McCAIN MAY BE THE FRONT RUNNER AMONG THE PYGMIES BUT CONSERVATIVES STILL HATE HIM AND SAY HE CAN'T WIN

The latest CNN and CBS polls (confirmed by an ABC/WaPo poll) shows that of all the Republicans seeking to personify a third term for George Bush, it is McCain who comes closest to not losing in a general election match up against either Hillary or Obama. (Romney does worst of all-- being beaten to a bloody pulp, down 22% against Hillary-- and The Huckster doesn't do much better.)

McCain has always been a media darling, which calls him a "moderate" in the face of an extreme far right voting record; in the current session only 17 senators have been more reactionary than McCain, mostly KKK-supporters and neo-fascists like David "Diapers" Vitter (LA), Miss McConnell (KY), the two Oklahoma psychpaths, Inhofe and Coburn, Georgia's two very rotten peaches, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, and, of course, Grand Dragons Jim DeMint (SC) and Dick Burr (NC). They also tend to overlook-- and even distort-- his ethical lapses, like his near-death experience when he was caught taking massive bribes from Charles Keating in the S&L scandal that cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars or his close ties with the most corrupt elements on K Street. Normally the intrepid media just takes him image-building distortions at face value and echo them.

Today's Washington Post, however, is echoing a different sort of Republican-- the ones who really loathe McCain. And there are lots in that camp. (On the other hand, the Post does slant the story to making McCain sound slightly heroic and independent, two themes his p.r. machine insists on.)

"It is conceivable that he can be nominated because of the [primary] system we developed," said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a longtime McCain foe. "It's not conceivable that he could come out of this nomination fight or the national convention with the kind of enthusiastic support he is going to need for the general election."

The Post is sure to subtly remind readers that Keene is a fascist swine and so are McCain-haters Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist implying that McCain is Mr. Wonderful for standing up to them all.

"Here's who John McCain has angered: self-described conservative lobbyists who basically represent special interests," Weaver [a longtime and devious McCain operative] said. "They're angry at him because he has put the national interest in front of their special interests."

And without doubt, McCain has split the Republican establishment. While some in Bush's 2000 campaign orbit actively oppose him, others, such as GOP lobbyist Charles Black, are major figures in his campaign. Victory, Black said, has a way of bringing people around.

"In three or four weeks, everybody will be for McCain," he said.

Maybe so, but for now the anti-McCain forces are going all out to stop him. Many Republicans are in the "Anybody But McCain" camp.

Already, Keene says, his organization is examining a loan McCain took out to keep his campaign afloat, trying to determine if it can be fodder for an attack. [Anti-]Immigration groups are mobilizing on talk radio and the Internet.

Other ideological foes have made their positions clear. Gun Owners of America, a smaller rival of the National Rifle Association, has gone after McCain on the Internet over his efforts to close the gun show background-check loophole.

"This year it appears he is seeking to 'come home' to the pro-gun community, but the wounds are deep and memories long," the group warns on its Web site.

Keene said, "That latent hostility is there, and if these groups have a chance to ignite it, it's not going to go away."

Rick Santorum isn't in the Senate any longer and he doesn't have to pretend to be polite. He's rallying the far right extremists in the GOP tent to make a last stand against a McCain nomination.