GOP establishment wins

Quin Hillyer comes to grips with the reality of a Mitt Romney nomination:

Now we will put to the test what was always an odd claim, namely that Mitt Romney is well positioned and well equipped to defeat Barack Obama this fall.

I never believed in his much vaunted magical electability, either. And husband believed in it even less, I think. He tweeted:

With pesky Santorum out of the way, I foresee nothing but smooth sailing 4 Romney on the way 2 overwhelming Nov. victory. #whatcouldgowrong?

[gulp]

Back to Mr. Hillyer:

The GOP establishment -- the money men, the consultants who so repeatedly spread the message that only Romney could beat Obama while they angled for a piece of the lucrative campaign pie, the hangers-on and officious kingmakers, and the cultural elitists who secretly share much of the big media's cultural attitudes and disdain for middle America -- now must prove they can actually deliver a victory. If they can't, the GOP should have a figurative bloodletting that banishes them forever from party power.

Good luck with that. I think this nomination process just proved where the power resides in the GOP.

But anyway, here are your marching orders, conservatives:

Nonetheless, every conservative, and everybody who loves this country and cares about its traditions, its Constitution, and its freedom, should do nothing other than help that establishment succeed in this election. Objectively speaking, almost any analyst would say that from the standpoint of a conservative of conscience and a lover of liberty as conservatives understand it, Romney certainly should appear a better choice than Obama -- by an almost astronomical degree. Conservatives would do far better for themselves to hold their noses and work hard for Romney than they would if they stood back, stayed home, and watched the forces of Big Government complete their extreme makeover of American society.

What's at stake:

An Obama second term would feature expanded use of executive orders, expanded abuses via administrative fiat, further retrenchment from military strength -- and a real effort to stack the judiciary with ideologues who will refuse to rein in these abuses. In fact, the likelihood is reasonably high that he will be able to replace a moderate or conservative on the Supreme Court with a statist ideologue -- and thus secure an Alinskyite vision of a power grab on behalf of radical aims.

Read the rest.

While we're at it, here are a few more incentives for the unenthusiastic, the cynical, and the profoundly discouraged, via Michelle Malkin a couple of weeks back:

Not when I think about the dire need to get rid off the corruptocrat Attorney General, job-destroying and fraud-perpetrating Interior Secretary, feckless DHS Secretary, Nanny State First Lady, apologizer-in-chief, and their entire Chicago-on-the-Potomac apparatus.

And don't forget Commissar Sebelius. Romney is no conservative, and he's not (lamentably) a guy to strain mightily against the status quo, but he would have to work pretty hard to assemble a Cabinet as chock-full of statists as Obama's. So there's that.

And he doesn't appear to be an Alinsky-style bully. Mona Charen examines Obama's contempt for the law:

Last month the Obamas hosted a White House conference on bullying. It was intended as a show of support for victims, but watching this president in action, it might just as easily have been a tutorial.

We’ve gotten glimpses of Obama’s intimidating instincts from the beginning. Now, as his administration flounders, his aggressiveness is becoming less and less veiled.

His first targets, as so often with bullies, were unpopular figures few were inclined to defend. At a 2009 meeting with bankers, Mr. Obama arranged the atmospherics to convey his displeasure. According to Politico, whereas White House meetings are usually comfortable affairs, with snacks and beverages offered, the bankers got different treatment. There was one glass of water at each place — no refills. Obama pressured those present to reduce executive salaries and warned: “I’m the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” Thanks, Evita.

Much more at the link.

Meanwhile, Newt's ego never can say good-bye.

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