Thinking Ahead for the Republicans (Because Somebody Has To!)

Everybody was predicting a polling jump for Obama after Hillary endorsed him, but this was more than I was expecting: Newsweek is showing Obama with a 51% to 36% lead nationally!

Which brings me back to a suggestion I made earlier: will the Republicans, who are already running scared about all the signals that they're about to be returned to the oblivion they so richly deserve, start getting cold feet about running McCain? He's really been an awful candidate so far, flip-flopping on almost every issue from one day to the next. He looks sickly. And let's face it, oratory is not his strong suit.

The Republican National Convention is not until September! There's still plenty of time for them to change course. Could the McCain delegates change their minds? Are they legally bound to vote for him at the convention? Could McCain be persuaded to withdraw? Not now, of course, but maybe by the end of July or early August, if the coming carnage seems clearer.

Since I'm probably the only person in the country that's done any thinking about this possibility (I'm alpha on it, as they say, or maybe used to say, in the advertising industry), I have the perfect suggestion for his replacement. A man who embodies conservative "principles" (giggle). A man who has already been tested in the firestorm of presidential politics. A man whose Republican credentials are unimpeachable.* A man who will instantly neutralize one of Obama's most attractive qualities.

That man is: Alan Keyes!


*Actually, Alan left the Republican Party this year when they refused to let him play in their debates. But I'm sure he could be persuaded to come back.

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Update -- I guess I should explain this joke for the benefit of those who are not familiar with Illinois politics. When Obama was running for the Senate, his Republican opponent was discovered to be a scoundrel before the election. Drat the luck! The Republican Party in Illinois (like the national party) is a sorry bunch, and they couldn't find anybody willing to take the Bozo's place on their ticket. So they went to New York and asked Alan Keyes, who is sort of a modern-day Harold Stassen, only crazy. Alan agreed to do it, and rented an apartment in Chicago to establish "residency". His campaign was a total joke, and Obama, of course, destroyed him.