat in Republican’s clothing, not conservative enough and — even worse — someone who will actually work with Democrats such as Kennedy.

Their biggest fear: he’ll get in and do what he wants which won’t be what he’s promises during the campaign. On balance: they don’t trust him one bit.

Why does it matter?

Conservative talkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Reagan and others serve an important role in GOP politics.

Their shows are rallying points and the ideological conventional wisdom is transmitted from there. Conservative talk radio has become the real “town hall” of the Republican party.

The Democratic left is most potent on weblogs; the Republican conservatives have talk radio down to a fine art (just as progressives do not).

Even though it’s clear McCain is winning despite the talkers’ opposition, the question becomes: could continued opposition from talkers cause some Republican voters to stay home in November?

This raises the prospect that McCain could be backed by many in the GOP establishment but face a mutiny in at least part of part of his party’s base, led by angry talk show hosts.

Several hosts had callers call in yesterday and say whether they would ever vote for McCain. Some were almost yelling when talking about the Arizona Senator and insisting they’d never EVER vote for him.

The list of his “sins”: his stance on immigration, his opposition to torture, his position on campaign finance reform, his early statements and votes on the tax cuts.

All mentioned as a negative the fact he enjoys support from independent voters and Democrats. Several talk show hosts called McCain a “liberal.”

But the talk show hosts — who are actually in most cases highly talented show people who know how to do a good, compelling broadcast that gets and holds and audience — are not the entire Republican party.

And as the New Hampshire and Florida McCain wins show, Republicans across the country aren’t exactly falling all over themselves trying to obey talk show hosts’ preferences.

More likely than not, now that McCain won the Florida primary and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuilani is reportedly poised to pull out of the race and endorse him (sparking speculation Rudy might be McCain’s Veep or server in a McCain cabinet) many in the Republican establishment will gravitate behind McCain…particularly if he stacks up some convincing victories on Super Tuesday.

But talk radio’s opposition could STILL hurt McCain.

Some of the hosts and listeners say there is no way they will ever vote for McCain.

He is demonized (complete with the angry, rage-toned voice of callers and hosts) much as Democrats are (or as Republicans are demonized on some progressive talk shows that are mirror images of conservative talk radio).

A barrage of negative verbal imagery won’t help get the party faithful to the polls.

This suggests in 2008 there could be a split in the GOP that could actually be more profound than the Democrats’ ongoing Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama tensions.

McCain is arousing ideological-based passions on the party’s right. Indeed, the anger, the vows never to support him, sarcasm and fury seem similar to 1968.

The then Vice President Hubert Humphrey got the Democratic Presidential nomination and many of the Democrats’ anti-war left, followers of then Senator Eugene McCarthy, and followers of assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, angrily refused to support Humphrey.

There is a PERSONAL and an IDEOLOGICAL opposition to McCain within his own party. And there are no signs of it diminishing among the true believers on the party’s right.

Let's Hear It for Conservative Talk Radio!

They Have the Power to Chop Down McCain

John McCain's platform:

More Bush. 100-Year's War. No Jobs

I hate to get caught up in the spin and snapshot of McCain's win in Florida, but I woke up this morning with a pit in my stomach at the very thought of McCain being the next president.

Even prior to Florida, McCain was leading in most of the polls. In yesterday's Los Angeles Time he out-polled Mitt Romney by nine points, and we're part of tsunami Tuesday.

It's obvious that Mike Huckabee is jockeying for the veepship, and will wield a lot power with however many delegates he winds up with at the end of the pre-prelims.

Just what we need. McCain, who unabashedly professes love, respect and a continuation of Bush's policies, also looks like he's ready to keel over any second.

The thought of McCain teaming up with a Bible-thumbing, evangelical Jesus freak who wants to rewrite the Constitution in the image of his god is more than nauseatingly spine-chilling.

The vice president is first, last and always one heartbeat away from the presidency, and McCain doesn't look like he'll survive four years in office.

Almost every time I write about McCain I say the same thing, and I'll keep saying it until someone listens. When are those tumors in his face going to be questioned?

Are they massive clusters of cancer cells, some of which have floated up to his brain and are slowly eating it away? Or, are they merely nasty looking benign body invaders?

McCain is no dummy, but his way of thinking has jumped from being a maverick to borderline insanity if not dementia.

He admires Bush. Since the 2004 election, he's been kissing the ass of the man who nearly destroyed him in the 2000 campaign.

He wants to emulate Bush, the president who's consistently had bigger disapproval ratings for longer than any other president.

Forgetting everything else for the moment, Bush's stance on torture should be enough for McCain to revile him, not admire him and his policies. McCain is not thinking.

McCain vehemently opposed Bush's torture policies, yet he sees fit to say he'll continue all of Bush's policies. If that isn't insane, then nothing is.

Support for McCain might prove that the Europeans are right when they say we are a young country that still has to grow up. Either that, or we grew up too quickly and are now going through our second childhood.

In other words, half the country -- the Republican half -- is going senile if they support McCain.

And here we thought things couldn't get worse.

So, right wing talkers. The ball's in your court. Up to now you've lied; you've been on the wrong side of every issue; you've demonized all who disagree with you in the most disagreeable way; and you've multi-handedly divided the country into enemy camps.

But like the proverbial clock which is right twice a day, you're right about McCain. He's the wrong man at the wrong time to step up and lead the country.

Not that any of the Republican candidates will be good for the country, let's see if you really have the power you think you have to influence minds and hearts, and you will keep up the anti-McCain drumbeat.