The talk-show host's lament (litmus-test Republicanism)

The talk-radio host’s lament:

They sent a candidate who was a twice-divorced mayor, but I didn’t believe in divorce, so I couldn’t vote for him.

Then they sent a Mormon businessman, but I wasn’t a Mormon, so I couldn’t vote for him.

Then they sent a working-class preacher, but I wasn’t working class, so I couldn’t vote for him.

Then they sent a fiscally responsible war hero, but I wanted more tax cuts, so I couldn’t vote for him.

And in the end, when it came time for me to vote, there was no one left to vote for.

Except Hillary or Obama.

Ross Douthat in today’s New York Times:

The failure of conservative voters to fall in line behind Mr. Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, among others, reflects a deeper problem for the movement’s leadership. With their inflexibility, grudge-holding and eagerness to evict heretics rather than seek converts, too many of conservatism’s leaders sound like the custodians of a dwindling religious denomination or a politically correct English department at a fading liberal-arts college.

Or like yesterday’s Democratic Party. The tribunes of the American right have fallen into the same bad habits that doomed their liberal rivals to years of political failure.

In spite of his record as a maverick, John McCain has become the presumptive nominee by running a classic Republican campaign, emphasizing strength abroad and limited government at home, with nods to his pro-life record. His opponents in the conservative movement, by contrast, have behaved like caricatures of liberals, emphasizing a host of small-bore litmus tests that matter more to Beltway insiders than to the right-winger on the street. Link.