I’m getting that old Bob Dole feeling again.
Why ? Conservatives have already lost the election with the nomination of Juan McCain. What good is a symbolic victory for a Republican label ?
I am not going to give my vote out of fear of Hillary or Obama. If the GOP wants my vote, they had better start an “outreach” to conservatives like myself, just as they have an “outreach program” for hispanics. (Juan Hernandez).
This man is NOT afraid to leave the plantation.
I tend to agree. I do not buy an inevitable democrat landslide. Nor will I accept such a notion out of hand.
The fact is, we as conservatives are not getting what we hoped for or wanted in a candidate in this election. Most of that fault lies with us and with those we elected to go and do our business. Us for not holding their feet to the fire, and then not getting behind any single candidate for President to help do something about it (as in lead), and many of the GOP candidates elected earlier who got to DC and then made “nice” with the opposition and did not do the work we sent them there to do.
Be that as it may, things are what they are right now and we are left to make the most of it.
I do not believe or buy into any notion of capitulation or thowing my toys down and “going home” as a plan or policy for addressing it. Even with the candidate we have, there is simply too much at stake.
In particular, we can still hold ground in all of the following areas:
1) Abortion. McCain has a good record on supporting the life of any fetus in the womb. We owe it to those millions of innocenets to not throw in the towel here and add those lives to the other areas we will lose ground in.
2) The Supreme Court. McCain is much more likely to appoint judges onto the court who will make decisions based on the original intent of the founders than anything Hillary or Obama will appoint. In the abortion area this is critical because we are on the verge of being able to have the SCOTUS overturn Roe v Wade. This has taken 35 years to occur. I am not willing to sacrifice those 35 years and have to wait another 35 to get back where we are today.
3) The War against Islamic Jihad. McCane will stay on the offensive in this war. He may not do it exactly according to our liking (neither did Bush), but he will take the fight tenatiously to the enemy...something we definitely will not get from Obama or Hillary. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of American lives could depend on this. And the spirit and honor of those who have already sacrificed their lives in this regard compell us.
4) Tax cuts. I believe McCain will keep his pledge to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. He has stated that directly (as opposed to the continued wishy washy language IMHO and action on border issues). This will be critical for us economically and we know exactly that Obama or Hillary will do the opposite.
So, despite the areas where we will lose ground with McCain (and immigration, the border, and global climate are chief amongst those), there are other equally critical areas IMHO where we can still hold high ground. And from that high ground I believe we can mount a counter offensive on the other issues (particularly immigration and global climate) where we differ with McCain. We have shown we can do that already and must continue to fight him directly, remaining in his and the liberals face, while holding the other critical ground.
I am unwilling to cede ALL the ground. Capitulating, staying home, or voting for one of the other cretans will do that and it is something I simply cannot subscribne to.
I have no plan to sit out 2008. I will vote for the most conservative candidate on the ballot.
RNC’s fault, they masterminded this train wreck.
I’ll vote for McMain when they modify the ballot, and the counting and reporting of them, to include the phrase...”IN PROTEST”.
Yeah, vicious name calling is gonna bring all the wayward sheep back into the fold. Sure, that’s the ticket.
Do moderates and liberals in the Republican Party have any tools other than this? If not, then how are they much different from Dimocrats?
Or maybe we move toward a particular group (or political party) because of principles. Something McCain seems to lack.
Umm, can you say Keating Five? Sure you can....
John McCain has more direct, personal, experience and involvement with corruption in politics than most.
Campaign finance reform was not about cleaning up corruption. It was about ensuring that the spoils of corruption only went to club members. And shredding First Amendment rights was not too great a price to pay for keeping the corrupted funding coming.
Conservatives have bent over backwards for the GOP for far too long. We are not going to bend over forwards. McCain prides himself on getting the non conservative vote. Screw him.
Sitting Out does not equal not voting for McCain
If Obama is the nominee there is no way in hell I am sitting out this election. The dude scares me.
Dear Ben,
It’s called “mavericking”.
Conservatives have learned from the best!
Many are prepared to cut off their nose to spite their face. Can McCain be any worse than Jorge Bush? Yet, you criticize “Dubya” here and you’re called a Dim mole or worse.
I will never “stay home” on election day.
I also will never vote for John McCain.
Don’t need some 24 year old punk giving me advice.
“the GOP may have to go through the purifying ritual of cataclysmic electoral defeat.”
If Obama secures the nomination (looking more and more inevitable) I don’t see how McCain can possibly win, regardless of what conservatives do. The “cataclysmic electoral defeat” is almost a certainty, the subsequent “purifying ritual” - we’ll see if that can happen.