Friday, February 1, 2008

Why Washington Conservatives Are Warming to John McCain

“There are people who don’t like the idea of a being off a campaign or being on the bad list if the guy gets into the White House. This is a town in which 90 percent of the people balance their access and income on the one hand versus their principles on the other.”

David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, a nonprofit, and managing associate at the Carmen Group, a lobbying shop.

Update (2/10/08): Or as Nancy Gibbs of Time magazine puts it,

Those who claim to be in public life to promote and defend certain values can least afford to look craven. We may expect that from the every-man-for-himself plutocrats; but the virtuecrats are supposed to believe in something. So when Robertson et al ignored the conspicuous apostasies of Rudy and, in his earlier more liberal life, Romney, in order to jump on the bandwagon, they exposed a much less lofty agenda: they just liked their seat at the table, they didn't want to lose, and they didn't seem to realize that by signing on with a frontrunner, they were following, not leading; demonstrating weakness, not strength.

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