Let me quatify that I cannnot stand John McCain and it will be with a very heavy heart that I pull the lever for him, mainly because like you I do not trust him. That said, I trust those of the democratic party even less.
Perhaps you would like to go back and change your vote in 2000 or 2004 so that Gore or Kerry could have been President, but who do you think would have been the Republican opponent in 2004, Bush maybe? How about 2008? McCain perhaps - just lie it is anyway? Look, no President makes all the correct choices, and Bush certainly falls under that category. So does Ronald Reagan. As much as I loveed (and I don't use that term lightly) Reagan even he made some very bad mistakes as President. But as Reagan was the better President than what the Democrats were offering so was Bush and so is McCain.
I honestly wish that this country would go back to it's conservative roots, but the stark reality is that the conservative movement we belong to is a minority one. Therefore, as conservatives the only thing we can do is try to get the most conservative or least liberal in positions of power. It sucks I know, but the alternative is to catapult this country into socialism.
By the time Louisiana's state primary had come around all of my preferred candidates, Fred Thompson and then Mitt Romney, were gone too. All of the candidatees names were still on the ballot though so I voted for Fred as my protest vote. But to answer your question it is voters in the Republican Party for the most part who select their nominee. (Thank God the Republican Party does not have Spuer Delegates like the democratic party where they can change the voters choice for nominee) There were a few states that allowed crossover votes and some allowed independents, but the vast majority were our fellow Republicans. This should be further proof to you that the Republican Party is not a conservative party but rather the more conservative party of the two major parties. Since conservatives are a minority we cannot start a viable third party either and since we take votes awat from the more conservative party of the two major parties we would be electing democrats. So there you have it, conservatives are between a rock and a hard place. Always have been and probably always will be. Pat Robertson tried in vain to get more control of the Republican Party, but even with all of his resources he was unsuccessful. That was because even with all the clout he brought to the table he still was outgunned in the Republican Party by the moderate contingency.
Bottomline is cast your vote, or not, for whomever you wish but the reality is you are casting your vote for Liberal X, the most liberal candidate in the race. If that is your true desire then do it by all means, but I will not hesitate to label it a treasonous act.
One last thought, would you have voted for Reagan in 1980 had you known that he raised taxes in California by one billion dollars in his first year of office as Governor of California?
I haven’t seen it, (altho it’s out there somewhere I’m sure) but what is McCain’s position on the war in Iraq/Afghanistan? I mean, what has he said he would do? How about what’s brewing in Eastern Europe? I know he wanted to close Gitmo, and I know what he thinks torture is.
Yeh, blather on all you like. You rationalize it to yourself why YOU are willing to vote for a liberal. Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?
One more thing. My family and I have spent a large part of our adult lives serving this country. My father was a retired naval officer with command of his own ship. (His command at sea pennant sits atop my desk as I type this.) My Great Uncle enlisted in the USN on December 8, 1941. My brother (two years older then me) died before his 40th birthday as a Disabled American Veteran. I served my own time in the USN during the cold war launching fighter aircraft off of flight decks. I suggest to you, sir, that you be extremely careful before you start throwing words like treason around!