GOP Candidates Better Than Right Wing Admits: Three good options for the Right

The Chicago Sun-Times ^ | March 7, 2007 | George Will [Washington Post Writers Group]

[quidnunc]

The axiom is as old as human striving: The perfect is the enemy of the good. In politics this means that insisting on perfection in a candidate interferes with selecting a satisfactory one.

Which is why the mood of many of the 6,300 people, lots of them college age, who registered at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference here, was unreasonably morose. Sponsored annually by the American Conservative Union, CPAC is the conservative movement's moveable feast. Many at CPAC seemed depressed by the fact, as they see it, that the top three Republican candidates — John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani — are flawed. Such conservatives should conduct a thought experiment.

Suppose someone seeking the presidential nomination had, as a governor, signed the largest tax increase in his state's history and the nation's most permissive abortion law. And by signing a law institutionalizing no-fault divorce, he had unwittingly but substantially advanced an idea central to the campaign for same-sex marriages — the minimalist understanding of marriage as merely a contract between consenting adults to be entered into or dissolved as it suits their happiness.

Question: Is it not likely that such a presidential aspirant would be derided by some of today's fastidious conservatives? A sobering thought, that, because the attributes just described were those of Ronald Reagan.

-snip-

[quidnunc]

Quote:

Conservatism comes in many flavors. None seems perfect for every conservative's palate; most should be satisfactory to most conservatives.

Just so!

[mnehring]

from another thread...Based on what I've read here over the years, this animal known as a 'Conservative' is a mythical creature, that, like the Yeti, changes with the description of each observer.. If we follow the many limitations and guidelines placed on what defines this creature, it's very existence defies the laws of physics.

[kjo]

Sorry, you are never gonna convince me that any of the above are good enough to shine RR's shoes.

[SJSAMPLE]

Except for the whole pro-gay, pro-abortion and anti-gun stances.

It's amazing how people are willing to overlook those things in favor of "electability".

Just say no to RINOs in 2008.

[MNJohnnie]

Conservatism comes in many flavors. None seems perfect for every conservative's palate; most should be satisfactory to most conservatives.

From the very G Wills who spends a great deal of time whining about Bush not being a "Conservative". This is about who is, or isn't in the DC Political Establishment's graces, not about Conservativism.

[ElkGroveDan]

Where is the outrage from these people? They should be embarrassed and infuriated that this woman is part of the public face of their faction."

Agreed, but liberal is not one of those flavors. When the flavor is liberal you no longer have a conservative - so Giuliani shouldn't even be mentioned in this discussion.

[angkor]

Half the people at CPAC (esp. those RudyBots) were LIBERALS!!!!! /sarc

[Antoninus]

Is this yet another posting of the same George Will column? Oy.

Help vanquish Rudy McRomney...



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[ElkGroveDan]

Conservatism comes in many flavors. None seems perfect for every conservative's palate; most should be satisfactory to most conservatives.

Agreed, but liberal is not one of those flavors. When the flavor is liberal you no longer have a conservative - so Giuliani shouldn't even be mentioned in this discussion.

[Dead Corpse]

Same here. Especially in light of the fact that Reagan cut taxes at the Federal level. Sounds like the Left is trying to re-write history to make the RINO's look more "moderate".

[x]

Sorry, you are never gonna convince me that any of the above are good enough to shine RR's shoes.

And who is?

Your sentiment got expressed a lot in 1988 and 2000.

People forget that now.

[zarf]

It's amazing how people are willing to overlook those things in favor of "electability".

Never underestimate the power of winning.

[calcowgirl]

Third time's a charm?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1797394/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1797448/posts

[Carry_Okie]

See tag line.

[SJSAMPLE]

Yep.
Except "winning" means I get to hand my RKBA rights over to a RINO, who also gets to appoint two or three Supreme Court justices.

I guess we'll all just have to take a bite out of that turd sandwich and convince ourselves it tastes great, rather than back a TRUE conservative.

[hosepipe]

IF there were a Right Wing in the United States it would avocating the HANGING of George Will as a RINO....

Have not heard that ..... YET...

[quidnunc]

calcowgirl wrote: Third time's a charm?

both of the previous posts have different headlines which do not include the WaPo headline.

Consequently a search didn't turn them up.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

".....unwittingly but substantially advanced an idea central to the campaign for same-sex marriages — the minimalist understanding of marriage as merely a contract between consenting adults to be entered into or dissolved as it suits their happines...."

False!

Marriage was universally thought of as between a Man and a Woman back when RR was Governor of California, not "consenting adults".

[cripplecreek]

I don't know what's more offensive about these articles. The fact that they make a comparison between Reagan and Rudy, or the fact that they think we cave man like conservatives will buy it.

Another source of irritation is their feeble attempts to categorize everyone. According to most of these articles I'm one of the moderates who supports Rudy but I don't.