The Deal: For Conservatives, A Synonym for Sellout

Been thinking all day about The Deal. I've worked hard to stay away from Talk Radio, and the opinion blogs, as I wanted to make up my own mind. (Okay, I admit to listening to about 30 minutes of Rush while taking my wife to the Doctor. But I had the volume low, and could only hear every other word because of my beloved's coughing.) Having watched the news conference, read The Deal, and watched some of the Cable talking heads, most especially Senator Graham on CNN, here's my take:

I've always had respect for Lindsay Graham (R-SC). He was by far the most articulate and logical of the ill-fated House members presenting the evidence in the impeachment "trial" of 1998. He has been one of the better representatives for Republicans on the Sunday Morning talk shows. I've always respected him, until yesterday.

I assumed supporting McCain in 2000 was simply an error in judgement. After yesterday, I know better. He let down his fellow Republicans, and followed McCain to the land of the RINOs. Hope he's enjoying his six years in the Senate. He won't have another term. South Carolina isn't Arizona, and about as far from Maine as you can get and still be in the same nation. I'm not sure what he was thinking yesterday, but it sure wasn't about the folks that put him in office.

I know some of the folks who visit Liberty won't agree with this assessment, and in fact may not even understand what the fuss is about. I mean, we got 3 judges, didn't we? Yes we did.. But I suspect conservatives lost control of the Senate yesterday, thanks in great measure to Lindsay Graham and Mike DeWine (R-OH). And quite honestly, both of them are naive if they think they can somehow pull the Constitutional option from the trashcan they placed it in yesterday. "Extraordinary Circumstances" is a slippery phrase. And for the Party that creatively defined words like "sex" and "is," "Extraordinary Circumstances" leaves alot of room for maneuver. Enough room to drive an eighteen wheeler right over the coming Supreme Court nominations.

DeWine is up in 2006, and the seat may very well return to Democrat control thanks to his stance yesterday. Graham' s got four more years, but South Carolinians have long memories. If you don't believe it, just ask a native about Sherman. Umm, they don't consider him quite the same war hero as folks here in the People's Republic of Illinois.

I honestly think he's followed John McCain right off the cliff. Maybe he thought he could be McCain's running mate in '08, but both of them have badly underestimated just how important the Judge issue is to the Republican base. I seem to remember McCain's candidacy went down in flames in South Carolina in '00. Apparently, Graham forgot that last night. Regardless, both he and DeWine will face big trouble in their next Senate race. I certainly wouldn't vote for either of them now.

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I wrote the above paragraphs before checking the blogs, Rush (except for my 30 minute admisson above), Hugh Hewitt, etc. Nice to see I have some company. Here's Hugh Hewitt's take, which pretty much sums it up. It would appear the Not a Dime More campaign will have to continue for awhile.