I was ten years old when Ronald Reagan gave his Fight On speech in 1976.  I'm sure my parents had it on, but of course there was no way I could have appreciated it for what it was - a signal to conservatives not to give up on their principles, not to give up fighting for what they believe to be best for their country, and to press on with good cheer.  After watching Mitt Romney's CPAC speech today, I have to believe the Gipper is smiling.

After a long and robust primary season, Mitt Romney looked at the map and the delegate math, and came to the respectable conclusion that the odds were too long to overcome.  He is a patriot, and realizes what four years or more of a Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama presidency could do to the country, and that a continued fight in the primary is going to continue to weaken McCain in the general.  Added to that, there is still too much reluctance, especially in the Bible Belt South, for Evangelical conservatives to pull the lever for a Mormon. 

The Democrats, on the other hand, aren't saddled with a base that is fractured over ideological grounds in this election cycle.  They want to win, whoever the candidate is. And that's exactly what they're going to do unless the GOP remembers that there's no winning when you lose.  

The war against radical jihadists is a concept that Barack Obama has articulated no knowledge about. He wants to talk unconditionally.  He wants to negotiate.  He wants to unite.  The jihadists don't want to talk. They want us dead. 

Hillary Clinton has more of an understanding of what we're up against, but she wants to return to the White House.  Issues are secondary to her. They're props. They're tools to be used to get her back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  She wants power. What she does when she gets it remains to be seen, but both of them will work to negate the gains we've made in Iraq, and will return America to being reactionary rather than proactive when it comes to dealing with foreign threats.  

John McCain does understand the war.  He understands how reckless it would be for Iran to become a nuclear state.  He knows the complexities of Pakistan and the other hot spots around the Middle East.  America would be safer with John McCain than either of the two Democrats. 

Many conservatives view John McCain's positions on several issues as being no different than liberals, causing them to question why they should even bother this November, given their choice.  Erwin Chemerinsky, a man of the left who knows the American judiciary like few others, compared the possible Supreme Court justices of a President John McCain versus a President Hillary or Obama. He is going to be voting in November, because he knows what the Supreme Court would look like if either Hillary or Obama would get to replace up to six justices.  I hope conservatives come to that conclusion, too.  Remember, Ted Olson is on board with the McCain camp, and would have a seat at the table if and when a Court vacancy opened up. 

Romney's policy differences with John McCain remain, as they do with the majority of the conservative electorate out there.  But the war and the Court are too important to throw away on the silly notion of trying to teach the party a lesson by not participating this time.  

I've screened the phone calls on the show from conservatives who have said they can't look themselves in the mirror and ever vote for John McCain.  I've received e-mails saying the same thing. But consider this - Justice John Paul Stevens, a hard left justice who is well into his 80's, is in all likelihood not going to continue serving until the end of the next presidency. You could have voted for John McCain, and helped to replace Justice Stevens with a conservative who later viewed Roe V. Wade as bad law and helped to overturn it. But you didn't vote because you thought McCain wasn't conservative enough, and enough other Republicans followed your lead. Instead, Hillary or Barack replaced Justice Stevens with someone of the same liberal ideology, but far younger, essentially ensuring that abortion continues along as a federally guaranteed right. Now how do you look at yourself in the mirror? And that's just one example.  The Court is the prize. The left knows it. The right needs to realize it, too.

Mitt Romney very eloquently stated why he is now putting his policy differences with John McCain aside and standing down.  He did it with grace and class, and he did it for the greater good of the country.  Let's hope that over the course of the next few months, the rest of the conservatives in the Republican party follow Mitt Romney's example.