McCain Thinks He's Still The Leader Of The Republican Party

Yesterday McCain-- currently stumbling around Afghanistan, clearly deranged and cut off from all reality, crowing about how "great" everything is there-- tweeted that he's the "Leading Voice of the Party." I'm sure DeMint, the teabagger puppeteers, Mitt Romney, and even Palin were giggling up their sleeves.



Presumably even the Republicans who don't follow him on Twitter read it in the Inside-the-Beltway-Stenography Daily:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona is the most influential player in the Republican Party, according to a new Harris Poll out Thursday.

Sixty-four percent of the 2,276 adults surveyed nationwide said McCain is influential in steering the direction of the Republican Party, a 14-percentage-point edge over his closest rivals: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and radio host Rush Limbaugh, both of whom were rated as influential by 50 percent all of those polled.

Even among just the Republican polled, McCain ran away from the field, getting picked by 68 percent. Only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was also picked as influential by at least 60 percent of Republicans.

Among just Republicans, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was selected as the third most influential, getting picked by 59 percent. Gingrich placed fourth with 57 percent, while Limbaugh and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tied for fifth with 56 percent.

Only 31 percent of Republicans polled said Michael Steele, the party’s national chairman, is influential within the GOP.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is seen as influential to 48 percent of Republicans.

The last two numbers can be easily explained in terms of what kinds of people decide to become Republicans. As Gingrich told the L.A. Times yesterday, "Steele makes a number of old-time Republicans very nervous... he's African-American." Gingrich says he makes them mad but the lack of respect and admiration for Mitch "Miss" McConnell (R-KY)-- the highest ranking elected Republican in national politics-- probably has something to do with his status as a closet case, which doesn't only make Republicans mad, it drives them mad! (They don't have anything against closet cases, per se; they just hate gays.)

So who do they like? Someone white and male and clean in a 3-piece suit with a lot of money. GOP insiders have now completely soured on Sarah Palin and are determined the beat back the barbarian teabagger hordes threatening to take over their party-- and consume it with extremism and cannibalism-- by forcing through the nomination of Mitt Romney.

A poll of GOP insiders suggests that ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has little support among the party's professional class-- and maybe that's just how she wants it.

In a survey of 109 party leaders, political professionals and pundits, Palin finished 5th on the list of candidates most likely to win the party's '12 WH nomination. Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) was the overwhelming choice.

62% of GOP insiders say Romney's the best bet to win the 2012 GOP nomination. Palin is tied for 5th place with Mitch Daniels (an old Bush Regime hand-me-down who's governor of Indiana). In between are Pawlenty, Thune, and Barbour, while Palin did get more votes than Gingrich, Huckabee, Jeb Bush, and Bobby Jindal. Oddly, neither Cheney nor McCain, the GOP's two preeminent spokesmen on the Sunday TV bobblehead shows, got even one vote between them. And what about Glenn Beck. Why do Republican Insiders hate the teabaggers? (That's rhetorical; we know why.)

Does Palin care? She probably knows she isn't remotely qualified to be president-- and that the public knows it as well. And meanwhile she's just raking in the dough-- according to her once-almost-son-in-law-turned-porn-star, all she's ever cared about anyway-- from her adoring teabagger fans. Anyway, despite the teabaggers, it certainly looks like the fix is in and Romney will be the one to go up against Obama in 2012. Republicans may like the anti-Establishment noises the teabaggers are making when the Democrats have their hands on the levers of the Establishment but, let's be real, what are Republicans if not an anti-populist, status quo protection racket? Romney was made for them, regardless of how entertaining Palin is when she speaks at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in April (which also features GOP hacks Pawlenty, Barbour, Gingrich, Huckabee, Sonny Perdue, Rick Perry and Sean Hannity-- but no McCain). No doubt, in between when Rubio wins the GOP nomination in Florida and then loses the general election, he'll rocket to the top of the GOP presidential primary list. That should be funny 'cuase if you thought Palin wasn't ready for prime time, wait 'til you hear this imbecile babbling away on the national stage!