Posted on 03/28/2010 6:05:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
One of my very favorite bloggers on the Right - Powerline's John Hinderaker - wrote a post earlier today entitled 'Biker Girl Campaigns for McCain'. By Hinderaker's own admission, his sole motivation for writing it was to show a perfectly gratuitous photograph of Palin looking great in a black leather biker jacket on the campaign trail.
No complaints there.
However, I have a bone to pick with the rest of John's comments:
Sarah Palin was in Arizona yesterday, campaigning for John McCain in his primary contest against former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. This was an appropriate demonstration of loyalty toward the man who opened the door to fame and fortune for her. Beyond that, Palin's support McCain is right on the merits and displays her almost unerring judgment in political matters.
Like most conservatives, I sometimes disagree with John McCain, and on those occasions he can be an infuriating opponent. But he describes himself as a "proud conservative," and that's how he votes a large majority of the time. Moreover, while he is an imperfect Republican, McCain is a great man. He is a warrior, one of the staunchest characters ever to participate in politics, a modern-day Andrew Jackson. We need him. If the Republican tent ever grows too small to contain the likes of John McCain, we are in deep trouble.
Moreover, McCain was the party's Presidential nominee just two years ago. The last thing Republicans need to do is to start eating our own, like the Democrats when they drummed Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Lieberman out of their party.
Now, Sarah Palin endorsing John McCain per se is understandable. I still don't like it one bit, but I'll cut her some slack. Remember, she threw in with McCain before conservative J.D. Hayworth entered the race. And with McCain expecting only token opposition from the Democrats in the general election, he was for a time the most conservative man in Arizona's U.S. Senate race - if only technically and by default.
BUT...J.D. Hayworth is in the race now. He is a far preferable choice than McCain for conservatives on many issues, particularly immigration. Meanwhile, Palin has transitioned from merely supporting McCain (presumably out of a sense of loyalty) to actively stumping for the guy.
I thought Palin was supposed to be helping elect conservatives - not campaigning against them.
Furthermore, in this instance Palin is supporting the very man who deserves unique (though not exclusive) blame for putting Barack Obama in the White House, for the following three reasons (at least):
1. McCain-Feingold. The effect of this now officially unconstitutional campaign finance 'reform' legislation was to allow 'non-partisan' (read: radical left) outfits like MoveOn.org to thrive and to bestow massive political influence upon filthy rich liberal donors like George Soros. Think that played a role in Obama's victory?
2. Comprehensive Immigration Reform (aka Amnesty for Illegal Aliens). Read this and you'll get a sense of how McCain's convoluted stance on illegal immigration lost him the conservative vote in droves in 2008. Think that played a role in Obama's victory?
3. The Bank Bailouts of September 2008. McCain went out of his way to put himself on basically the same page as Barack Obama when it came to bailing out big banks. In an election year that favored any warm body the Democrats ended up nominating, this gave voters one less reason to not vote for Barack Obama. Think that played a role in Obama's victory?
Don't get me wrong - I'd probably still support John McCain vs. 'unopposed' or 'garden variety Democrat.' Probably. But J.D. Hayworth is a no-brainer for conservatives vis-a-vis John McCain, and one has to assume Palin would be in Hayworth's corner were it not for the fact that she was McCain's hand-picked running mate in 2008.
So I'll ask the question: Does personal loyalty trump conservative principles for Sarah Palin?
PALIN: "We don't want our Republican -- our senators and our representatives to hold hands with the Democrats if the Democrats are going to keep growing government. And why -- why engage in bipartisanship there if the Democrats are doing the wrong thing? We want our Republicans to stand tall, stand strong for smaller, smarter government, for those principles that so many independents and those in the Republican Party have believed in all these years. We want them to stick with those principles."
Man, those are two years old at least. This is now. Present day. I would have thought conservatives would have learned something by now.
...which is why we have to go with a “throw them ALL out” game plan. And I’m sick of hearing, “that will just guarantee a Democrat victory”. Bravo Sierra.
Colonel, USAFR
Sarah Palin Is NOt For Amnesty
Palin expands her position on Illegal Immigration
Palin: we need to close the borders. They are called illegal aliens for a reason and if they are not going to follow the rules they should not be in our country.
It’s pretty simple I ratched that one down to the simple answer because its an easier answer than some politicians want it to make it be. you close the borders.
You get more agressive about cracking down on the illegal aliens and we take it serious what our border patrol officers are trying to do
Lars Larson radio talk show
LARS: The amnesty proposal that was defeated in Congress — in your view, was that amnesty for illegals and would you back amnesty for a path to citizenship, as the current president calls it?
SARAH PALIN: No, I’m not for amnesty. Let’s ratchet this down quite simply to remember what we’re referring to. Illegal aliens are called “illegal” for a reason.
We need to secure our borders and I am not for amnesty. And there are humane ways to deal with the 11-13 million illegal aliens who are in our country right now, but if they’re not going to follow the rules, they need to get out.
“Does Personal Loyalty Trump Conservatism?”
I believe many posters on this forum leave the impression that personal loyalty is not a conservative value. I don’t believe conservatives have enough cohesion.
Palin can’t depend only on conservatives, even if she is one. She can’t depend on them to stick with her as a cohesive group.
Governor Sarah Palin is playing 3-D chess; all other politicians are playing checkers.
Seriously, no. Frankly, any conservative Republican worth their salt will be able to beat Zero in 2012. DeMint would thrash him up one side and down the other.
That's why I'm a Fun DeMintalist. The most conservative potential candidate right now.
My prediction? McCain is going to take a stand against amnesty and will tell Lindsey Graham to drop it too. No doubt Sarah whispered in his ear about this. If McCain does continue to shill for illegals, then Sarah is dead to me, unless she comes out with a Facebook post criticizing it. Until then, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Even Jim Robinson said he had no problem with Sarah endorsing McCain, and if it’s good enough for the Head FReeper, it’s good enough for me.
DeMint does not have a national base.
He is not a speaker who will draw crowds and energize them.
This is the 21th Cen and Media is the word.
DeMInt as well as many of the other good old boys come across as funeral directors
And this weekend was probably it. I don't look for any more significant involvement with McCain's campaign, and you bet she'll endorse Hayworth if he wins.
There is an infinitely more important election coming along in just over six months. If the Democrats retain control, the country is finished. If Republicans take control and don't defund the Obama agenda the country is finished.
I would like to see Arizona dump McCain. In the end it's their choice, and it's but a pixel in the big picture.
DeMint is a Senator. The electorate is going to be looking at someone from the outside, a Governor or ex-Governor. No way the base elects another Senator for our nominee.
“If McCain showed up as my XO I would have had him gone in about 30 days. He’s a big talker but a total pussy. I would never let him try to direct real warriors. Real warriors are already motivated, they don’t need some two bit cheese stick talking to them.”
In fairness to McCain’s actual command experience, it seems to have been very effective.
“When his time at the war college was up, McCain was assigned to the Replacement Air Group 174 in Jacksonville. The squadron trained pilots to fly A-7 fighter planes and was the largest Navy squadron in the country, with about 1,000 sailors and 75 planes. It was also among the Navy’s more dysfunctional units. Defense budget cuts had left the squad without resources to buy replacement parts for damaged planes, and nearly 20 had been grounded for more than 60 days - some for years - when McCain arrived.
His first months were spent as the squadron’s executive officer, where he learned to fly the A-7 and mastered the workings of the unit. In 1976, he was made commander of the entire squadron, an unusual promotion given McCain’s limited command experience. The Navy’s policy was to catch up the POWs with their contemporaries, despite their missed years of service, said Adm. Jim Holloway, then the chief of naval operations, and the policy helped McCain get the job. Still, the promotion raised a few eyebrows.
So did McCain’s ambitions. Rather than sticking to the status quo, McCain immediately set about repairing the unit’s ailing planes. When the squadron’s department heads tried to discourage him, he fired them and replaced them with younger, more ambitious officers.
Carl Smith, a flight instructor who was among those McCain chose for leadership, said McCain called a meeting of the entire squadron staff, where he told them that he planned to get every plane running again before his command was up. Smith said there was no reason to think that the goal was achievable, but McCain set his sights high and then sought about convincing the rest of the squadron. After sending a letter informing his commanders of his plan, he made the rounds, visiting every shop and encouraging his pilots and repair crews.
“Just through his marvelous way of motivating people, he turned that squadron around in no time at all and just had everybody pulling together in another direction towards a very clearly defined goal,” Smith said. “People were working overtime. They were coming in to do jobs when it wasn’t their shift. It was absolutely inspired behavior.”
The day before McCain’s assignment was up, Smith flew the last of the squadron’s grounded planes. As McCain describes it in his memoir Worth the Fighting For, the plane was barely ready for the test and flew with its landing gear down, but it flew. That year, the squadron received its first ever Meritorious Unit Citation.”
DeMint’s not even going to run. He said as much and and also said that he is looking at Romney and Mitch Daniels in 2012. He wants in to the DC “club”.
You mean everyone is ont 100% conservative all the time—I’m shocked.
I heard DeMint say the same.
Some of these FReepers have serious problems when a Conservative Republican such as Sarah Palin can win
and they pick a person who does not want to run not
could win nationaly if he did.
Again, they want an Obama 2nd term
find me a GOP candidate that has not endorsed McCain then maybe we will talk.
Yawn.
My daddy use to say Never kick a dead horse, the horse don’t care and you might break your foot...
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