If the title of this posts strikes you as evidence that the author is lamentably uninformed, think again. Human Events editor Jed Babbin makes a strong case in his column today that the very large numbers of Democrats and Independents who were allowed to vote in the Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina primaries seriously diluted their value as GOP predictors. That means the upcoming Florida contest, which is open only to registered Republicans, is the first true GOP presidential primary of 2008.
Jed makes an especially important point in the process, noting that the issues that have heretofore dominated the GOP debates are more aligned with the interests and perspectives of Mainstream Media and voters who are distinctly not conservative or moderate Republicans.
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He also suggests some questions that the candidates haven’t yet had to address because of the disproportionate influence of the MSM and non-GOP voters, including this one for Sen. John McCain, R-AZ:
“Since your immigration reform bill was defeated last summer, you’ve said that you learned the lesson that border security must come first. Will you agree with conservatives that the borders must be secured — and the security proved objectively for at least two years — before there is any more talk of ‘guest worker programs’ or ‘paths to citizenship'”?
I think you would see a new display of McCain’s famous temper were you to press him for an address on those matters.
Here’s another question he probably doesn’t expect to be asked: How did you feel in 2005 when Sean Treglia inadvertently revealed that the supposed broad public support for the McCain-Feingold was in fact largely a manufactured astro-turfing effort by a small group of liberal foundations, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, that was aimed at Congress and the national media?
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