I had the pleasure of meeting “Captain” Ed Morrisey of Captain’s Quarters Blog at CPAC.  He’s a very likable guy and I’ve been reading his stuff for years now.  Today he has an excellent post-mortem on the Republican primary race and the roll that religion - and more importantly religious bigotry - played in it.

Much of the Mitt-O-Sphere is still grappling with the reality that - but for religion - this primary race would have been much different.  I summed up my opinions on this matter some time ago.

Ed expands on Dan Gilgoff’s commentary and likens it to being “hoisted by one’s own petard”.  I like to think I have a pretty good vocabulary, but I did in fact have to look up the word “petard” in order to fully understand Ed’s meaning.  In order that you might better understand the image, I hearken you back to one of the final scenes of that classic military thriller The Hunt For Red October.

The Soviet Alpha-class sub has fired a torpedo at the Red October after the Alpha’s commander ordered all safety devices removed from the weapon.  This meant that the torpedo went “active” the moment it left the tube.  After some high-speed maneuvering by the Red October and the USS Dallas, the Soviet torpedo ends up locking on to the Alpha.  Just before impact, the Alpha’s first officer looks at his captain and utters one of the movie’s most memorable lines:

You arrogant ass!  You’ve killed us!

That, dear reader is what it means to be hoisted over your own petard.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear.  Unless John McCain is arrogantly stupid enough to put Mike Huckabee on his ticket, he’ll get my vote.  The War and the Court is just too important to me to blow off the presidency for either four or eight years of Obama or Hillary.

In the event that either Obama or Hillary take office this coming January, there will be plenty of evidence that Evangelicals, their “leaders” and especially Mike “It’s All About Me” Huckabee will have hoisted themselves, the Republican Party, and America over their own petard.

Maybe George Will is right.  Perhaps America was more enlightened a century ago.

If there were any doubts about the true meaning of “suspended,” Mitt has made his intentions clear:

“I am honored today to give my full support,” the former Massachusetts governor said, standing alongside his former rival at his now-defunct campaign’s headquarters. “I’m asking my delegates to vote for Senator McCain at the convention.”

There are two thoughts that make this somewhat comforting:

First, Gov. Romney just poked Mike Huckabee in the eye, once again. That must have felt good.

Second, I like to think that Mitt threw up in the back of his mouth as he endorsed “Senator Squish” McCain. Kinda like that time in college when I realized I was using my roommate’s toothbrush.

You’re a better man than I, Governor.

Now that I’ve had some time to process the fact Mitt has now exited stage right in the 2008 Race for the Oval, I’m ready to look ahead to what awaits in the remaining months before the conventions and the general election this November.

I’ve seen the various reactions to Mitt’s “stepping aside” as pundits, bloggers, and everyday people make their feelings (good, bad, and indifferent) known. I must admit that I find troubling the number of people who declare steadfastly that, now that Mitt has taken himself off the field, there is no way they will ever support the candidacy of John McCain.

People, this is the way politics work. Sometimes your guy wins, many times he does not. Either way, once the squabbling and primary brass knuckle fights are over, there comes a time when you need to look at reality and get behind the candidate who comes nearest to your values.

I have made no bones about my disagreements with Senator McCain. I could go into great detail about where he and I differ on policy, strategy, and overall Republican-ness. I do not believe he’s the best qualified candidate for this nation’s highest office. The best candidate, in my mind, is Mitt Romney. Mitt stepped aside, so while McCain may in fact be a Maverick SOB, now he’s my Maverick SOB.

Some of you reading this are probably too young to remember the 1976 Republican primary contest. I was only five-years-old, so what I know about that contest I read from history. The long and the short of the story is that Ronald Reagan fought Gerald Ford tooth and nail, state by state, all the way to the Kansas City convention. Ford narrowly beat Reagan on the first ballot, and Reagan gave a speech endorsing Ford which in fact overshadowed Ford’s own address.

Reagan had a way of overshadowing everyone. But I digress.

There was no love lost between Reagan and Ford. The two had deep differences and Reagan could have just as easily left the stage and gone home. He didn’t. He put his heart and soul in to campaigning for Ford. When the convention dust had settled, Reagan knew Ford would have been better for American that Carter ever would be. He was right.

There are those within the Republican Party who believe four years of wandering in the wilderness dragging the two-ton anchor of a Hillary or Obama presidency would teach the Republican Party and American a lesson. They look back to 1976 and see the intervening Carter years as penance America paid for leaning too close to the left side of the political spectrum. They see Reagan’s 1976 loss as a “strategic defeat” which enabled the Reagan Revolution to start with a bang in 1980.

History always provides a 20/20 hindsight view which is unavailable until you’ve already been there. 2008 is not 1976. Let’s quickly review the Carter legacy – most of which we still have to deal with.

1. The High Water Mark of the Misery Index.
2. The hollowing out of the American military.
3. 444 Days and the rise of Islamic Extremists.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the electorate, we are still dealing with the after-effects of the Carter years some 30 years after he was driven from the White House by the Reagan landslide. I’m pretty safe in saying Reagan would have preferred to have beaten Carter before he had a chance to run America into the ground.

November is fast approaching. The United States cannot afford (literally) to place the reigns of power in the hands of a man or woman who will run the white flag up in Iraq and other fronts in the Global War on Terror. If either Obama or Hillary cut and run from this war, you can rest assured their successor will be forced to send many more of your sons and daughters to fight the same battles again – this time at a much higher cost which will be measured in blood.

While I may have my personal differences with John McCain, like Mitt I know that for him, surrender is not an option. That’s enough for me. If we lose this war, the domestic stuff won’t matter much. It’s hard to have a thriving economy when cities are on fire.

Mitt made the decision to stand aside based on the belief that both Hillary and Barack are unacceptable options to lead this great country in time of war. Take special note of this line from his speech:

If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country. (Emphasis Added)

Simply put, dear reader, if you sit home to “teach this country a lesson” and thereby hand the White House keys to Hillary or Obama, you’re putting your pride above what’s best for this nation.

I know for a fact there’s no other titled (aside from that of husband and father) that Mitt would rather have than “Mr. President”. I saw him yesterday swallow his pride and ambition in order to do what he thinks is best for this great nation. This country means that much to him.

This isn’t about Mitt. This isn’t about you. This is about America. Mitt made that clear yesterday.

That’s good enough for me.

It’s time to close ranks and move forward.

UPDATE: Bear has video and still shots from Mitt’s CPAC address.

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Kenny Rogers put those famous words to music many years ago. Bob Seger more aptly advised that the trick was “never play the game too long”.

Mitt took to the CPAC stage tonight and put an end to his 2008 run for the Oval. I was sitting in the very back of the room during his speech – surrounded by fellow Mitt-backers. We listened to a few speeches which were more like book reports until about 1:30 when Laura Ingraham introduced Mitt.

If I ever run for elected office, I want Laura Ingraham to be my Press Secretary. But I digress.

With the possible exception of his Religion in American speech, Mitt gave the best speech of the campaign – all other candidates included. He hit all the high conservative notes. He spoke of America being the best ally Peace can or ever will know. He spoke of the importance of the family, and most importantly about the value of fathers in the home.

He warned about the dangers of dependency and how it can kill initiative and destroy the American culture and how it (dependency on government) must be fought like the poison it is.

Now, dear reader, I must admit that I had my suspicions about how this speech would end. Living in Virginia and being exposed to the mass media market the way I am, I did not see a single campaign ad for Mitt last night or the night before. I saw plenty for Obama and McCain – none for Hillary surprisingly. In the back of my mind I had prepared for the fact that this just might be the end.

Mitt spoke about his desire to fight this campaign all the way to the convention much like Reagan did in 1976. I felt he really wanted to do this – to fight to the last day and give it his very best shot. He said that today is different from 1976 in the fact that America today finds herself at war – a war which she cannot afford to lose or show weakness in the face of her enemies.

He said that while he and Senator McCain differ in many areas, there is one subject where there is no daylight between them. Both Mitt Romney and John McCain have the same desire to win the Global War on Terror. About that there is no negotiation.

That same desire is shared by neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama. They want to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, bring the troops home and triumphantly wave the white flag of surrender as the Islamofacists start a slaughter which will make the aftermath of Vietnam and Cambodia look like a walk in the park.

What Mitt Romney did today was in the best interest of the Republican Party and the United States of America. He has run a fine campaign and can be proud of his personal efforts, those of his wife and all the members of his family. His decision to step aside is one born of selflessness and will – in Mitt’s own words – allow a national campaign to begin.

Like Mitt, I hate to lose. Having said that, I hate the thought of waking up on November 5th to the sounds of President-elect Hillary or Obama.

That’s the view from my chair.

This thread is for your thoughts and reactions to Gov. Romney’s announcement that he will stand aside in the race for the GOP nomination.

B4M had a man on the ground at CPAC for Mitt’s speech today. Jon called confirming what had been widely circulated on the Internet, that Gov. Romney has suspended his campaign for the GOP nomination.

Governor Romney, you were the best the man for the job. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this campaign, as well as significant amounts of your own resources.

Something tells me, however, that we haven’t seen the last of Mitt.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has spoken out on Mitt’s chief opponent. Said Reid:

“The thought of him [McCain] being president sends a cold chill down my spine.”

Tabling, for a moment, the veracity of Reid’s claims to have a spine, I have to say this is a first. Finally he and I agree on something.

Kudos to Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) for the original quote, which Reid found clever enough to carry around in his wallet.

While the name of this Blog makes it pretty obvious for whom I will cast my vote in next week’s Virginia primary, I have yet to state clearly why it is I will support the former Bay State Governor, Mitt Romney, in that contest.

Like you, I have but one vote to cast. I take that responsibility seriously as it is the most important civic duty I will ever perform.

Mitt Romney is by far the most qualified person running for America’s highest political office. His accomplishments dwarf those of his opponents in every way possible. I have elaborated on those facts before and although they are relevant, they are not my main reason for voting the way I will.

I support Mitt Romney for one single reason:

Mitt Romney cannot be bought.

Simply put, Mitt sees his campaign’s biggest political contributor every morning in the mirror. He doesn’t have to deal with the pressures political donors put on those they help get elected once they’ve assumed the reigns of power. Should Mitt be fortunate enough to sit in the Big Chair, he will be free to govern as he sees fit and not be subject to the whims and dictates of any one of a number of special interest groups.

That one fact is extremely important.

John McCain can’t say that. Despite his best efforts to remove money from the political system via the free-speech travesty known as McCain-Feingold, he’s still subject to the requirement that campaigns require money. McCain raised less that $10 million in January – not enough for a national campaign. He’ll have to raise far more than that to have a decent shot at the Oval. Raising that kind of money has a cost – and that cost will be John McCain being beholden to the myriad of donors which put him in that chair.

Mike Huckabee has even less money on hand than McCain. If he had a realistic shot at the Oval, I’d discuss him, but as he has a better shot of winning the Miss America contest, I will dismiss his candidacy without further argument for this post.

The Republican Party has a choice over the next few weeks. We can stay with the back room brokered establishment factory produced candidates who take office with a long list of people to re-pay and go about business as usual, or we can vote for a change. We can vote for a man who is beholden to no one but himself – and the voters.

Mitt Romney cannot be bought.

It really is that simple.

I’ve said this before, and I make no bones about saying it again.

Mike Huckabee is a man without honor.

Maybe you’ve thought I just say that because I believe he’s only in this campaign to siphon off votes from Mitt. This fact is not in dispute.

Today, however, both he and McCain have taken the political system to a new low – something that truly requires the combination of shamelessness and desperation embodied by those two campaigns.

In the West Virginia Caucus, when it became apparent that Mitt would pull out the first victory of this Super Tuesday, Huck and McCain supporters (obviously working in tandem) got together to combine their delegates against Mitt. Huckabee won his first caucus since Iowa – only with the support of McCain backers intent on derailing the Mitt Express.

If McCain and Huck are going to collude their campaigns, then the time has come for McCain to announce Huck as his VP. To continue Huck’s charade of a campaign is simply dishonest, dishonorable, and makes a mockery of the political primary system.

This tactic is a travesty and West Virginia should be ashamed they allowed themselves to be used in such a fashion.

Memo to Huck: Win fair, or go home. Actually, in truth, you should have gone home a very long time ago. You are a man without honor – and your national political future is over. End Memo.