The only question that remains is of these two, which one should those on the Right choose?
$710.96... The price of freedom.
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.
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.
The only question that remains is of these two, which one should those on the Right choose?
$710.96... The price of freedom.
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.
Wrong. Very wrong. A vote for a more conservative candidate helps to set the agenda for mainstream political parties in the future. It may not help win the election, but given that the GOP has drifted so far leftward (on immigration, education, spending), at least a few of us are trying to figure out just how we can possibly care anymore.
Well of course... has some other conservative announced he was going to run and I haven't heard about it? Let's not get wobbly now, folks. It's GW and hard work until the election is over. We'll iron out any squishy areas from the Whitehouse...
That's not going to happen....
No alternatives? Rubbish. Bush should concentrate on reassuring conservative voters so that they'll vote on election day instead of hunt for places to hide their life's savings.
Everybody tells me that I'm wasting my vote because my candidate "can't win." But if they and all the others who agree with me on pretty much all issues would stop talking about defeat and dare to vote third party then a truly conservative candidate most definitely could win.
So long as we continue to vote for short-term victory over life-long, eternal principle we will continue the long, but hastening march towards socialism, communism and loss of freedom. And our descendents will blame the party yes-men, not the bold few.
God save the Republic.
Here's the problem-
Letting the Republican party go left is hurting, not helping, our chances of getting our guys in office.
It's not just the far right that will vote for a third party over Bush, it's swing voters who will object to some of his polices and vote for the other guy. Take spending for example- Kerry will spend more than Bush. That's obvious. But deficit spending is not a strong position to be in, and Kerry can attack Bush for it (having no shame helps out). Kerry's record will never see the light of day as long as the left controls the media, so people who are to the right of Bush on this issue might wind up voting for a guy who is to the left of Bush on the issue.
RINO's do more than just help advance liberal ideas, they damage our party's credibility and make it harder to stand on our principles. There's a reason that Clinton (and now Kerry) pretended that he was more conservative than he was- it's because conservative values will slaughter liberal ones in a nation wide election. Liberal values no longer sway most of the public. That's why liberals have had to resort to lying and strawman tactics to stay in power. So, to win big, what we need to do is not just try to play to the middle, but to win the middle over to our side (the left is a lost cause). Liberals can play to the middle as well, so they have an equal chance if we do that- but not if we try to win over the middle. Liberal ideas can't do it. Strong conservative ideas will, as Ronald Reagan proved.
But, that's hard to do when your candidate isn't conservative enough.
So we're caught in a trap- do we want to win this election, or the next one?
Bush has increased NON DEFENSE spending 12.5% each year he has been in office...After bragging abotu signing campaign finance reform, kennedy's education bill, a few hundred billion in increased farm subsidies, and a new $700 billion dollar medicare entitlement....no thanks.
The GOP has abandoned conservatives. They need to EARN my vote.
Yep. Its Kyle Williams. He doesn't think Bush is a true conservative but John F*ckin' makes Bush look restrained by comparison. Its a choice between a milquetoast and and a Hard Leftist. When it comes right down to it, the answer's obvious. Conservatives who think there's an alternative to "W" are fooling themselves and with their votes would be helping the Left back into power just like they helped Clinton.
Paraphrasing a very wise FReeper in regards to the CA elections, Vote Bush but keep a picture of Peroutka (or Badnarik if you prefer) on the bedside.
It's all about the ever present moderates. We all want conservatives running the show, no questions asked. But in caucuses you can see clearly that a large segment of Americans want moderates, whether they lean to the left or right. That explains part of Clinton's success. He fooled his voters into thinking he's a centrist. Hence we have 8 years of hell. Also explains why we have President George W. Bush instead of Alan Keyes. Keyes is open and upfront about his policies and is more conservative than Bush. That scared the voters. So, a lot of Republicans went for Bush and McCain. Same with the Specter/Toomey race. Although that one is quite close, Specter still won.
If we wish to be able to vote straight ticket conservative, we have to educate the moderates. The fact that a lot of Americans are more afraid of Keyes than Kerry shows that the 40 long years of leftist disinformation worked. The two type of moderates are those who buy the lies of the left on domestic issue or those who buy their lies on international issues. Educate them, and we can vote straight ticket conservative without fear.
I like Keyes. I also like Bush. These men are both patriots and decent, God fearing men. But one of them is President and the other isn't. That's life. There are times I wish Keyes was in charge. But then I simply look at one of Bush's speech, his character, and his courage. And it's clear that Bush would not have done any less than Keyes.
Of course I have my disagreements with Dubya. Who doesn't? But a few of his bad policies do not erase all the good he has done. Remember, conservatives picked on Reagan too. And now America hailed him as a genius.
By the way, that "Read my lips" thing? That's Dem politicking. Dems promised to back down on something that Bush the elder wanted if he raise taxes. He did. Lo and behold the Dems didn't back down and he lost on taxes, policy, and the presidency. Dems simply have no character.