Back to the Republicans

Which is a pretty appropriate description of members of that party in the grassroots right now, because so many people who would otherwise seem aligned in principles and values have splintered into smaller groups that are turning their backs on one candidate or another of their party….or all but their own candidate. And it seems that whatever backing (no pun intended) they have for any particular candidate is, by and large, uneasy at best. Terribly uneasy.

We’re hearing the word “angst” an awful lot right now. It’s become a buzzword in this campaign the way “gravitas” did back in 2000 when George Bush chose Dick Cheney as his running mate (But does he have enough gravitas, the press wondered constantly.)

So why angst? Or….is it truly angst among the conservative electorate, or just the media saying so?

It’s truly angst. The media have written off Mike Huckabee and they never let Ron Paul in to begin with. Yet both have a tremendously hopeful (but nervous) base who see them as the truest pro-life and most consistently moral candidates in the race. This race is by no means over and Super Tuesday will count the votes of 22 states, nearly half of the nation. The nervous base of both men are trying to mobilize supporters to disregard media punditry (which is increasingly easy to do) and get out the vote.

Here’s one take on a party at odds with itself, Peggy Noonan’s insight.

If you go by the Florida returns, maybe this year positions aren’t everything. Republicans on the ground think the conservative is the one who suffered 5½ years in the Hanoi Hilton. Republicans on the ground think the conservative is the one who has endured a lifetime in the rounds in Washington and survived as antispending, antiabortion and pro-military. Republicans on the ground think the conservative is the old fighter jock who’ll keep the country safe in a rocky time ahead. And maybe Republicans on the ground are saying: He earned it.

The conventional wisdom is Mr. Romney can’t win it while Mike Huckabee’s in it. If Mr. Huckabee dropped out, Mr. Romney might pick up his conservatives. But Mr. Huckabee seems very happy running, and perhaps happy thinking of his future as the Mitt slayer in the party of John.

Mr. McCain seems to me to have two immediate problems, both of which he might address. One is that he doesn’t seem to much like conservatives, and never has. They can’t help admire him, but they’ve disagreed with him on so many issues, and when they bring this up his demeanor tends to morph into the second problem: He radiates, he telegraphs, a certain indignation at being questioned by people who’ve never had to vote in Congress and make a deal.

And that indignation is getting more pronounced. It was very evident in the debate this week at the Reagan Library, especially unleashed on Romney.

Couple of particular points in this column bear highlighting. One, McCain is “not getting even close to half the vote, as the presumptive nominee should.”

And two, “the great unruly base may be doing some redefining.” If nothing else is clear, that is.

The Republican party and the conservative movement in America are trying to find themselves, and in the process are forced to define who they are and what are the principles on which they stand. The pro-life plank is the beam that has supported the Republican platform. It came loose when the party flirted with Rudy Giuliani. If they don’t nail it down now, it won’t hold the party, and they will have to begin to build again.

Cnn photo