I know you're interested in the general response to John McCain's speech yesterday before a packed CPAC crowd; after all, it may well be the most important speech he's made thus far in the election season. Below is a sample of some of the responses I think the most responsible and helpful.1) Power Line weighs in with just a few comments. But they give you here the full text of McCain's speech and video uploads.
2) Two very good articles from NRO are up. One is "Conservative Sense & Sensibility" by Bill Bennett and Seth Leibsohn. The other is Clifford D. May's "Conservatives on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?"
3) Over here is a CNS News story about Senator Jim DeMint's response. DeMint (R-S.C.) was a leading supporter of Mitt Romney.
4) Arnold Ahlert has a frightening post over at Political Mavens which suggests just who might show up on Hillary's or Barack's "A List" if conservatives do not get behind John McCain and get him elected. On that list: George Soros; MoveOn.Org; Michael Moore; Jimmy Carter; Al Sharpton: and a few others who will send shudders up your spine.
And finally, 5) Here's a brief but valuable piece by Stephen F. Hayes for The Daily Standard. In it, Hayes hints at just how MSM reporters may deny the general public the real sense of how the CPAC audience responded to McCain's appeal:
The scene of the day, however, unfolded just moments after McCain finished speaking in the lobby of the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Six anti-McCain protestors held up signs hoping to attract a crowd. Four of the signs were pre-printed and read: "Stop McCain's Amnesty." The words on the other two were scribbled onto a piece of cardboard with a ballpoint pen. They read: "Join Republicans Against John McCain."
I decided to stand and watch them for about 45 minutes, chatting with CPAC-goers as I did. Over that entire period, one young man (flanked by two friends) asked where he could sign up. The contra-McCainiacs were mostly ignored, but for one group: Journalists. "There are five of these guys and each one is being interviewed by reporters!" said Joseph Stolz, a CPAC attendee, who stood there with me. In fact, each of the six anti-McCain sign-holders spoke to multiple reporters. In all, about 20 reporters came to interview them. It'll be interesting to see how the stories play today. If the interviews are used as part of a piece looking at the relatively small number of anti-McCain CPAC attendees, fair enough. I suspect, though, that we'll see more than a few of those reporters using their interviews to play up the divisions among conservatives over McCain. That's not to suggest that such divisions don't exist. They do. But these vocal McCain opponents were a surprisingly small minority.
We'll see.
