The only question that remains is of these two, which one should those on the Right choose?
$710.96... The price of freedom.
Posted on 07/17/2004 5:33:14 PM PDT by Kuksool
The presidential election in November will be decided by priorities, more in this cycle than any other. For the general voter base, America is polarized along party lines. This was obvious, even from four years ago with Al Gore and George W. Bush. This division between left America and right America is intense.
So, as it is with America, the national stage has been lit up with an even more intense division between the two camps. Mud slinging abounds; hatred and spite-filled rhetoric is everywhere in this political season. So much so, it's nauseating to watch and makes me want to ignore politics altogether.
Lately, Moveon.org has continued to compare President Bush to Adolf Hitler. Talk radio continues to hammer on John Kerry. The RNC attack machine is always on alert, with columnists, talking heads and hosts ready to back them up. The same goes for the DNC, with its own talking heads, celebrity friends and liberal news media.
Thus, with everyone polarized, the intensity of partisan politics has picked up, and voters will again head to the polls with a party view of politics. America is no longer together on issues and people; we're divided and we're going to be divided severely in November. That's how it's going to shape up.
Yet, for some conservatives, choosing a candidate isn't limited to George W. Bush and John Kerry. Because President Bush has betrayed conservatives on various social and fiscal issues, the conservative base is divided and hasn't rallied around Bush like it did four years ago.
This leaves some conservatives wondering whether or not they should jump ship for a third-party candidate like Constitution Party nominee Michael Peroutka or even the Libertarian, Michael Badnarik. Meanwhile, the rest of the conservative/Republican camp is griping that a vote for a third-party candidate will do nothing but help John Kerry.
In reality, they're right. A vote for a third-party candidate may be a stand for ideals, and it may send a message to the GOP, but it won't do much good. There aren't enough conservatives who will vote third party to scare GOP officials, but there are just enough third-party voters that it may help John Kerry.
Yes, a vote for Michael Peroutka is a wasted vote. It's hard to say whether a third-party candidate will ever be viable, but it's obvious that no third-party nominee has a shot at the presidency in this election cycle.
Therefore, conservatives need to look at the priorities. What's important? If we truly care about appointing conservative judges, then we can't have John Kerry in office. If we truly care about the economy, then we can't have Kerry in office. If we care about the War on Terrorism, then we can't have Kerry in office. If we truly care about cutting taxes, then we can't have Kerry in office.
The only viable alternative is President Bush. He's not a conservative, true. He has betrayed conservative principles and has taken actions that would make a liberal proud, but he's the man when it comes to the economy, taxes, war on terrorism and, most importantly, the judicial branch.
This election is about these priorities, and it's about choosing the lesser of two evils. It's sad that the grass-roots GOP can't come up with an alternative to George W. Bush, but reality dictates that conservatives should support the president in this cycle.
The Republican Party needs reform and it needs to be changed, but jumping ship from the GOP won't do any good. It will give John Kerry the office of the presidency, and it won't help America.
Some conservatives will take a stand and vote third party because of the principle of the matter, but in the real world, the Republican Party is a conservative's only hope of changing America.
The Author of the article is Kyle Williams.
I agree. We've got to keep him in there.
America is still suffering from all the fools who voted for Perot and gave us 8 years of Clinton.
Ping!
Now here's a hard line conservative that understands how the political process works.
Sadly he's right. We do deserve a better choice, though.
Which ticket do you support?
Badnarik/Campagna (L) - 2%
Bush/Cheney (R) - 86%
Kerry/Edwards (D) - 1%
Peroutka/Baldwin (C) - 5%
Other - 0%
None of the above - 1%
Undecided - 1%
Pass - 1%
GWB is clueless on the economy, but he is right about the judgeships. Judicial activism is the only hope the left has of inflicting its delusions on the rest of us.
Amen.
And I deserve a Ferrari. Sheesh as Kyle enters his mid-teens he's getting it, albeit still with a tinge of idealistic fervor.
If kerry wins, maybe all the republicans in congress will grow some balls and start acting like conservatives. They can start by removing that pussy bill frist.
My goodness.....he gets it,he really gets it! Good for him.
That's better than last time in 2000. You will always have your my way or the highway fanatical types on FR.
Bet you over in DUmmieville, 25% would vote for Nader.
America is suffering from all the fools that voted for and gave us 8 years of Clinton.
BUMP!
Yeah, thanks a lot, all you "volunteers."
AWB? Please spell-out the acronym. Are you talking about the amnesty bill?
Ya gotta be 15 years old to believe that a choice restricted to the two globalist Republicrat candidates is gonna make some kind of difference.
The only question that remains is of these two, which one should those on the Right choose?
$710.96... The price of freedom.
Go to your room.
No remotely serious candidate is out there running to the right of George W. Bush. This leaves those conservatives who are uneasy with Bush only two meaningful alternatives, either to stay home on Election Day, or skip over to the far left and vote Ralph Nader or the Greens, whoever that may be.
Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate, loops around in some universe of his own, in favor of disengaging the Federal government from all but its stated powers as enumerated in the Constitution, and pretty much permitting everything else that is not prohibited. Michael Peroutka, the Constitution candidate, is pretty much foursquare on God, defense of the American family, and the restoration of the American republic according to the Constitution as written, not interpreted. His other plank is prohibition of abortion as of the day he takes office.
While all these are worthy and commendable goals, not one addresses what to do to reverse and make desirable the steps necessary to achieve these ends, nor how to deal with the inevitable problems created in the interim between repeal of the old rules and adoption by general acceptance of the new ones. Essentially, they have the same problems the Democrats do, no plan of action except repeal and executive order, while doing nothing to muster public support.
Now perhaps George W. Bush does not himself manage to build up enough support for what he considers good and worthy goals, which at the moment include encouraging a vigorous and growing US economy, an internal war on family values, an external war aimed at creating a more stable Middle East, incidentally preventing further attacks within the US homeland, and shifting world opinion so the Americans may be seen as good and decent people in our own right, and not some kind of cardboard cutout of a breed of demon. The last may be much the hardest, as not everybody that claims American citizenship is convinced that their fellow Americans, and particularly conservatives, are NOT demons of some sort.
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