Most of us ‘movement’ conservatives shuddered at the very idea of Sen. John McCain winning the GOP nomination for President.  In hindsight, perhaps we did ourselves no favors by thinking that we put that problem to bed after the 2000 primary, not anticipating a sequel on steroids.  Oops!

       All kidding aside, the irony – and the very thing that sticks in the craw of the GOP base – of McCain’s ascendancy in the party primary is that he violated most standard primary protocols to get where he is right now.  Conventional wisdom has it that in the primary, you are to play to your base in order to get the nomination; your base will then theoretically forgive you if you feel you have to moderate your stance on some positions so as to appeal to some mealy-mouthed moderates in the general election.

       And therein lies the point of consternation with McCain and the base.  He made practically zero effort to address their (our) perceived needs during the primary until the C-PAC convention this past Friday.  Until now, he has gotten by on appealing to “moderates” and “liberals” within the party, as well as conservatives not attuned to the messages from the blogosphere and talk radio.  One thing that we conservatives particularly despised was his blatant refusal to drill in ANWR during a Republican debate at the Reagan Library.  The issue about tapping more sources for oil at home is something we Republicans have been fighting hard for since the beginning of this decade.

       Up until now, it would seem that McCain’s prohibitive favorite status at winning the Republican nomination is a huge cloud over the large, conservative wing of the party.  Yet every cloud has its silver lining, and this one shines especially brightly.  McCain is no fool, though he might act like one on occasions (e.g., McCain-Feingold, The Gang of 14, etc.).  He realizes that he has essentially painted himself into a corner, one that he cannot get out of without now making strong efforts to win over the conservative base.  Simply put, he needs our help to win the big prize come November, and he knows it.

       Credit him for trying to fix his self-inflicted dilemma.  One key name he has brought onto his team roster is Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General for Dubya, and a very reliable conservative who is quite adept at giving the presumptive nominee wise counsel in selecting the right judges – both literally and figuratively! – for the Federal bench.  Let us not forget the impending vacancies at SCOTUS.  Justice John Paul Stevens is 88 this year; he’s not long for this world, much less the court.  Ruth Bader (Buzzy) Ginsberg is 74 this year, and reportedly not in the best of health when compared to the other justices.  With just one constructionist replacement in the activist wing of the Supreme Court, we will have a rock-ribbed conservative majority that will quell any and all attempts at judges legislating from the bench.  Perhaps it is therefore no surprise that Miguel Estrada, the former embattled nominee to the DC Circuit Court, endorsed McCain this past week.

       Then there’s the war (remember that little issue?).  One of McCain’s points of appeal to conservatives from the get-go was the he would not hesitate to use all available and necessary force to defeat the likes of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the thugs running Syria, or any other enemy to the United States.  The bottom line is, the next four years after Bush-43 are going to be too critical to be left to Hillary or Obama to mess up.  McCain himself is probably well aware of this, but it doesn’t dispel the fact that he needs us to help him stave off the Dems from the White House.  We can keep him honest with some conservatives starting to embrace him, while others play hard-to-get, as blogger Matt Lewis explains.