sic semper tyrannis

I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again: Mike Huckabee is a class act. While one might question why he stayed in the delegate hunt long after it was mathematically impossible for him to win, he had his reasons.

First is as he stated: to have come in second, ahead of Mitt Romney. Second is to keep his name in front of the voters, and the party movers and shakers. Perhaps for the veepstakes; perhaps just to get a leg up for 2012 if McCain loses the general election.

From the WaPo article about John McCain’s clinching the nomination:

Huckabee conceded the nomination shortly after the polls closed in Texas and it was clear the race was over. He said he called McCain at about 9 p.m. “I extended to him not only my congratulationss (sic), but my commitment…to unite our party, but more importantly to unite our country.”

Amen to that, Brother Mike. As for the nominee, another class act, John McCain, reminds us that he is different than either of his prospective rivals:

“They are liberal Democrats,” McCain said of his potential opponents. “I am a conservative Republican.”

He could have used the word “very” to modify liberal. Both Hillary and Obama are tax-and-spend folks who never met a centrally-planned enterprise they didn’t love. A centrally-planned enterprise financed with tax dollars that come out of pockets: yours, and mine.

Barack Obama has been touted, and has touted himself, as a post-racial candidate. The mainstream media laps it up like a cat drinking catnip-laced cream, of course. Folks who vote for Obama are demonstrating that they’re not racists. But is this true?

Here’s the Bradley effect question: Will primary voters continue to support a demonstrably black candidate during the general election? Up until now, whites voting for Obama have had a feel-good-about-myself vibe going. Sure, a lot of whites voted against Hillary Clinton. Who wouldn’t? She’s not very likable, and a worse campaigner.

Say what you will about John McCain, he’s got that genuine hero thing going for him, and he simply doesn’t rile up the negative feelings that Hillary does. So, conventional wisdom on our side is that she’d be easier to beat than St. Barack of Obama. But then that ugly Bradley effect thing raises its head, and as we get ever-deeper into the primary season, Obama is looking a lot more like a Jesse Jackson candidate.

Meaning one who appeals primarily to young and uninformed whites, especially college students, and to blacks. For example, in Texas, the WaPo graphic shows that Obama has “campaigned almost exclusively in these [heavily African-American] areas.”

Smart politics for the primary, since the Donks award greater numbers of delegates to state senatorial districts that have been the most loyal in recent elections. But this won’t work in the general election. Most voters aren’t black; most whites don’t care if the candidate is black per se, but I’d guess that they do care, negatively, if that is how the candidate identifies himself.

Which is why Obamamania may have peaked already. Barack Obama now looks a lot more like Jesse Jackson than he did two months ago. And cracks have begun to appear in his shiny façade (e.g. “NAFTAgate” with his apparent lying about what was said to the Canadians).

I think that Obama may turn out to be easier easier to beat in the general election than Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton has much, much more substance to her (which substance also includes extensive baggage), and, if Democrats would think for two or so minutes about what they would be buying with Obama, they should have, and likely will have, pre-emptive buyer’s remorse.