If it comes down to McCain and Hillary, I would have to hold my nose and vote for McCain.
Would I rather have a true conservative to vote for? Of course. But, I don’t.
And I love my country too much to allow Hildebeast to take control of it without doing what little I can to prevent that nightmare.
Staying home on election day won't send a message to Republican leaders. Neither will voting for McCain. Well, a McCain vote will send the message that conservatives are not principled but party voters; and therefore the Republican leadership can continue to push candidates like McCain and Romney and bury candidates like Thompson and Hunter, and we will rollover and expose our bellies out of fear of the (continually self-destructing) Democrats. Voting for a third party candidate WILL send a proper message, either to the Republican party which has abandoned it's conservative principles or to the "new" party that actually offers us conservative candidates.
I think we (meaning conservatives) should be discussing the conservative bonifides of various third parties and their candidates rather than harping to each other about McCain/Romney/Huckabee/Hillary/Obama. And FreeRepublic should be hosting that conversation and inviting all to attend and present their "case for conservatism".
The country survived eight years of Billary and we will survive four or eight years of Hillarbill or Obama _IF_ conservatives use that time to build a strong base in a new/different party, or a Republican party that "got the message" when we voted on principle rather than on politics in 2008. A party, new or changed, whose political philosophy is closer to that of Reagan, as well as the 1994 Republicans under Gingrich.
"Principled" means conservative first, Republican second.
That's my opinion, your mileage may vary.