February 1, 2008--Amor Vincit Omnia

As John McCain moves inexorably closer to the Republican nomination, many of the mainstream leaders on the right are not only giving him a second look—they have up to now been suspicious of him (he said, for example, when President Bush nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, that he was “too conservative”)—they are now finding a way to fall in love with him.

Tony Perkins, a widely-followed Christian evangelical who in the past frequently excoriated McCain, now says, “I have no residual issues with him.” (See NY Times article linked below.)

This can be for only two reasons—(1) Hillary Clinton; and (2) Hillary Clinton.

Oh, there is a third: if McCain actually finds a way to get elected president Tony and anti-taxer Grover Norquist and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention all want to be sure they are welcome in the McCain White House.

When all else fails, be sure not to screw up your access to power and goodies. What is it that Virgil said--amor vincit omnia. Or was it sucking-up that does the conquering?

For the moment, the only prominent right-wing holdouts are James C. Dobson, the legendary protector of America’s families (just say no to sex, drugs, and rock and roll) and Rush Limbaugh, who has at least managed to say “no” to two out of three of these.

It should, though, take only another four or five days before James and Rush feel their hearts beating faster. After all, my friends, it took fewer days than that for Rudy and Arnold to show up arm-in-arm with McCain on Jay Leno.

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Meanwhile, among the Dems there is also considerable thrashing about. Both Obama and Clinton are courting John Edwards who thus far has not made an endorsement. One would think that if he makes one it would be for the candidate who represents fundamental change; but my money is on Clinton, who never fails to tell us that she is the true “change agent.” How would Edwards be able to spin that one? By claiming that she is more of a fighter and that’s what we need to stand up to the corporations and lobbyists.

What he won’t say is that she is likely to get the nomination so why waste an endorsement on someone who will not be able to appoint him Attorney General.

But then there is the drama surrounding the one endorsement (other than Oprah’s) that really counts—Ted and especially Carolyn Kennedy’s. This one is really killing Bill Clinton who, recall, sees himself as not just the first black president but also JFK’s doppelganger. Remember that incredible photo of him as a 16-year-old Boy Scout shaking hands with John Kennedy? It was included in virtually every TV ad that Clinton ran during his bid for the presidency. Now he has to watch TV spots for Obama that feature Carolyn and images of JFK morphing into BHO.

This got under the skin of the newly-reined-in Bill Clinton just as much as he got under Obama’s skin during the South Carolina primary. So much so that the parvenu from Hope, Arkansas who spent many a day trying to ingratiate himself into America’s royal family (even taking the helm of Teddy’s sailboat one time when vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard) that he attacked, actually mocked Senator Kennedy yesterday by linking him directly to President Bush. Over his support for the education bill, No Child Left Behind.

I suspect we’ll be hearing today about Chappaquiddick and Mary Jo Kopechne