Lowry on McCain

Rich Lowry, NRO's designated adult, starts to get an inkling about something that a lot of Repubs are overlooking about Palin/McCain. It's an anti-Repub ticket. That is, it leans toward the populist forces of the party that have been taken for granted and used as shock troops by the Repub leaders for so long without a payoff. After Katrina there is an anti-establishment mood out there among the volk. It has a 'liberal' expression and that is what the Demos have been banking on. But it also has a distinct and large 'conservative' expression. If McCain can actually carry out his stated agenda, the Repub party apparat is in for considerable heartburn. If the steele cupcake has anything to do with it they might get a dose of genuine right wing Christian populism. Rather than Dan Quayle think Evita.

For what it's worth, here's part of Lowry's analysis:

Then again, McCain's message wasn't always congenial to these delegates. You never would've known that he's a Republican running when Republicans have held the White House for the last eight years. There was a nod to President Bush for keeping us safe at the top; after that, McCain made the case for getting "this country moving again" - typically an out-party message.

The reaction in the hall was tepid to his diagnosis of how the GOP has lost the trust of the public, and to his pledges to work cooperatively with all well-intentioned comers in a nonpartisan manner. But his real audience was out in the country, where traditional GOP politics is a tough sell this year.

He HAS to run against the Repub establishment. I think that doing so actually appeals to him. He may even mean it. But can he pull it off once in office?