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John McCain is like a guy who's won a date by winning an argument.

It's as if he wore down the girl's resistance with answers to her reasons for not wanting to go out, so she finally said yes.

He's got the date, but he's starting at a disadvantage.

If McCain wants to win in November, he's got to win the love of the Republican Party base: the conservatives. They have little regard for the Arizona senator, even as it is apparently (grudgingly) giving him the nomination (with Mitt Romney dropping out of the race on Thursday, but it's all but certain).

"I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience," said Focus on the Family founder James Dobson in a statement released on Super Tuesday."

Other conservative opinion-makers - Rush Limbaugh not the least of them - have tried unsuccessfully to derail the Straight Talk Express. Now they're in the uncomfortable position of having to make nice, or make themselves irrelevant in the November election.

But one local political leader has been in the McCain camp for over a year. State Sen. Kevin Eltife's credentials speak for themselves. I asked him recently why conservatives should rally around McCain, and his answers are worth repeating.

"I have always felt that John McCain is the best chance of beating the Democrats," Eltife said. "We have to have a candidate who can win over the independent voters. And I've always felt, and I believe the polls show, John McCain is that candidate."

There are blemishes on McCain's conservative resume, Eltife acknowledges.

"I do not agree with McCain on all the issues," he said. "But there are three major issues important to Republicans and to the conservative base of the Republican Party. And John McCain is solid on all three.

The first issue is foreign policy - including the War on Terror, Eltife says.

"He is the best qualified candidate to deal with the War on Terror, and the best qualified candidate in terms of foreign policy experience," Eltife said.

McCain is also committed to appointing conservative judges, he says.

"We have a bunch of older (Supreme Court) justices, and we want to maintain conservative judges in the judiciary," he said. "I have talked to John McCain about this, and I'm convinced he'll do just that."

The third issue is spending.

"As a Republican, I am extremely disappointed in the spending taking place in Washington in the last eight years," Eltife said. "And John McCain has been focused on eliminating earmarks his entire career."

Excessive spending alone is reason enough for conservatives and independents to rally around McCain.

"I am convinced the biggest threat to our nation is the spending," he said. "If we do not get the deficit and debt under control and do it soon, it will cripple this nation. We cannot continue to rely on China and the Middle East to fund our ridiculous deficits and I believe John McCain is committed to bringing our budget under control."

Eltife says Republicans must come together before November. Republican Gov. Rick Perry, formerly a supporter of Rudy Giuliani, has now endorsed McCain, and former Sen. Phil Gramm is McCain's national co-chairman.

"Everything gets so politicized in a primary," he said. "My hope is that John McCain will reach out to the conservative base, and work to earn its support. That could be done with a vice presidential pick. I know a lot of conservatives are watching that. But we need the base in this election."

Early Returns is the political observations column of staff writer Roy Maynard, who can be reached at 903-596-6291 or at roymaynardtmt@gmail.com.