Romney is a dud.

Conservatives are beginning to rally behind John McCain. I suggest that they continue doing this, particularly some on this blog. McCain has such a powerful appeal to independents and conservative Democrats that he can quite possibly beat Hillary without the support of the far right. If he does, he is even more likely to completely ignore YOU as President. If the conservative movement supports McCain, he will at least see some of his power dependent upon us.

McCain is a fairly conservative guy as candidates go. As I've pointed out in the past, we run around with this perfect image in our head, but there is NO CANDIDATE that comes close. Goldwater was pro-choice; Reagan had tons of flaws (amnesty, tax hikes, formerly pro-choice); Bush has spending, weakness on immigration. IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY WISE FOR CONSERVATIVES TO FOCUS ON THE CONSERVATIVE ELEMENTS OF McCAIN'S RECORD. If you're willing to look past a few mistakes, that all candidates have, there's more conservative substance there than either Romney or Giuliani could ever claim.

As I think about the poll, the small number of young respondents (40) makes me suspect that this is an anomalous result. Romney's support among the young isn't zero, and Huckabee's isn't in the single digits. But Huckabee's is surely higher than Romney's and probably greater than or equal to McCain's. I suspect as well that Ron Paul's support is greater than Romney's, as indeed this poll suggests.

It's best to keep your eyes wide open during the primary process, and semi-closed thereafter heading into the general. But it's unwise to reverse that process. We're saddled with this 2d term nightmare because we didn't insist on changes long ago, because we didn't reject Card, McClellan, Hughes, Rice AND POWELL TOO, he was always an infighter, someone eager to run to his allies in the media. But we allowed Bush to take not just his administration, but the country and the party down a path fraught with peril.

Which explains where we are today.

McCain won't secure the border, if anything, he'll say his nomination VALIDATED his warped view on border security and immigration. McCain looks for warmth and validation amongst elites, not just in Manhattan, but in places like Davos, where's he appeared and been flattered and feted.

I think right now the most healthy thing for our party would be a vast floor fight, where McCain is rejected, Romney too, and we draft in a Favourite Son candidate.

The American people have lost faith in their government and the party process. A rejection of the presumptive nominee, a rejection of the those that ran, and the adoption of a guy who hadn't even entered the race, would be a shot of raw adrenalin into our body politic. Not to mention it would hearten Europeans, who have long since accepted the dictates of their neo-feudal overlords, {their media, bureaucracy and technocracy, "the Enarchs" of this existence}.

Let's go down the options we're facing.

McCain wins the nomination, wins the general, and gangs up with Democrats ramming a wholly obnoxious domestic agenda down the throats of ordinary Americans. And we're effectively powerless to do much of anything about it.

McCain wins the nomination, loses the general, then blames his loss on Conservatives who rejected him and failed to rally to his motley standard, at which point his trajectory to the left becomes an out and out sprint to the Left. For it's increasingly clear that the only thing that remotely tethers this man to our party is his desire for The White House. Once that's gone, the true McCain will emerge, ---------------------------------- and rest assured, that's not going to be a very pleasant sight.

But Huckabee's is surely higher than Romney's and probably greater than or equal to McCain's.

I seriously doubt that. I have nothing personal against Huckabee, and no particular love for McCain, but you are really letting your personal feelings control your analysis. A lot of people see McCain as a maverick (undoubtedly for the same reasons you do not like him). For 20 year olds, "independent/maverick = good."

Huckabee's social conservatism probably appeals to ideologically motivated youth, but he hits a snag for two reasons. 1. There are more people guided by the "maverick is cool" theme than the ideologically driven sort that Huckabee would appeal to. 2. Those who are ideologically driven are also going to be worried about the size and scope of government, which Huckabee surely is not. His brand of big government conservatism is a double edged sword that him hurts as much as it helps.

In all the previous states, Huckabee has consistently outpolled--and all the other Republicans--among young voters. I'm not sure why this should be different in Georgia. Indeed, I suspect that the small size of the young sample has produced untrustworthy results.