GOD APPARENTLY CHANGES HIS MIND

You might have seen this Washington Times story, which reminds us that Republicans can do the self-sabotage thing too:

More than 20 social-conservative leaders purchased a full-page ad in an Arizona paper warning Sen. John McCain against picking Mitt Romney as his running mate, calling the former Massachusetts governor a "deal breaker" and an "utterly unacceptable" choice for social conservatives.

The open letter to Mr. McCain ... focuses on Mr. Romney's record on abortion and gay marriage and calls him "unfit to be a 'heartbeat away' " from the presidency....

Now, here's the weird part:

Most prominent among the ad's over two dozen signers is Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, a founder of both the economically conservative Heritage Foundation and the socially conservative Moral Majority, and a national leader among conservative activists for nearly four decades.

Weyrich's is indisputably the most striking signature on the ad because of the dramatic change of heart it signals. Six months ago, Weyrich endorsed Romney's presidential candidacy.

I'm sure God personally told Weyrich to endorse Romney for president. And I'm sure God told Weyrich to un-endorse Romney as VP. I'm confused, but, hey, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

The text of the ad is at the link directly above. It says in part:

Governor Romney got no traction during the primaries simply because his recent "conversion" to conservative and pro-life principles is not credible.

Hmmm -- apparently it was credible enough for Mr. Weyrich, who said in a press release last fall,

As he travels across the country, Governor Romney has outlined a blueprint to build a stronger America rooted in our common conservative principles. With a clear conservative vision to move America forward, he will strengthen our economy, our military and our families. More importantly, he already has an exceptional record of putting conservative values to work.

Maybe Satan was involved. Maybe Satan was blinding Weyrich to the truth.

The group behind all this is a lesser-known organization, Government Is Not God. It's headed by William J. Murray, the born-again son of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the famous atheist activist.

And while I'm rooting for these folks -- I'm rooting for anything that divides the GOP base -- I should point out that many of the signatures on the group's online petition express support for a McCain/Romney ticket. Still, members of the media, I urge you to ignore that fact and play this dissension up for all it's worth -- just as you would if these were Democrats.

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UPDATE: The point seems to be to create a push for a McCain/Huckabee ticket, to judge from what the Politico's Jonathan Martin says.