Beloved GOP uniter Lindsey Graham lays hands upon McCain's troubled campaign (Freeps hate his ass)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Senators John McCain, left, and Lindsey Graham, a supporter of his, being screened Wednesday before boarding a flight from Phoenix to Washington.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: February 7, 2008

Pressure on McCain to Reconcile With Conservatives

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/politics/07conservative.html

Senator John McCain of Arizona might have expected his appearance on Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington to be a gracious makeup session with his former critics on the right. He hoped to arrive as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

But Mike Huckabee’s surprise success across the South this week has put an end to any thought of an easy reconciliation. Campaigning well to Mr. McCain’s right on social issues and to his left on economics, Mr. Huckabee at once thwarted conservative efforts to back Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, and deprived Mr. McCain of his chance to lock up the nomination, prolonging the standoff between the senator and his foes.

With just 9 of the day’s 21 nominating contests and less than half the total vote going to Mr. McCain, the results from the contests on Tuesday put new pressure on him to shore up his right flank at a time when he had hoped to begin preparing to take on the Democrats for more moderate voters.

“He is going to have to bend, and as we know, that doesn’t come easily to the senator,” said Lee Edwards, a Heritage Foundation historian who studies the conservative movement. “But does he want to win?”

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. They Also Imply He's Gay As Does Rush

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