Romney bows out, McCain is GOP Nominee

Romney just gave a stirring and eloquent speech to CPAC, expressing his conservative values and agenda in a way that showed his usual class and demeanor - funny how those concession speeches are always the best. McCain seals GOP nod as Romney suspends campaign:

"I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating al-Qaida and terror ... If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror." - Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney ran a very good campaign, winning over 4 million votes, not far behind McCain's 4.7 million votes. But silver medals don't count in elections. Romney articulated a Reagan-coalition conservative agenda of family values, tax rate cuts, economic growth policies, and pursuing success in Iraq and the war on terror with a strong defense. Romney won the plurality of conservatives with his campaign (McCain was winning primaries by racking up large majorities of moderates), in primary staes so far. But he faced impediments to wider conservative support with some of his earlier Massachusetts positions, such as his prolife conversion.

The conservative base spent the last year casting about for a unifying candidate. For some, Thompson was the vessel for unifying conservative hope. But Thompson's campaign fizzled. When the race came down to Romney, Huckabee, and McCain, most conservatives saw Romney as the best chance for a real conservative agenda. Romney picked up endorsements from National Review, Judge Robert Bork and key conservative Senators. McCain was the choice of few conservatives even though he is right on some issues, because of how he's behaved on those issues where the 'maverick' strays off course.

So with him out, where does that leave conservatives? It leaves us with a nominee - McCain - who, while right about foreign policy issues, has been against the conservative base on some signature issues like immigration, campaign finance reform, global warming, etc. McCain has many fences to mend - and not just on the border - to unify a party and a conservative base that has been fractured and despondent lately.

Source: exurbanleague