McCain Haters For McCain

American Thinker ^ | September 05, 2008 | Randall Hoven

[neverdem]

I think I'm fairly representative of those conservatives who just could not stand to vote for John McCain.  But I now plan to vote for him this November.  Let me tell you why.

My published criticisms of McCain can be read here, here, here and here.  I even contemplated that a President Obama might not be so bad.  I think my bona fides as a "McCain hater" are fairly well established.  (Although I don't care for the word "hate" here.  I didn't hate him, just voting for him.)

To some conservatives, voting is a simple matter: only one of two candidates is going to win, so pick the more conservative.  By that measure, McCain easily beats Barack Obama.  Just compare, say, lifetime ACU ratings.  The score would be 82 to 8, McCain over Obama.  No contest.  But by that measure, if the Republicans had nominated Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), we should vote for her over Obama, since her ACU score is 22.

The logic of the anti-McCain crowd was not that simple.  Our time horizon was not just the next four years, but the future in general.  I had stated that it is better to have a Democrat President who governs like a Democrat than a Republican who governs like a Democrat.  Why?  Because the Democrats would get a twofer with the latter: the enactment of a Democratic agenda and the ability to fix the blame for anything bad on the Republicans.

And what would conservatives get?  An agenda they despise, blame for everything bad and no political party representing them any more.

I gave the example of Richard Nixon.  He did virtually everything Democrats wanted.  He got us out of Vietnam -- by withdrawing in defeat.  He hugged Mao Zedong, the greatest mass murderer in history, in public.  He imposed wage and price controls.  He gave us OSHA and the EPA.  His EPA chief then outlawed DDT, letting millions around the world die defenseless against malaria.  He appointed Justice Blackmun to the Supreme Court, who went on to author Roe v Wade.  He increased government spending to support a growing welfare state.

And what did conservatives get for all that?  A Republican President resigning in disgrace, a sweep of Democrats in Congress, oil price shocks, a recession, President Jimmy Carter, our enemies emboldened abroad and a political albatross that hangs around the necks of Republicans to this day.

In short, some of us think preserving a party that truly represents conservative values is more important for the long term than just having someone in the White House with an ACU rating somewhere north of 8.

If McCain were trying to morph the Republican Party into Democrat-Lite, I would not vote for him.  He could have demonstrated that by picking a Vice President like Joe Lieberman.  Nothing wrong with Joe, but he's not a Republican.  He thinks life is improved through government programs.  Republicans think government usually is the problem, not the solution.

But McCain did not pick Joe Lieberman or anyone like that.  He picked Sarah Palin.

And that changed everything.

Sarah Palin is pro-freedom, pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax, anti-spending.  And she walks the walk.  Her life story is pure American -- even old-time, frontier American.  We can compare experience levels in years of "public service": her 12 to Barack Obama's 11.  But more importantly, Obama's experience consists mostly of missing a lot of votes so he could write a second autobiography and make speeches, while Palin's includes negotiating a gas pipeline deal with Canada and confronting Big Oil face-to-face and making it blink.

Sarah Palin also represents real reform in government.  Not just reform in the sense of ethics rules, but reform in the sense of getting back to the days where elected officials were normal people recognized for their real-world leadership, not professional politicians, usually lawyers, adept at making good excuses, not good decisions.  Alexis de Tocqueville would recognize her as an American: a Bible in one pocket and a newspaper in the other.

And because she is so young, John McCain showed us the future of the Republican party.  It's even more choice that Palin's nemesis in Alaskan politics is Senator Ted Stevens, the oldest, whitest, pork-barrelest, and now indicted, Republican in the Senate.  McCain made it clear: out with the Stevens, in with the Palins.  I am down with that.

In a stroke, McCain showed us his vision of the Republican party, and it is not Democrat-Lite.  And the base knew it right away.  On the day he announced Palin as his VP choice, $4 million flew into his campaign from internet contributions.  The previous daily high was under $1 million.  What does that tell you about what the Republican base thinks of Sarah Palin?

Yet we've heard this spun by our wise media as a scheme to get Hillary Clinton's voters.  We hear those same wise men advise McCain to reach to the middle and the left.  Such advice is wishful thinking or self-delusion at best, or lies at worst.  Five of the last seven presidential elections were won by Republicans.  When Bill Clinton did win, he did it with less than a majority of the popular vote.  The last Democrat to garner a majority of the popular vote for President was Jimmy Carter, who received 50.1% of the popular vote two years after Nixon resigned.

Republicans do not win by moving left.  They win by being Republican: pro-freedom, pro-defense, pro-American, by being the party of small government and big ideas.

The Palin choice was not about getting Hillary's voters, although that might help nudge the margin of victory up by maybe 1% or 2%.  It was about reinvigorating the base, the base that put Reagan in the White House with a 49-state victory.

This whole episode also shows me that McCain is probably smarter than I had thought.  He apparently has favored Palin since February; this was not a seat-of-the-pants decision.  His campaign staff was not only able to keep it a secret, it let the media drink its own bathwater in its silly who's-he-gonna-pick game.  And he timed it beautifully to deny Obama a big post-convention bounce.  You could almost think McCain knows what he's doing.

The surge is working.  The US and Iraq are discussing troop withdrawal dates.  General Petraeus is drafting a troop drawdown schedule.  The latest GDP figures show healthy economic growth.  Jobless claims are down three weeks straight.  And John McCain picked Sarah Palin for VP.

I'm voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin this November, and I won't even have to hold my nose.

Randall Hoven can be contacted at randall.hoven@gmail.com or  via his web site, kulak.worldbreak.com.

[neverdem]

Stay home or vote third party. Don't be surprised with what you get.

http://gunbanobama.com/

[DeaconRed]

You couldn't have HATED him more than me.
YAKABOMA scares the BEE-JESUS out of me.

[COgamer]

I’m amazed by how many people needed Sarah Palin to see the light as to how big a disaster allowing Obama to win would be for America.

[Ben Reyes]

I forgot all about that: I don’t have to hold my nose anymore!

[Names Ash Housewares]

Whatever works!

Welcome them home!

We need every swingin’, ahem, weewee in the field. So to speak. PG version there.

Obama will get us nuked. The guy is that clueless and incredibly dangerous. Sends a chill down my spine that so many Americans are spellbound by this guy.

We all gotta get in the game this time, and make it a decisive LOSS for him.

None of this one state scraping by with a bare minimal victory stuff.

Imagine what would happen? No Obama, no peace!

No thanks.

Lets kick his ass good!

[Darkwolf377]

Palin would be the McCain to McCain—if he went too far left, she would have no problem announcing this to all, even resigning her vice presidency so she could run against him should he seek re-election as a Democrat-Lite in 2012.

[freekitty]

Palin represents freedom we haven’t seen for a long time.

[Darkwolf377]

Obama will get us nuked.

No he won't. Seriously, that scenario is not going to happen.

He will negotiate with the terrorists or whoever, and allow them to peacefully migrate en masse into our cities, where thousands of "community organizers" would incorporate them into our new Sharia-law-bound communities. And he would be praised for "making peace".

[AmericanInTokyo]

I have comments to the author of the article.

You have made your choice. In all fairness, did you not hate McCain's political positions as a moderate/centrist (and liberal at times) rather than hate Mr McCain the man?

I just had a few questions outside of that. THESE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH OBAMA, but stand on their own strength intrinsically with and about HIM. I ask them in all civil sincerity.

You objected to him as I see it because of his liberal voting record and antics, it seems.

Did he change or did you?

Do you think he will go RINO if President, or will he "conservatize".

Any percentage chances on that, either way? And, most importantly, if he does go RINO on us, what should we as Conservatives do next?. Should we oppose him, or support him as our President?

Let us think long term also, I am talking six months out now. As you have thought these through now, I would imagine you have conclusions and strategies on these. Please share, Mr. Hoven, if at all you are reading this..

[Califreak]

I’m in.

I just pray she can slap some sense into him regarding global warming, immigration and the great biofuel scam.

[Darkwolf377]

BTW, these developments prove the correctness of our way over the sit-at-home crowd's bizarre logic.

McCain wanted Lieberman, but when that polled in the toilet, he realized the only way to solidify his base was to pick a hardcore conservative.

Even McCain has to be shocked at how well this choice has worked, and I can't imagine him turning his back on conservatives now. Not that Palin would let him.

Meanwhile, the sit-at-home "true patriots" have gotten nothing for their efforts; McCain's choice was based on conservatives willing to vote for him IF they thought they could work with him.

[feedback doctor]

I was a FredHead (still am) and used rationals like the poster to not support McCain. But Sarah Palin changed it for me. I will volunteer and help to get them elected. I am excited about the race!

[Drew68]

I’m amazed by how many people needed Sarah Palin to see the light as to how big a disaster allowing Obama to win would be for America.

I'll be honest. I was one of them. I was completely disinterested in the 2008 election.

Frustrated with the last few years, I'd actually resigned myself to say, "Screw it! Let Obama win!"

Not anymore.

When they spoke about Palin energizing the base, they were speaking to me.

[incredulous joe]

Welcome to our club, Mr Hoven.

Have just the teensiest bit of crow served with a side of humble pie.

Hopefully, you haven’t arrived too late. I don’t think that you have.

[Bobalu]

I once swore I’d never vote for McCain...Palin has changed that.

[Southack]

I too campaigned against McCain in 2000 and 2004...and his immigration stance and Campaign Finance Reform bore me out.

But something happened. McCain reversed course on amnesty and even grudgingly supported building our Southern Border Fence...plus, McCain latched on to Drill Here, Drill now.

McCain is a war hero, we all know that, but he supported the Surge in Iraq even before my hero, President Bush. That counts for something. He was for the Surge when sending more troops into Iraq was extremely unpopular...

...and that’s when I learned something about McCain...he’s resolute. Just like when I hated his persistance in supporting CFR at every turn, so I came to love his support for the Surge. He never waivered on it.

I can dig it!

Plus, McCain is pro-life. The next 4 SCOTUS Justices need to be pro-life. We can bury Roe v Wade!

So I actually came around to McCain prior to him picking Governor Palin...I was even resigned to “supporting” him if he picked Lieberman.

I am *so* glad that he picked Sarah, though! Now I won’t be holding my nose to vote for McCain...and I even sent him some money.

Wow!

That’s a big turnaround for me. I walked the walk and talked the talk against him in 2000 and 2004. Nice that I don’t have to be against him this time, though.

...and that whole Obama thing?! People! Come on...he’ll be a historical laughingstock who will make people forget McGovern himself.

[Danae]

When a bright light is brough into a room , everyone can see everything a LOT clearer.

Anyone remember, he’s also going to review every government department and then make it all accessable to the American people?

Oh HELL YA! About damn time!

[Southack]

"YAKABOMA scares the BEE-JESUS out of me."

Being afraid of the effeminate Obama would be like being scared by Michael Jackson in his Thriller video. Oooh, scary demon vampire makeup!

[incredulous joe]

Great! I would love to see those polls which show Barr running at a 4 point clip draining down to ones and point-fives before I will sleep a little better.

[eyedigress]

I supported him after Fred dropped out. I do not think his ideas of elections or immigration may be correct. I do believe he is more aware than me though and it barrels down to a judgment call on my side. After he picked Palin I trust him. Thats a pretty big poke in Obama’s eye, and a very bold move which I applaud.