Thompson flamed out in January, an awkward, stiff mess who was utterly out of his depth.
See, that's the thing about Muir. For all he likes to pose as a strong-willed original thinker, he's actually a pliable puppet who will buy just about any nonsense once it slips through his bigoted, reactionary priors. If people he trusts tell him a guy is amazing, his brain will immediately tell him he's seeing someone amazing, and I'm betting how he was able to keep convincing himself Trump was really with it makes sense now doesn't it? In essence, Muir bought into Thompson, because people told him this was a can't miss bet... and the bet busted.
Did this cause any self-awareness? Hell, no.
It did however leave him in an uncomfortable state of ideological orphanhood. Of the two remaining major candidates... well, let's start with Huckabee. Muir didn't like him for two reasons. Firstly, Huckabee's weak 'compassionate conservatism' pitch made Muir suspicious that he might be for something other than the 'cut taxes for the very wealthy' that Muir had been convinced was the best economic plan possible. Secondly, Muir was still very much the smug Rand follower at heart who viewed religion with personal suspicion, even if he was willing to keep those beliefs on the downlow because he believed evangelicals were an important part of the great wall against evil liberalism. (He would change to being religious in the vague Right Wing way that lacked any real religion in the years ahead.)
And then there was John McCain, the eventual winner, and...
Well, there were two Republicans in the Mystery Business(tm) Era that Muir had a passionate dislike for. One was Trent Lott, who let him lash out at an establishment he resented, while convincing himself this was more proof he wasn't racist.
The other was John McCain.
Now, Muir's hatred of John McCain was both complicated and simple. Complicated, because he was always finding new things to hate about the man, and simple, because it all traced back to him being told to hate him by the Right Wing bloggers he followed for one reason. McCain, while fundamentally a conservative, had a history of bipartisan action, and the most significant example of it was the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which sought to limit corporate money and sizable donations in elections. Muir hated this and regurgitated arguments he read on why it was bad, arguments it was clear he did not actually understand. Like I said, a pliable puppet who will buy just about any nonsense once it slips through his bigoted, reactionary priors. When the primaries started, Muir thought that clearly Republican voters would repudiate this unworthy heretic.
They did not. McCain cruised to a relatively easy victory, in part because this was probably the last Republican primary which saw a significant moderate voting presence. And as Muir adjusted to his growing unease, the Democratic primaries were likewise seeing his priors being undermined...
