Does Another McCain Endorsement Help?

From Naked Politics:

A source working with the John McCain campaign says U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez is set to appear with him in Miami-Dade on Monday, swinging crucial Hispanic support to his fellow senator who suffered with him in trying to push an immigration reform bill that was despised and decried by many on the right as "amnesty."

Which leads to hyperbole such as "Oh My God! McCain is Unstoppable" Now I read Dan Riehl daily and I have no argument with him but in this instance I think he is over reacting.

How much weight does an endorsement or list of endorsement really give to a candidate? Not much I think. They tend to mainly reinforce already held convictions but I don't believe they are persuasive.

Do you ever hear someone say, "Well, I was for the other guy but when I heard that Joe Somebody endorsed McPain, why right then and there I dumped Preacher Man and rallied behind the Rigid Talk Express!"?

How about the oft reported comment: "I struggled for days trying to decide who to support, and then like sunshine parting the clouds, Joe Somebody showed me the way and I forgot the hundred reasons that had me confused in the first place (such as those pesky "amnesty" issues and the serial backstabbing of conservatives) and I jumped on the bus. It really was a relief to me to give up the fight against liberal cheer leading from the New York Times and the Miami Herald and just go along with their choices. Thanks Joe for the help."

Lets say for the sake of discussion though that the fears are perfectly on target and that McCain gets the "momentum" and becomes the Nominee. If our commonly held principles of limited government, fiscal restraint, immigration integrity, constructionist judges, sanctity of life, etc. can't win in the marketplace of the campaign, then we are a minority and the fight must go on. Whether McCain wins or Obama wins or... gag.. Hillary wins, we will have been shown to be a minority. A single or even a cornucopia of endorsements isn't going to be the deciding factor. I doubt such endorsement(s) would even be the last straw. If we are a minority, it is an inherent fact and we are just awaiting the proof.

One the other hand, if we are not a minority then there will be a point where we win out. I refuse to believe that republicans will choose McCain in mass. If they do, then Dan is right. Time to form a conservative party.