If it comes down to McCain, then so be it. But we as conservatives cannot afford to walk away in that case.
I am no McCain supporter. I'm still disappointed that Fred dropped out of the race. After that, I briefly considered voting for Romney, only to see him drop out this week.
However, there is absolutely no comparison between McCain and Clinton, or McCain and Obama.
McCain screwed us on some big things - McCain/Feingold, McCain/Kennedy, Gang of 14, etc and I am still mightily POd about it. However, on everything else, he's been fairly conservative, especially the War on Terror.
We have a quarter of a million service members in harm's way, and we have almost 4000 more who will have died in vain, if Clinton or Obama win the White House. They NEED McCain's support. Now, a guy who agrees with us 82% of the time, according to the American Conservative Union, NEEDS our support in order to be president.
If he needs us, then we have some bargaining power - and his past sins should cost him. What price? Simply put - THE FUTURE.
We support McCain, he gives us a solidly conservative VP. A rising star, who will step into the Oval Office in 2012, or 2016, or whenever the Lord calls McCain home.
He'll need Congressional Republicans to get things done, and he'll need all of them, including the conservatives. They'll be pressure on him - have you forgotten Harriet Myers?
Will he be perfect? No, of course not. But, the perfect is the enemy of the good. We can't have Ronald Reagan, so let's get over it. Let's strike the best deal we can, for our troops now, and our position as conservatives in the future.
"Well, aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
Since 2001, what close votes has McCain sided with us on? What conservative legislation has he written?