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.
That's totally inappropriate.
It is "totally innappropriate" to hand the terrorists a victory this November. Don't do it.
Don't be a nitwit. Accusing someone of handing the terrorists victory because they're voting for their principles is beyond the pale. If you can't recognize that, it reveals more about your critical thinking skills than anyone else's patriotism.
Sigh. I'm used to people calling me names or making accusations against me for my stances. Well if it makes you feel better, go ahead. It's not hurting me.
I know. It's all about you. You don't give a whit about this country. You will undermine the last vestige of moral, normal rule so we can have even more chaos. You can't even support a decent man trying to fight for what's left of this country's moral values. Your principles would have kept us out of WWII because the Russians were in it.
Pretending to be a conservative and voting for the terrorists' choice is beyond the pale. Osama will be proud of you. You can recite your shehada now.
Yeah, he's really nutty for advocating the principles established by the Founders of this country, isn't he?
Flitter off, comrade...
Recessions are measured in an arbitrary way using consumer spending. That's probably because only two recessions were led by business spending declines. The most recent recession and the recession that led to the Great Depression. If it weren't for 911 which caused Greenspan to end his personal war against the economy, we may have had a second Great Depression.
It is one thing to be in favor of limiting government to no more than what is a strict interpretation of what is in the Constitution, and another thing entirely to get this admittedly skimpy framework to cover every situation that arises between human beings in daily commerce. Supposedly, that is what the judiciary is charged with doing, to determine the specific application from the general overview.
Well, we all know how well that works. Look at all the new "rights" that have been discerned in the Constitution in only the past fifty years (from the Warren Court forward). New freedoms have been found, and old prohibitions have been demolished. All based on some vague language, that relates to daily life only because some pencil-necked geek on a university campus somwhere thought it may reflect on some isolated clan somewhere in Appalachia. And he wanted to be sure he got his daily fix of marijuana.
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