Was a deal made? War for the GOP

Bill Quick of DailyPundit has an interesting take on the current turmoil in the GOP.

Do not be fooled. What you are witnessing today is a war for the soul, if it can be said to have one, of the Republican party. One one side is the GOP machine establishment - represented by the Bushes, the Roves, and all the family and political dynasty politicians and their strategists who have tried to keep control of the party over the years.

On the other side are those whom the establishment regards as the barbarians at the gates: the rabble who listen to the conservative talk shows, the talker hosts themselves, the “Reagan Republicans,” the Gingrich revolutionaries, and now the bloggers and their readers.

This is, in a nutshell, a war between those who value principle over power, and those for whom power is first, foremost, and nearly everything.

I have felt for quite a while that the Bushes made a deal with McCain - that in exchange for his support of the establishment (McCain is about as much a “maverick” as George Herbert Walker Bush or Bob Dole), Bush and the establishment would back him in his run for the Presidency this year. I’ve seen nothing to disabuse me of that notion.