The Perfect Storm

This was originally going to be a long blog post.  However, yesterday I decided to make it a long blogcast monologue instead.  Suffice it to say, however unlikely the route by which the Republican Party has plummeted to the point where its worst enemy is now the frontrunner for its 2008 presidential nomination, and however much sunshine Preator Hewitt tries to blow up conservatives' bloomers about the "surge" toward Mitt Romney in the past few days, the numbers still say something otherwise.

For the details, check the "state by state" tab here.  Here is the list, by candidate, of the state by state leaders going into Super-Duper Tuesday:

McCAIN - Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia

ROMNEY - Alaska (est.), Colorado, Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota (est.), Utah 

HUCKABEE - Arkansas (est.)

That's fourteen McCain states to Romney's six, assuming Huckles takes his home state as a "favorite son".  That's approximately two-thirds of the available delegates on Tuesday landing in McCain's pile.  That will put McCain more than halfway to the nomination not counting the two hundred or so additional that Huckles will surrender to him once their combined total exceeds the magic number of 1,191.

I want to believe that talk radio and the blogosphere can pull an Eli Manning-like rabbit out of the hat with thirty-five seconds left in regulation and rocket Mitt Romney to an overpowering comeback that foils Darth Queeg and keeps the GOP in Reaganian hands.  I want that worse than Rush, Hugh, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Michael Reagan, and Ann Coulter combined.  And I wish to God the numbers showed it.

But they don't.

Nobody will beat me to the first cheer if I turn out to be wrong.  But even if the Mittster does do better than expected, even if he can extend this fight all the way to Minneapolis, a brokered convention will still nominate McCain because the GOP establishment is already behind him, and unlike the Dems, our party is not known for its "outsider" insurgencies.  And for all those 1976 parallels gestating out there, Mitt Romney ain't no Ronald Reagan.

But he ain't no John McCain either.

It's a bitter shame such a virtue is destined to go so unappreciated - and unheeded.

UPDATE: The Admiral concurs.

UPDATE II: Ditto Patrick Ruffini.