The irony of Romney's withdrawal

Last week Mitt Romney withdrew from the race for the GOP nomination for president. He stated that he was doing it for the good of the party and against his personal inclinations because he hates to lose. He stated that his persistence in the race would forestall a national campaign by the eventual nominee (John McCain) and hurt the Republican party.

Romney had previously been hoping for Mike Huckabee to drop out and make it a two man race in which he could run as the anti-McCain, an idea that appealed to many conservatives including myself. But alas Huckabee did not drop out and Romney read the tea leaves. With two alternatives to McCain, neither would have enough support to beat McCain. So despite being second in delegate count and having raised more money than any other GOP candidate and also having a personal reserve to keep going, Romney stepped aside to make way for McCain's nomination.

One problem though. Huckabee is still hanging around. And though Huckabee has almost no shot at the nomination he is bloodying McCain in the remaining primaries and caucuses around the country. If Huckabee persists McCain will limp home to the nomination in November and appear even weaker than he already is.

Now that would normally be good news for people like me who can't stomach McCain but Huckabee makes me wretch even more. The way this primary cycle has unfolded has made me sick to my stomach.

So the irony is that Romney withdrew to clear a path for McCain, who had been on great terms with the Huckabee camp and now Huckabee has become the messenger delivering the message about how much Republicans hate McCain.

Good.

That's what McCain gets for playing the two-man game against Fred and then Romney.

Screw him.