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Conservatives: Sitting Out 2008 Is the Height of Idiocy by Ben Shapiro
Family Security Matters ^ | 14 February 2008 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 02/14/2008 7:43:09 AM PST by K-oneTexas

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To: kabar
We have proven that we can fight McCain on amnesty and win, although it will get harder with him as POTUS. But with Obama or Hillary and the super majorities they will bring in, we will have no chance in those areas.

In the mean time, with either of them, as I have said, the SCOTUS will be lost for another 30+ years, we will retreat from abject enemies who want to kill us now, and we will cede ground in other critical areas as well.

Obama and Hillary will also be even worse on immigration than McCain.

Sorry, I cannot cede the ground that we might hold simply because I am absolutely PO'ed (and I am) at McCain and his ilk.

Holding some ground is better than holding no ground. And with whatever ground we hold we can fight McCain just as we have done to date.

I understand the anger, the emotion, and the reasoning. I share it. But I will not allow it to give even more ground in the face of even worse cretans.

281 posted on 02/15/2008 8:09:05 AM PST by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be. (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))
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To: Jeff Head
We have proven that we can fight McCain on amnesty and win, although it will get harder with him as POTUS. But with Obama or Hillary and the super majorities they will bring in, we will have no chance in those areas.

Dream on. McCain and his pro-amnesty RINOs teamed up in a Rep controlled Congress to pass the 2006 Senate amnesty bill [S. 2611]. Although the Reps voted 32-23 AGAINST it, Dems voted 38-4 FOR it. Of those 32 Reps who voted against it, Allard, Allen, Burns, Lott, Santorum, and Talent will are no longer there to fight it.

In 2007 folks like Kyl, Chambliss, and Isakson joined McCain. As an immigration activist who lobbied on the Hill against the bill and is very attuned to what is going on, there is still tremendous pressure from an array of forces including the Chamber of Commerce, labor union leaders, LaRaza, the Dems, corporate and political elites, the MSM, the Catholic Church, etc. to get amnesty. They are continuing to try either doing it piecemeal or thru another CIR bill. The nomination of McCain and Hillary or Obama has convinced many in Congress that amnesty is not as big an issue as thought. Yesterday's WP editoral said exactly that. It was entitled, "Nativism's Electoral Flop: Bashers of illegal immigration are failing at the polls"

Obama and Hillary will also be even worse on immigration than McCain.

That simply isn't so. There isn't a dime's worth of difference between them. There will be an amnesty regardless of who wins the WH. It will be easier for Reps to fight the Dems on the issue and they will be held accountable for the consequences, which will change the political landscape of the country. McCain gives the Dems the political cover of bi-partisanship.

282 posted on 02/15/2008 8:28:34 AM PST by kabar
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To: Jeff Head

Nativism’s Electoral Flop
Bashers of illegal immigration are failing at the polls

Thursday, February 14, 2008; Page A24

IN THE AFTERMATH of last summer’s national debate over immigration reform, elected officials of all stripes were stunned by the popular passion and fury unleashed by the failed effort in Congress to provide an eventual path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Many Republicans concluded hopefully — and many Democrats reckoned fretfully — that immigration would be the premier wedge issue of the 2008 campaign. But with the presidential primaries in their homestretch, it now appears that both the hopes and the fears were overstated.

On the Republican side, what’s striking is that the talk-show tantrums of the anti-immigrant ranters, despite having riled up a vocal minority, have had little impact on the outcome of primaries. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who styled himself as the nativists’ champion, dropped out of the presidential contest after never registering more than a blip in the polls. Former governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts took his turn at strident rhetoric against undocumented immigrants, to no discernible effect. Rudy Giuliani all but repudiated what had been his constructive, tolerant record on immigration as mayor of New York and then got shellacked in Hispanic-heavy Florida. Former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas took the most rabid line of all, promising to drive all 12 million illegal immigrants from the country in four months; he seems destined to be an also-ran, barring unforeseen miracles.

Granted, hard-liners remain apoplectic about Arizona Sen. John McCain’s erstwhile role as a champion of what they regard as amnesty for illegal immigrants; their ire may yet erode the Republican base in the general election. And many Republican congressional candidates will surely try to exploit the residual fervor on the issue in this fall’s elections. But the fact remains that Mr. McCain is the presumptive GOP nominee, despite what amounts to only a mild shift in emphasis in his longstanding position. (He now talks about the primacy of border security but continues to express compassion for illegal immigrants, who, he notes, “are God’s children.”) Perhaps the more interesting fallout from the immigration debate has been in the Democratic primaries, which have been marked by a major surge of Hispanic voters in some states. In California, 29 percent of Democratic voters on Super Tuesday were Hispanic, almost twice the share they represented in 2004. In Connecticut, their share of the party’s primary electorate leaped to 7 percent from just 2 percent four years ago. In Missouri, where the Latino vote was negligible in 2004, Hispanics accounted for 5 percent of Democratic primary voters this year.

Those jumps go well beyond Hispanics’ increasing share of the overall population. And while Hispanics constitute a diverse electorate, concerned with jobs, education, health care, crime and other issues, it’s a safe bet that the nativist rancor of last year’s debate has motivated and mobilized many of them. This is bad news for a Republican Party that has aligned itself with the most noxious anti-immigrant voices.

No doubt, the unrealistic and irresponsible advocates of harassment, roundups and deportations will show up at the polls this November, if only to cast ballots against candidates who would embrace workable reforms. The hope here is that their electoral clout will be outweighed by a backlash among fired-up and fed-up Latino voters.


283 posted on 02/15/2008 8:29:28 AM PST by kabar
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To: K-oneTexas

LOL! As if there was any way to stop what is about to happen! NO ONE can stop it. It is inevitable, a foregone conclusion.


284 posted on 02/15/2008 8:39:04 AM PST by roamer_1 (Conservative always, Republican no more.)
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To: Jeff Head
...The proposed conservative boycott of the GOP in 2008 also demonstrates a massive misunderstanding of the GOP's role. The GOP isn't constructed to nominate conservative candidates. It is constructed to win. It's the conservative base's responsibility to nominate conservative candidates. In 2008, the conservative base failed...

John McCain was not the choice of the conservative base, but the conservative base had two good choices, Duncan and Fred.

It seems conservatives came out in insufficient numbers, or, what's worse, perhaps they DID come out, and the results are a reflection of the actual percentage of numbers among the voters in general.

Either way, crying like a five year old girl in pigtails and running to mom does not work in hardball politics. The other side will do whatever it takes -I mean WHATEVER it takes- to get into the White House.

Hell, I question the sincerity and political leanings of some posters here who claim JM is "worse" than HRC or BO.

I have disagreements with JM, especially the 2A, my primary political choosing device. However, putting either hillary or obama into the white house out of spite because the majority of republicans do not agree with a conservative's personal choice, for whatever reason, is not strategic thinking, nor is it forethought, nor a well crafted political ploy to ensure the takeover in 8 years with a true conservative.

It is merely, baseless, profoundly stupid, non clear headed political stunt, whose only purpose serves to do what the democratic machine could not do by itself.

Might as well put on a tuxedo.."If I'm going to BE impotent, I might as well LOOK impotent.."support John McCain's However, the people who voted (yes, fellow Americans who do not like liberals) seemed only minimally interested in Fred and Duncan. So, neither got off the ground.

285 posted on 02/15/2008 8:41:09 AM PST by going hot (Happiness is a momma deuce)
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To: K-oneTexas

Conservatives: Sitting Out 2008 Is the Height of Idiocy.

(worth repeating)


286 posted on 02/15/2008 8:43:46 AM PST by READINABLUESTATE ("life is dangerous")
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To: READINABLUESTATE

I won’t be sitting out the election. I just won’t be voting for McCain, Hillary, or Obama for President.


287 posted on 02/15/2008 8:50:54 AM PST by kabar
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To: Designer

A vile crew if ever there was one.

Guess they are backing Hillary and McCain - whichever one wins, they come out ahead.

Perhaps Obama will spill their apple cart.

They pretty well orchestrated McCain’s rise to power, but haven’t been doing too well with Hillary.


288 posted on 02/15/2008 9:09:38 AM PST by ZULU (Non nobis, non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, guts and guns made America great.)
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To: ZULU
"Guess they are backing Hillary and McCain - whichever one wins, they come out ahead."

Exactly!

"Perhaps Obama will spill their apple cart."

There is more than an even chance that O'Bama will pepper his administration with CFR members as well.

"They pretty well orchestrated McCain’s rise to power, but haven’t been doing too well with Hillary."

Which is precisely why they work both sides of the street at once. They WILL be in the camp of the eventual winner.

289 posted on 02/15/2008 10:17:52 AM PST by Designer (When "leaving it to chance" is not an option.)
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To: NittanyLion
Neither McCain nor Clinton nr Obama will receive my vote.

Okay. I'm sure they'll find a way to cope with their disappointment.

290 posted on 02/15/2008 1:36:40 PM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: Right_in_Virginia
Okay. I'm sure they'll find a way to cope with their disappointment.

Hey, I don't have any delusions of grandeur; I'm simply making a personal stand. I suppose party hacks better hope there aren't too many individuals like myself out there.

291 posted on 02/18/2008 1:18:01 PM PST by NittanyLion
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To: NittanyLion
Hey, I don't have any delusions of grandeur; ....I suppose party hacks better hope there aren't too many individuals like myself out there.

And you still claim you don't have any delusions of grandeur? ;^D

Vote for whomever you choose. Just spare me your oh-so-principled decision.

We live in an imperfect world and those of us rooted in reality will play the cards we've been dealt to the best of our advantage....even if we're not insanely happy with the deck.

I hope you're okay with this. But if you're not--well, that's just fine.

Be well.

292 posted on 02/18/2008 3:32:06 PM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: kabar
I won’t be sitting out the election. I just won’t be voting for McCain, Hillary, or Obama for President

Ah, what a joy it must be to render oneself irrelevant.

293 posted on 02/18/2008 3:36:19 PM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: Right_in_Virginia
Vote for whomever you choose. Just spare me your oh-so-principled decision.

Why? Does my principled decision create some pangs of guilt in you?

294 posted on 02/18/2008 3:56:44 PM PST by NittanyLion
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To: NittanyLion
Why? Does my principled decision create some pangs of guilt in you?

Of course not. I hope you vote your conscience.

I, however, will engage in the world as it is and vote for John McCain.

And I will do so with great pride and satisfaction.

Godspeed, Nittany.

295 posted on 02/18/2008 4:30:04 PM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: Right_in_Virginia
Of course not. I hope you vote your conscience.

Likewise, friend.

296 posted on 02/18/2008 4:32:34 PM PST by NittanyLion
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To: NittanyLion

Nice to disagree without personal attacks.

Be well, my FRiend.


297 posted on 02/18/2008 4:37:04 PM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: Intimidator
I suspect conservatives won’t stay home in November. Some are just saying they will because they are still in that ‘pouting’ stage because their candidate didn’t make it.

Then you have no idea what you are talking about.

298 posted on 02/18/2008 4:51:49 PM PST by roamer_1 (Conservative always, Republican no more.)
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To: Right_in_Virginia

Irrelevant? To whom?


299 posted on 02/19/2008 5:21:04 AM PST by kabar
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To: K-oneTexas
Mr. Shapiro you do not get it. I, for once, want to be on the sidelines and in total honesty say I did not vote for this traitorous, lying, backstabbing, egomaniac we now call President. Which ever of the three it may be. The country deserves what it gets for letting the MSM pick the Dem candidate and the back up Rep candidate. Call me out of step if you want but the path this country is on is the path to destruction. It will take a hard reboot to fix this mess and that is not going to happen with any of these three candidates in the WH.
300 posted on 02/19/2008 5:28:04 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (John McCain - The Manchurian Candidate? http://www.usvetdsp.com/manchuan.htm)
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