WonderfulPessimist.com

If the Florida primary catapults Arizona Senator John McCain past Mitt Romney to win the GOP presidential nomination, the truth will be plain and simple: conservatives have no “dog” in this dog fight. Even if a owned a plasma TV and a plasma tv mount, I would have found it hard to believe Tuesday’s primary results.

Since Florida is a “winner take all” state, all 57 delegates now go into McCain’s column. That puts McCain in front-runner status for the first time, with the following delegate count: McCain 93, Romney 59, Huckabee 40, Paul 4, and Giuliani 1. Ridiculously, McCain is now claiming he is the bearer of the “conservative mantle” in the GOP, despite a career of authoring anti-conservative legislation and being a pain in the ass to any remotely conservative president from Reagan forward to George W. Bush. When Hillary Rodham-Clinton is a closer friend than your own party’s president, guess what, John: YOU’RE NOT A CONSERVATIVE! NOT REMOTELY!

I mean, sure, Romney’s not an ideal conservative, but at least he’s leaning in the right direction. He speaks fondly of Ronald Reagan, at least. McCain speaks fondly of Hillary Clinton.

So, Florida – a state where voters claimed they couldn’t even understand how to mark a simple ballot back in 2000 – has decided to deliver the GOP nod to one of Washington’s top Democrats, RINO leader John McCain.

I am not exaggerating when I say I’d feel better voting for Barack Obama than John McCain; and that is NOT a vote that would make me feel that good on a political ideological level, believe me. But at least Obama is inspiring. McCain’s not.

And if it comes down to McCain or Hillary, for the first time in my life, I will vote third-party; basically, whoever runs on the libertarian ticket. I refuse to support John McCain, ever, and I know I’m hardly the only conservative who feels this way. I’m a conservative first, not a Republican, and if McCain is forced down our throats this time out, this is one conservative who won’t be swallowing this time.

If McCain wins the nomination, we will be witnessing the death of the Republican Party. Perhaps it’s time conservatives withdrew entirely and formed a real conservative party. I’ll make a prediction: McCain 2008 is Dole 1996 all over again. Same “it’s my turn” cronyism, same result: a Democratic victory. Let the Republican crack-up begin! (Notice I didn’t say conservative crack-up.)

I’ll even suggest a name for it: the Reagan Party.

I’ve spoken before about the good work done by Car Angel, but one thing I haven’t mentioned much is that cars are not the only sort of donations the company accepts; they also are willing to accept, restore and resell donated watercraft.

What’s all the fuss about? Why should people donate their used vehicles and watercraft to these folks? That’s easy. All the proceeds go to help make videos that help young children and teenagers in times of crisis. They’ve already given away over 2.4 million such videos to kids and teens in need, so they have their system down to a fine art.

A lot of times, charities will eat up a bunch of the money donated with so-called “overhead costs” or “administrative costs,” but that doesn’t seem to be the case with these folks; the restorations on donated vehicles are done gratis, and the proceeds of all sales go directly to fund the production and distribution of the videos in question. So if you’re looking to donate a car, or maybe even make a boat donation, check these guys out.

Over 2.4 million teens have already benefited; make sure they’re not the only ones.

Even now, a few weeks since I sampled the Gold Medal Wine of the Month Clubs, I still think about what a nice idea the whole thing is. I remember with fondness the drunken pasta my wife was able to prepare using the wine we received after sampling it.

Of course, some of the wines that are sent out each month are a bit too fancy to be appropriate for cooking; even so, they can work well in whatever context a person decides they like to consume the wine of their choice. If a person has good control over their consumption of alcohol, and knows how to appreciate a good wine, it’s certainly a subscription-based club worth checking out, no matter how you vote!

How can someone as liberal as John McCain or Mike Huckabee win in a GOP primary or caucus? Are they perhaps bribing caucus-goers to abandon principal in favor of, say, gold jewelry?

No, I believe a far different dynamic is at stake.

Most notably in Iowa and New Hampshire, but prevalent in many of the early primary and caucus states is a set of rules, established by the GOP and Democratic parties at the state level, that allow anyone to vote in the primary (or attend the caucus) of their choice without so much as even having to declare a party preference or even prove they are a resident of the state in question.

This policy, called “open participation” or “open attendance,” skews the results of such primaries away from the wishes of actual party members. This was most noticeable in New Hampshire and Iowa, where all a person had to do in say they hoped to live in those states someday soon, and they would be allowed to attend and participate in a caucus (in the case of Iowa) or vote in the primary in question (in the case of New Hampshire).

This means that Hollywood liberals with time to burn thanks to the writers strike could conceivably have attended the Iowa caucuses to vote for Huckabee, then voted in the New Hampshire primary for John McCain, just to prevent a more conservative candidate, like Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson, from gaining traction. It also means that the traveling staff of each campaign could conceivably do likewise, leaving a multiple-vote trail behind them as the primary and caucus season advances.

This open policy needs to end.

It should be the business of Republicans – and Republicans only – to select who they want to lead their party in a presidential contest; it should be the business of Democrats – and Democrats only – to select who they want to lead their party in a presidential contest.

The media admits the truth of the current situation when they report how well McCain is doing by drawing his support from Democrats and independents. Yet the bottom line is, they should have no say in who fronts the Republican ticket, since they are not Republicans.

WonderfulPessimist.com suggests that both parties pass new rules for 2012 and going forward that require proof of residency and, hopefully, a declaration of party preference, prior to allowing anyone in any state to participate in a state caucus or primary. Until then, the whole process is a joke.

So what should independents do during primary season, you ask? Simple.

Either choose a side or stay home.

While the barely-active Rudy Guiliani campaign has pretty much staked everything on the Florida primary, as have many other marginal candidacies looking for an injection of legal steroids in the political sense, the latest Rasmussen poll indicates Florida voters may actually be leaning toward the current delegate front-runner, Mitt Romney.

According to the poll, Romney is garnering 25 percent of GOP support, followed by John McCain at 20 percent, Guiliani at 19 percent, Mike Huckabee at 13 percent and Fred Thompson at 12 percent. Ron Paul trails badly with only five percent. Romney seems to be the candidate benefiting the most from the withdrawal over the weekend of California congressman Duncan Hunter from the race.

Romney is the current leader in states won to date, as well as delegate count. Of the top GOP candidates, Romney to date has won Michigan, Wyoming and Nevada, and come in second-place in Iowa and New Hampshire. By comparison, the mainstream-media-pushed RINO leader John McCain has only won in New Hampshire and South Carolina. The only other candidate to win a state was Mike Huckabee, who won in Iowa but hasn’t broken through since then.

In the delegate count, Romney has an early lead thanks in part to garnering so many first-place and second-place finishes. Even McCain is not close to Romney so far in the delegate count. While a victory in Florida could add fuel to any candidate’s bid, a decisive win in Florida could put the Romney campaign in an undisputed lead heading in to Super Tuesday.

According to the latest McClatchy/MSNBC poll of Michigan voters released Sunday, it appears Michigan, like Wyoming before it, may bring some sanity to the GOP presidential nomination race. Rather than falling for fake conservative Mike Huckabee or RINO leader John McCain, the Wolverine State Republicans are apparently leaning toward a real conservative, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is up on closest competitor John McCain, 30-22, an eight-point margin.

If that lead holds, Michigan could be the first big state to go for Romney and push his elector lead further ahead of his competitors. Behind the front two, Huckabee is third with 17 percent, followed by Fred Thompson with seven percent, Rudy Guiliani with six percent and Ron Paul with five percent. Michigan papers, known for their left-leaning editorial bias, put the Romney-McCain race closer, for the obvious reasons. Polls are typically an “invented news” method of political talent management on behalf of the mainstream media.

Still, the poll appears to include Democrats and independents who plan to vote in the GOP primary, so none of it is a true measure of GOP support; ultimately, it is the primary results themselves that matter most. The Michigan primary is scheduled for Tuesday, January 15.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of mustard, but here’s the thing: my wife is. So when we had a chance to try out a couple of Grey Poupon mustards, I knew it was a chance she would love.

Now, usually when I think mustard, I think of that nondescript yellow stuff, usually made by French’s, that I grew up never really caring for; of course, ever since Grey Poupon made their splash on the mustard scene, mustard is no longer limited to yellow and smooth as the primary descriptors. In fact, there is a huge variety of mustard available these days and Grey Poupon has led the way in the mustard revolution.

One of the first Grey Poupons we tried was the Harvest Coarse-Ground mustard they make. While featuring a yellow-tan main color, this mustard is speckled with a variety of brown shades that indicate the presence of whole, unground mustard seeds in the recipe. With a strong nose and a bold, vinegar-heavy taste, Harvest Coarse-Ground mustard is good for people who may like mustard seed when used in various recipes, but don’t care for the yellow glop found at most fast-food restaurants. In fact, it’s a mustard I could almost see using from time to time myself, and I’m not a huge fan of mustard.

My wife feels the best uses of it would include hamburgers, hot dogs, the base of a marinade, sandwiches and as a glaze in food preparation, as long is care is taken in what it is combined with and how it is applied.

The Hearty Spicy Brown variety of Grey Poupon’s, despite the name, is actually a milder mustard than the Harvest Coarse-Ground. However, it derives its distinct taste from the presence of horseradish, onions and apple cider vinegar, as well as some dried onions and garlic added in for extra zest.

The horseradish fortuantely doesn’t overpower the palate, and this mustard has a milder nose than the Harvest Course-Ground. My wife, who normally dislikes horseradish, enjoys the Hearty Spicy Brown. This mustard has a paler, white-tan color with smaller brown highlights. My wife feels the Hearty Spicy Brown would go best when used on white-meat sandwiches like turkey or chicken, as the base for a marinade, or as a cooking glaze for chicken. Whereas the Hearty Spicy Brown is a good compliment for most white meats, the Harvest Course-Ground seems better-matched to darker, bolder-tasting red meats.

Both mustards are excellent examples of how far removed gourmet mustard is from the yellow glop most of us remember from childhood or a trip to the local fast-food burger joint. Even those who don’t like that yellow stuff should take some time to try out modern gourmet mustards like Grey Poupon Harvest Course-Ground and Grey Poupon Hearty Spicy Brown, as well as the rest of the Grey Poupon lineup; what you taste may come as a pleasant surprise.

It’s been known to win some females everything from their way out of a traffic ticket to a discount on Chrysler 300 accessories, but on Tuesday in New Hampshire, bold feminist resorted to the oldest of feminine wiles to eke her way past Barack Obama to a primary win: she cried her way to victory.

Hillary’s trail of tears began on Monday when she had “a breakdown” on the afternoon before the critical New Hampshire primary. Barack Obama was polling eight points ahead of her, beyond the margin of error, when Sen. Rodham turned on the waterworks in public. The next day, the Senator from New York defeated the Senator from Illinois by a margin of about three percent, 39-36.

When Sen. Rodham declared she would make history with her presidential run, she wasn’t kidding. When Maine Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie appeared to be weeping during an emotional defense of his wife after an article appeared in a New Hampshire newspaper critical of her, the apparent tears (which Muskie claimed was melted snow – and it was snowing that day) cost Muskie all the momentum of his candidacy and the Democrats went on to nominate left-wing loon George McGovern in 1972.

With her tear-filled victory in New Hampshire, Clinton has spiritually vindicated Muskie by proving – at least for the moment – that it may indeed be possible to cry your way into the White House.

Don’t attempt to adjust your HDMI cables just yet; that was indeed RINO leader Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claiming victory in the New Hampshire Republican primary yesterday. The WonderfulPessimist.com-endorsed candidate, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, came in second, just as he did in Iowa.

This result is not a surprise. In Wyoming over the weekend, Romney won the state handily because there were rules in place to make sure that those voting in the GOP caucus were actually Wyoming residents and GOP supporters. In Iowa and New Hampshire, proof of residency and party affiliation were not requires and so the potential for crossover voting to curb the conservative candidate’s momentum was high.

Be that as it may, results are results and the zombie-like McCain makes it two states in a row where the liberal media has chosen a favorite RINO to prop up in order to rob the conservative Romney of victory. In Iowa, the RINO of the moment was former Arizona Gov. Mike Huckabee; in New Hampshire, McCain.

Realistically, however, all that does is split the three earliest states to one each for Romney, McCain and Huckabee. Despite liberal media wishful thinking, Romney’s campaign is not devastated or on the verge of pulling out; he confirmed Tuesday he’s in it till then end.

“There have been three races so far. I’ve gotten two silvers and one gold – thank you Wyoming,” Romney said Tuesday night in a post-results press conference. “On to Michigan and South Carolina and Florida and Nevada. I’ll fight to be back here in November in those states and others.”

With 47 states to go, Romney remains the conservative candidate with the best chance of winning; Fred Thompson was barely a blip on the radar in New Hampshire, which means most of his supporters must be swinging toward Romney. It remains an interesting race, with a lot at stake for the future of the GOP.

Romney is the candidate who will offer Americans a choice; McCain, Huckabee and Guiliani offer only echoes of the Democrats.

Fake conservative Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, may have won in Iowa last night, but don’t expect a repeat performance in New Hampshire. In the Iowa caucus, self-described evangelical Christians voted their religion over issues to boost Huckabee to a dominating win, 34 percent over Mitt Romney’s 25 percent. Yet the surprise of the night – a pleasant one for conservatives – was Fred Thompson’s unexpectedly strong showing, edging out John McCain for third place by about 350 votes, though both had roughly 13 percent of the vote.

Yet now that the campaign moves beyond Iowa, Huckabee’s campaign is about to go on diet pills; unlike Iowa, New Hampshire voters will study policies and records more than prayer chains and church attendance. That ought to favor Gov. Romney, who neither pardoned nor commuted any prisoners while in office in Massachusetts, compared to Huckabee, who pardoned over 1,000 prisoners, including 12 murderers.

Fiscally? Huckabee raised sales taxes in Arkansas by 37 percent and oversaw a budget that ballooned by 65 percent. Compare that to Romney, who turned a $3 billion deficit into a surplus without raising taxes. There’s another issue-oriented advantage of substance.

And keep in mind that all of this is skewed in that Rudy Guiliani is not taking part in either Iowa or New Hampshire, so his numbers are artificially low, and thus McCain and Huckabee’s numbers are artificially high. As the campaign moves into Michigan and Florida, all this could change.

If the party of Ronald Reagan is to retain its conservative soul, Romney is the party’s best hope, and Romney-Thompson ticket could easily be this year’s dream team.