I’d like to make an appeal to Rush, Sean, Laura, Glenn and others in the camp. SETTLE DOWN!!

Yes, it is true that McCain is not a particularly palatable candidate to Conservatives. No, McCain is not the man Conservatives would want as the Republican nominee. Yes, conservatives are frustrated and angry over the failure of the GOP machine to put forth a Reagan-Conservative candidate… but the fact of the matter is that Romney is NOT trusted by many conservatives, and DISLIKED by many others.

The primary process is tainted.  While it is SUPPOSED to be the process by which the parties select THEIR candidate, there are many open primaries, adulterated by independents and crossovers.  This boosted McCain. And winner-take-all states result in a non-representative apportionment of delegates as well. This state of affairs is unfortunate and distressing, however it is what it is and whining about it is neither productive nor attractive!

We conservatives must acknowledge that a Romney nomination after Super-Tuesday is extremely unlikely, and Huckabee is almost mathematically eliminated… BUT Huckabee isn’t really a spoiler for Romney, as most Huckabee supporters lean more toward McCain than Romney. A McCain nomination, while lamentable, is nearly a feit accompli. A McCain/Huckabee ticket is likely. If the Missouri Bellwether holds true, either McCain or Obama will be the next President of the United States. Continual complaining about it is simply distasteful.

McCain is certainly a flawed candidate. In the primary process, it was and is appropriate to raise these issues and attempt to dissuade voters from supporting him over other options… however as it becomes more apparent that he WILL be the nominee, we must remember three facts:

1) As poor a conservative as McCain is – it is preferable to deny the presidency to Hillary/Obama than to deny it to McCain. While McCain is on the wrong side of several issues, either Democrat is on the wrong side of nearly ALL issues.

2) Reagan himself once said one who agrees with you 80% of the time is not 20% your enemy. (Especially when the alternative is one who IS 100% your enemy!)

3) Falling on your sword in protest of not getting your way only has one result… your death!

We have had to hold our nose and vote for the “lesser of two evils” before. We will have to in November. It probably won’t be the last time.

So, not only the tone, but the focus of the political debate must now begin to shift from the primary season mode of winnowing the candidates to strategizing how we conservatives will proceed given the topology of the political landscape and its presumptive nominees.

Therefore, may I strongly recommend that we shift the focus off the blemishes of McCain and instead begin to focus in earnest on PROMOTING conservative candidates for the House and Senate – where a conservative majority can keep WHOEVER is in the White House in check! While the Executive Branch is indeed important, representing one-third of the Government; we must remember that the President PROPOSES, while it is CONGRESS that “disposes”. Laws and appropriations are made by the legislative branch. We must shift our emphasis from the presidency to electing a conservative congress capable of overriding a veto!

Instead of a raucous rant against McCain at this point – which is only serving to divide the Right and strengthen the Left – we should begin a POSITIVE push for conservatives in Congress.