Novak diagnoses the great irony of contemporary Republican politics: the machine that Bush and Rove built has no candidate. And the moderate candidates that are now the front-runners are busy sliming each other as liberals. Money quote:
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) attracting right-wingers nationwide to Washington this weekend, Citizens United will distribute a 23-page attack on McCain. "He’s no Ronald Reagan," it begins, and concludes: "John McCain is not a conservative." (McCain is the only announced Republican presidential hopeful not scheduled to speak at CPAC.) Simultaneously, McCain operatives are putting out material that depicts Giuliani riding into City Hall on the shoulders of the New York Liberal Party as a throwback to the old Tammany Hall Democratic machine.
Will a viable alternative run? Why not Santorum? These contradictions need heightening, if the Republicans truly are going to leave their recent past behind – or embrace it more thoroughly.
The Dish 