John – I agree. I’ve thought for a while now, that McCain should give a major speech to placate the conservative base. But he really needs to do it soon if he’s going to do it all. Many important conservatives are starting to lock into their anti-McCain position (as some may have noticed around here). Therefore, the price for winning conservative support for John McCain keeps increasing. Once various talk radio hosts (Rush, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck et al) forthrightly declare that their principles preclude them from ever supporting McCain the more difficult it will be to win them over. If he’s going to give this reassurance he should give it soon (in fact, he should have given it a long time ago). If he waits until he “needs” conservative support (as defined by the conventional wisdom at the New York Times) it will be way, way, way, way, too late.