Posted on 02/05/2008 6:31:10 AM PST by Delacon
In the debates on and outside “The Corner” about whether conservatives should support John McCain if he becomes the GOP’s nominee, there is a palpable sense of exasperation emanating from those who think McCain deserves such support. Appeals to other conservatives not to sulk, be negative, or walk away from the field all reflect this very understandable emotion.
If someone—say, Mark Levin—replies that his disagreements of principle with McCain are so deep that he cannot be reasonably expected to forget them and rally round his standard, then the would-be party unifiers point out that Obama and Hillary are separated from him by an even deeper ideological gulf. So Mark should swallow his differences with McCain in order to avert worse from the Democrats.
This is the logic of political coalitions—which national parties are in a two-party system—and most of the time it’s valid. But it’s not always valid.
Many conservatives believe that the key question in this election is: Are there to be two multiculturalist open-borders parties or one? If McCain’s election were to make the GOP fundamentally similar to the Democrats on immigration, bilingualism, racial preferences, and all the National Question issues, that would be a resounding historical defeat for conservatives.
The willingness of a President McCain to cooperate with the Democrats would give such issues as an immigration amnesty a better chance of passage than under a President Hillary or Obama even against strong GOP resistance in Congress. Opponents of such policies, despite enjoying majority support among the voters, would find themselves politically marginalized. On the other hand, a united Republican opposition might well stop a Democratic White House from passing these measures because its party would be nervous of finding itself on the wrong side of a popular issue in the next midterm elections.
And there is another factor this time. Any bill similar to the senator’s “comprehensive” immigration reform would accelerate the GOP’s relative demographic decline by creating new voters overwhelmingly likely to vote Democrat in a quicker time scale. This dominant Democratic majority would emerge fully only after a hypothetical President McCain left office, but its approach would cloud the future of every other Republican incumbent.
All these fears lie at the root of conservative reluctance to endorse Senator McCain. Fortunately for him there is a simple way to dispel them. He can give an unequivocal assurance that he will not support such a bill, and that, if one is passed despite his opposition, he will veto it. No ifs, buts, or maybes. Thus far he has refused to do so.
Sitting out the general election is simply wrong. We all have an obligation to participate in this grand experiment, in all ways possible.
Voting is the most fundamental activity for us.
IF you don’t see someone on the ballot for whom you can, in good conscience, cast a vote, then write in your choice.
Recognizing that we risk fracturing the vote and handing the election to our opponents is not the point. I, for one, am sick of pulling the curtain on the voting booth and then pulling the lever against someone. I’d must rather vote FOR someone than against all the other candidates.
Maybe it’s time for our two parties to be joined on the national stage by a third, or even a fourth...
I will be voting for Romney today, but I will definitely vote for McCain in the general if he is the nominee. That said, this is the best, most succinct, defense I’ve yet seen of the opinion that conservatives should not support Mccain in the general ... sure beats the sarcastic, juvenile comments of many of the anti-McCain types on this board.
I cannot vote for McCain because he IS one of the main authors of the CIR-Amnesty bill. He has also insulted people with name calling those who wish to keep US sovereignty and enforce our existing laws.
I just could not cast a vote for such a person. I see nothing in McCain that shows he could be trusted to look after US citizens first.
Anyone running for POTUS should be required to reveal their medical files, including treatment for psychiatric problems.
I will never, ever, vote for McCain. Period!
Along with no drilling in AnWar and all the global warming BS and a Rat suck up!
We tried amnesty. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Thanks for the read. Echoes a lot of my sentiments re: McCain.
I will not sit out the election. I just can not ever vote for McCain (nor, of course, for Hillary/Obama). If McCain is the nominee, I will vote third party or write-in.
What will he do with all the prisoners at Ft. Leavenworth now? (It was almost full, last June)
Grant them amnesty?
Don’t forget that McCain was an original member of the Keating Five. Along with the ethical and conservative luminaries Alan Cranston (D-CA); Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ); John Glenn (D-OH); and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI), McCain was the only Republican. I posted a thread on this earlier today that simply disappeared from FR. Someone apparently doesn’t want this discussed.
I voted for Mr. Romney here in TN. McCain is not an option, for the reasons posted here and elsewhere. In addition to those, I believe Mr. McCain is a dangerous man who is unhinged mentally and will take us into a nuclear confrontation. In November I may vote for a Dem for the first time in my 30 years of voting. Better a predictable evil/stupid/misguided person than a crazy person at the helm of our Ship of State, IMHO.
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