Posted on 08/29/2008 8:51:20 AM PDT by Señor Zorro
August is rolling over into September and, before we know it, election day will be upon us. Perhaps it is merely my impression, but most here on FR seem to have settled down with the idea of John McCain both as the Republican nominee (which he is certain to be, regardless) and, even, as President of the United States. The initial candidate debate has all but faded and virtually all here have gelled back into the Republican camp instead of the "Republicans for Romney", "Republicans for Giuliani", "Republicans for Hunter", etc. ad nauseum, ad infinitum. No doubt, this is precisely what the party dons are happy to see: lively debate during the primaries and then the base falls lockstep in line with the leadership in their infinite wisdom.
And it makes me feel like I am in the Twilight Zone. Compare the tenor of the threads, between McCain's maverick moments during Bush's presidency, especially the "Gang of 14" incident, and now. Does anyone remember the hate for "The Maverick"? The "Traitor"? Two years ago, how many here would have voted for McCain. The reason for the change, most would say, is political pragmatism. We gotta stop Obama. How many here would pick Gerald Ford over Ronald Reagan today? Not many, I should think. Yet, when Carter won the general election, we, as a nation, got Reagan after Carter managed to spend four years highlighting everything that is wrong with liberalism. It is easy to say that we will take McCain so that we will not have Obama. It is giving up the long term good to maybe (I stress maybe; the winner of this contest will be far from certain) prevent a present evil. A lesser evil. That is precious little consolation.
As soon as that line is crossed, there will be no chance left of the Republican party going back. They know that the faithful will plod along, voting Republican though the Republican party has long since turned its back on their principles.
I will vote third party--not because I think that the candidate will win (numerically, I think it is all but impossible, though God works miracles in his own time). Nor because I think the candidate is ideal (if that were the standard, not a single human being could be elected to any office), but because I will not cross this line in the sand.
By that measure, those on the left could hail that we, as a nation, got clinton, after President Reagan and President GHW Bush managed to spend twelve years highlighting everything that is wrong with republicans.
And the response to that would be that we, as a nation, got President GW Bush after clinton managed to spend 8 years highlighting everything that was wrong with liberalism.
I'm not ready for four to eight years of obama just so we as a nation are shocked into voting for a conservative. I'd prefer four to eight years of mccain and Palin and during that time working to highlight and promote conservatism so that in 2012 or 2016 we, as a nation, finally realize how much better we can be by voting for a true conservative. I realize that is an uphill climb, but I'll refer back to your comment about God working miracles.
Here is the problem.
You know the world does not stop for two and a half months now, as we get ready for the election.
Congress comes back to session.
We have many issues.
Political Reform.
Illegal Aliens.
ANWAR.
Global Warming.
Relations with Mexico/Ramos/Compean.
Spending.
You name it.
Freepers speak out passionately on those issues, with usually unified voices.
If they ally with John McCain, how can they then go on to advocate conservative positions on FR (in alignment with what Free Republic stands for) without looking so totally schizophrenic or contradictory, for quite necessarily in the conservative positions they will assert they will be, on the other hand, supporting the embodiment of the antithesis of many of these conservative positions--in the person of one John Sidney McCain.
Hey, lets call a RINO a RINO here. This man has had no such core ephipany, so it is WE who should change, we who should move to the center and reach across the aisle to our "Democrat friends."
It is either, they are going to have to go full bore for McShamnesty and shut up on the core issues, or go full bore on the core issues and drop their support of McShamnesty. It does not add up.
Didn't you get the memo?
It's all about winning!
Socialism is perfectly fine as long as we call it some sort of new "pragmatic" conservatism and there's an (R) in the captain's chair! /sarc
Of course, we all know about the story of Captain Queeg...
That's a euphemism for sauntering across the aisle, dropping your pants (or skirt), and bending over...and liking "the experience" the entire time.
Yesterday he reached across the nation and picked a dyed in the wool conservative for VP. Sarah Palin.
We may have to deal with McCain's policies for 4 years BUT the GOP took a huge right turn yesterday.
Sarracuda = Reaganette.
” I will be voting for Sarah Palin 2012.”
Me too. I’m trying very hard to get her running mate out of my mind so I don’t get cold feet on election day.
I fully despise what McCain was and most of what he stands for. But I am now looking at the future.
Having Sara Palin as the second in command will tone McCain down a great deal. She will not hesitate to inject Conservatism and those strong Conservative principles into what ever the McCain Presidency advocates.
I realize it is still early, but give her time, and watch closely how well she changes the direction of the GOP and short circuits the stagnation of all those RINOs in Washington.
I don’t know if you have already noticed the sudden turn around of enthusiasm among Conservatives, but I know Sara Palin and her family. There is much to be greatly excited about, now that she is on our team.
Not really a shame at all, and the fact that something has been written before certainly doesn’t keep you from reposting your position over and over.
And the fact that you have heard it before doesn’t lessen the value of it or merit your out-of-hand dismissal. I don’t expect it to change your mind, since you are clearly not open to considering it, and I am not really arguing with you. But others who read your comments should at least have the benefit of another viewpoint that I contend is a far better approach in the long run. I guess it’s a judgment call and my judgment is that in 2012, we will be far closer to where we want to be after 4 years of McCain than after 4 years of Obama. Your judgment is either different - you think somehow we’d be better off after 4 years of Obama and 1% votes for a third party - or you simply haven’t considered the long term impact of your position. Or perhaps you just want to win an argument. I can’t say which and won’t speculate.
Did you not read my post or did you not understand it?
Nothing has changed. Last time I checked, the candidate for President is still John McCain, and the liberal forces he represents still own the GOP lock, stock and barrel.
Palin is nothing but window dressing for the complete sellout of conservatism.
Thanks for the laugh.
Dick Cheney, conservative to the core, and with deep roots, networks and kick-ass influence in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere (a real operator and insider) about 50 times or more influential perhaps on that score than that of Gov. Palin, served a President who is somewhat to the right of John McCain (and every bit if even not MORE stubborn and unyielding), and yet we are to somehow think that Ms. Palin is going to go there in D.C. as his Vice President and make John McCain come around to bedrock conservatism, when even Dick Cheney could not do that with Bush on domestic, government largesse issues (so-called "compassionate conservatism")(and ultimately lost, for example, the battle on foreign policy to Condi, Chris Hill and the rest of the appeasers in State Department over North Korea deal).
I swear, some people have not a CLUE as to how D.C. works, what and who McCain is, his true philosophy [lib/centrist] and what he is doing, the limits of Ms. Palin's power in this regard i.e. what true leverage she would have in telling her cantankerous and entrenched RINO boss and his establishment power circle what to do. It is almost embarrassing to read some of this overly optimistic stuff on FR that passes for cold, hard analysis. Some people may be setting themselves up for a massive disappointment. But what can you say, Barack scared them s-less the other night what with that huge crowd and positive numbers, so the lemming rush to McCain and the kool-aid he is passng out, unthinkeable in the last 20 years in Conservatism, is perhaps an understandable phenomenon.
2. Pinging the Orcs? Save it. I'm not interested.
Don’t bother trying to reason with the “let’s suicide this election” crowd. “McCain=Amnesty” “It’s takes a Carter to get a Reagan”.
They’re hopeless. They don’t live in the real world.
Stop the nonsense. If you buy Coke and don’t like Pepsi, and I drink water because I buy neither, how am I buying Pepsi?
For me, Sarah Palin happened. I’m gonna vote the hell outta McCain this November.
I don't know what to think of your type. You have defined your version of conservatism and have even decided how Senator McCain will perform as president. I think you are not a conservative, but nothing more than a selfish pessimist. If you can't be the quarterback, you won't play.
You refer to realists on this board as juveniles when it is you acting like a child. I would bet than 95% of people on FR or as conservative (probably even more) as you like to pretend you are. However your display of pompousness has really angered me. I have admired you on FR for a long time, but I don't take you seriously anymore. How you know so much more than 95% of everyone else is amazing. You are so capable of knowing exactly how a McCain adminstration will be run, tell me, how will an Obama administration be run? Will there even be elections after an Obama administration?
Thank you for your input!
Does that mean you don’t have any firm insight as to what an Obama administration might do? Or are you saying you don’t know for sure like you do for the McCain administration? If you do not know what an Obama administration will do to us, don’t you think it is time to look at that? After all, you have proclaimed you know everything about Republican politics.
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