Back to Normal... or As Normal As It Gets Around Here

Well, now. Yesterday was certainly… interesting, eh? Speaking strictly about politics, of course. I’ll freely admit to getting a lil bit wrapped around the axle because of yesterday’s events, and I’ll also admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. To be blunt: yesterday was the first spark of enthusiasm and/or excitement I’ve felt in this primary season. Perhaps it’s because we (the Republicans) apparently have a nominee and we can concentrate our energies and resources on the national campaign. There’s just one lil problem, though: no one has told Mike Huckabee (or that doctor from Texas, mentioned only because he’s…well, still there) that the Fat Lady is done singing and has, in fact, left the building. About which: this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What does Romney's getting out mean? And how hard is it going to be for John McCain?

RICHARD LAND: Well, Romney's getting out means that the most likely challenger to John McCain is now out of the race. And I've known Governor Huckabee for 28 years. He's a great guy. But I don't think anyone but Governor Huckabee and his wife think that he has a realistic chance of beating John McCain to the nomination, given the delegate counts that are currently in place.

And so it effectively means John McCain -- barring some health catastrophe or barring some unknown scandal that no one knows about -- he's going to be the Republican nominee.

And I think that -- look, John McCain is pro-life. Now, if Rudy Giuliani had been the nominee, it would have split the party. But John McCain has a reliable pro-life record that goes back to his days in Congress. It's not spotless, but it's pretty reliable.

And, you know, the conservative rating groups give him an 80 percent to 85 percent rating on his voting record. He's a pretty conservative guy.

Which seems to be the received wisdom across the board. I cannot remember hearing one single talking-head saying “this ain’t over” last evening…not one… unless you consider Huckabee himself to be a “talking head.” I do not. There’s interesting analysis at the link, by the way, from Richard Land (the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) and David Bossie (president of Citizens United, a conservative nonprofit organization). Neither of which were McCain supporters, but both of which admit, somewhat grudgingly, that McCain is acceptable. It’s a start.

I think the remaining GOP primaries might could be interesting, if the “anyone but McCain” group decide to mount an intensive campaign for Huckabee. Or, God Forbid…Ron Paul. Yet: it’s still VERY early days and approximately half the states have yet to hold their primaries. It could be interesting, in the Chinese proverb sense.

We’ll see.

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In the meantime, look for a whole helluva lot of articles like this one in the very near future. Excerpt:

The Republican Party spent decades building its brand as the party of small government, free enterprise and fiscal discipline. That brand put Ronald Reagan in the White House in 1980 and gave Republicans control of Congress in 1994. When it became clear two years ago that Republicans had abandoned those principles, voters swept them from power.

The path back requires re-establishing the GOP as a party of limited government and economic freedom. This is essential to Mr. McCain's political future, the fortune of his party, and the economic well-being of the nation. And the first big indication that he intends to bring back the party of Reagan will be who Mr. McCain taps as his running mate.

The WSJ talks about some of the usual suspects and some unusual ones, as well. One intriguing name I heard mentioned last night is Kay Bailey Hutchison. I could buy that… OTOH, either Romney hisownself or Fred wouldn’t upset me, either.

More ideas here, here, and at The Weekly Standard, whose article concludes with “This list will grow like kudzu.” No kidding. Ya think?

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A lot of folks have been dissing Peggy Noonan of late, but she has a block-buster of a column in today’s WSJ… “Can Mrs. Clinton Lose?” Excerpt:

If Hillary Clinton loses, does she know how to lose? What will that be, if she loses? Will she just say, "I concede" and go on vacation at a friend's house on an island, and then go back to the Senate and wait?

Is it possible she could be so normal? Politicians lose battles, it's part of what they do, win and lose. But she does not know how to lose. Can she lose with grace? But she does grace the way George W. Bush does nuance.

She often talks about how tough she is. She has fought "the Republican attack machine" that has tried to "stop" her, "end" her, and she knows "how to fight them." She is preoccupied to an unusual degree with toughness. A man so preoccupied would seem weak. But a woman obsessed with how tough she is just may be lethal.

The bits about Hillary are good, but it’s Noonan’s observations about Obama…and you simply cannot discuss Hillary without talking about Obama… that grabbed my attention. She’s very, very astute on that subject, and the GOP had best begin working on this lil problema toot sweet. I’m sure McCain’s folks already are.

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Today’s Pics: Motorcycles Past. I may have mentioned that there was a time in life…an extended time, like four years or so… when I didn’t own a car. At this particular point in time (1975 - 1977) I owned three motorcycles, two of which you see here, and another RD-350 that served as a “parts bike” for the gold motorcycle in these pictures.

The gold bike is a Yamaha RD-350B (it might could be an RD-350A but I doubt if anyone can tell the difference, not that it matters a whole helluva lot, anyway) and that was my “daily driver” for nearly two years. That bike took The Second Mrs. Pennington and I all over Tokyo and quite a few other places, most notably the mountains and vicinity around the Kanto Plains. I kept it basically stock, primarily because I didn’t have the money to build it out at the time. But I told folks it was all about “re-sale value” and other white lies.

The bike with the red tank is a DT-1, or perhaps a DT-250, which I purchased for the princely sum of $50.00…if memory serves. The guy I bought it from told me it didn’t run and I was welcome to it…make an offer. So I did. The day I went to pick it up I took a brand new spark plug with me, a new set of points, and an assortment of tools. I replaced the plug, kicked the bike through twice with the ignition off, switched the ignition on, kicked it again…once… and it started right up. I rode it home, finished the tune-up, kept it for about a year and sold it for three times what I paid for it the week before I left Japan. That bike was one of the most cost-effective, not to mention FUN, motorcycles I’ve ever owned, bar none. I wish I had it today.

The pics were taken in the parking lot outside of the Single NCO Quarters at Yokota AB, Japan, where I lived after TSMP left Japan in late 1976. Note the cherry blossoms in the second pic... Yokota was a beautiful air force base…as far as air force bases go.