There are times in life, when we accept certain opportunities that come up in our careers, with the hope that we may be able to effect some changes in policy once we get in, instead of standing outside and watching a train wreck happen.
Look, most folks on FR and most conservatives were never keen on McCain from the get go. However, his nomination of Sarah Palin convinced a lot of conservatives to go vote for the ticket, not so much for McCain, but for Sarah Palin and against 0bama.
I think it's quite possible, that Sarah Palin had every intention of fighting for conservative causes from within a McCain administration if he they had won.
As an example, I remember seeing Sarah Palin on CNBC once in an interview, in which she said she was going to continue to work hard on McCain, about that ANWR drilling, which she was 100% for, but which McCain was 100% against. Sometimes its better to work within an administration even when you don't agree 100% with all the policies, in order to effect change.
I get what you are saying....but, regarding your example, if she was able to say she was in opposition to McCain on ANWAR and was going to “work hard on McCain” on ANWAR....stands to reason she could have voiced as well her opposition to his position on illegal immigration/amnesty, afterall he WAS the author w/Kennedy on S2611. She could have voiced that, if elected, she would “work hard” to affect his position. But she did not. To my knowledge, the Univision interview is the only time she has voiced her opinion on a subject the affects the very sovereignty and security of our country, and if she truly opposed McCain, she had the opportunity to do so. In the end, I think it will be made clearer that her position IS the same as Bush/McCain. In the end, it will be interesting to see who continues to support her in spite of it.
I agree in principle, but there are also times when the prudent action is to say 'no'. I believe this would have been one of those times, as John McCain ran a campaign which was anathema to what most conservatives believe.
Look, most folks on FR and most conservatives were never keen on McCain from the get go. However, his nomination of Sarah Palin convinced a lot of conservatives to go vote for the ticket, not so much for McCain, but for Sarah Palin and against 0bama.
I agree with your assessment, but I'm not sure that puts Palin in a better light. Hooking your wagon to McCain's star didn't turn out at all well, did it? The Democrat, who was as weak a candidate as I've ever seen, won. Palin's introduction to the American public was handled badly and jeopardized her political future on the national stage. McCain got more votes than his poor platform deserved, and to a degree, the left-of-conservative Republicans have been energized.
I think it's quite possible, that Sarah Palin had every intention of fighting for conservative causes from within a McCain administration if he they had won.
You may be right, but since the Vice President has only the power the President gives him/her, Palin signed on to boost a weak campaign with a weak candidate, with no guarantee that her opinion would matter at all. I hate to think that she may have sold her own political future for a mess of pottage.
In the end, assuming Palin is as conservative as many say she is, she gave McCain's campaign much more legitimacy than it deserved. This bothers me, because McCain's "success" at the polls (he did come pretty close) seems to have emboldened people like Mitt Romney (who is in no way conservative) to try again, dragging the party to the left. I don't want to see the GOP moving any further to the left, and am dismayed when anyone helps that along, whether it is "on purpose" or is an unintended consequence.
As an example, I remember seeing Sarah Palin on CNBC once in an interview, in which she said she was going to continue to work hard on McCain, about that ANWR drilling, which she was 100% for, but which McCain was 100% against. Sometimes its better to work within an administration even when you don't agree 100% with all the policies, in order to effect change.
When the candidate in question runs so counter to basic conservatism, I think we have to ask ourselves if it is possible for a principled conservative to work with him.