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.

[Coldwater Creek]

You don't have to worry about McCain and formal religion (if that's what you mean). McCain refuses to be scripturally baptized.

[Coldwater Creek]

I believe that you hit the nail on the head. I would say all of the above, dumb luck, desperation and Divine Providence, plus some really savvy handlers.

They turned this election from McCain/Obama to Palin/Obama, and the result is that with a little sugar, the medicine will go down a lot easier.

At 72 with four bouts of malignant melanoma, my guess is that McCain will be a one term president.

[Kevmo]

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.
***I was in that mindset as well. Supernova Sarah changed it for me and for many other social conservatives. Now we have representation.

[Rutles4Ever]

I’m not a McCain fan either, in general, but a vote NOT cast for him is a vote for Marxism and a vote against the re-birth of Reagan conservatism in Sarah Palin.

[Daveinyork]

I’m with the writer. I was not going to vote for McCain. A McCain win would have put the cause of conservatism back a lot of years because, if he won, he, and his advisors, would have figured that they did it without conservative support, and they would have ignored us. Government would have continued growing, and our liberty eroding.

On the other hand, an Obama victory, while bad for the nation in the short run, would have energized conservatism, and the country would benefit in the long run.

Sarah Palin changes that dynamic. If President McCain starts reaching too far across the aisle, with no reach back from the other side, VP Palin may be seen on his other arm pulling him back. I’m now prepared to give McCain/Palin the benefit of the doubt. I may even send some $$$, or even do some work for their local committee, as I did for Bush/Cheney and Dole/Kemp.

[srmorton]

I forget her name, but FOX's new Democrat talking head seems to have a little more sense than many others. She is not so blind or stupid as to try to call black white like many of them do. Last night, she made the comment that most of the small towns in America are just like Sarah's small town, and that, if the Democrats ridicule her small town upbringing, they do so at their peril. Reading this condescending, supercilious email from this clueless Bryn Mawr graduate reminded me of her statement.

I did not graduate from an Ivy League University, but I am a well-educated woman with a Masters degree and 25 years of teaching experience. I am very offended by this woman's portrayal of Sarah Palin. Imagine what a small town girl who dropped out of HS to have her first child and now is proud (and rightly so) to have completed her GED feels when she reads garbage like this! She is not likely to run out and get an Obama sign, that's for sure!

[AmericanInTokyo]

I have a post graduate education, and yet those Palin folks in that little town seem like good folks I could really go have some beers with, throw some darts, and have just a crazy fun time in some tavern with the midnight sun shining outside.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Someone should replay for the Democrats their own “Why Not the Best?” song from 1976, theme song from that backwoods, redneck Jimmy Carter. People remember the gas station Billy had? Mizz Lillian? Peanuts? The train tracks? Cars up on blocks? AMERICA HAD THIS SHOVED DOWN ITS THROAT BY THE DEMOCRATS AS THEY FOUGHT TO PORTRAY FORD AS AN ELITIST. They cannot have it both ways. Obama wont be able to saunter on about “the little people” either, the big SAP.

[billva]

Ridiculous logic.

We aren’t electing her as President, we’re electing him and he’s the same today as he was the day before he chose Sarah. I like Sarah, but some folks are fools for falling for his game. He played it right, brilliant choice, and it worked. All the attention is on her. Meanwhile, he’s free to move, seemingly undetected, as far to the left as he wants. Bravo McCain. Bravo

Well maybe to you it's ridiculous.

However to my your post is ridiculous. There is no evidence McCain wants to move left. What there is evidence of is that he will work across party lines. And like it or not if you cannot do that then you cannot be effective.

[VRWCtaz]

"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."

Ever think people are just tired of voting against someone and oh so eager to vote for someone?

[HalfFull]

And if McCain does not turn her lose, I believe Palin would quit as VP and run against him in 2012, or as an independent

Not a chance.

Normally you would be right, but obviously Sarah marched to the tune of a different drummer. She doesn't owe the party anything. Plus, she has a previous history of leaving a job when she sees corruption and nothing happens....and then runs to get the top job!

[Tublecane]

“I can’t stand McCain,

but I love Governor Palin.”

A majority of conservatives echo that sentiment, I’ll bet. We should make a bumper-sticker.

[Kimberly GG]

“What there is evidence of is that he will work across party lines. And like it or not if you cannot do that then you cannot be effective.”

Yeah, we’ve seen how effective his crossing the isle is.... among other things, we almost got amnesty in the deal. Had he been able to reach across the isle and, with the exception of late term abortions, compromised with Dems who say beginning of life cannot be determined and in the hope of saving at least SOME babies, compromised on PARTLY reversing RvW, oking the first trimester only, I’m guessing you might feel differently about how well McShamnesty reaches across the isle.

[MARTIAL MONK]

I've known McCain for 25 years (not closely. He would recognize me but probably not know my name). I don't like the son-of-a-birch and he doesn't like me. I will tell you this: He is the real deal. He is going to do what he says he will do.

[Grunthor]

If they changed the premise of the story to “McCain haters for Palin....c’mon he’s 72 how long do you think he can go anyway?” It would be much more accurate.

[Atlas Sneezed]

McCain Haters For McCain

---

Describes both voters in my household perfectly.

[WalterSkinner]

<..I don't like the son-of-a-birch and he doesn't like me..

..that kind of sums up his relationship with conservative base--it's strange how things have turned since Sarah showed up...

[thinking]

“Being afraid of the effeminate Obama”

Yes, I had the same thought...if Clinton was the first Black President, then Obama. would “have” been the first female president....

[NewJerseyJoe]

Out of the mouths of babes....

[Califreak]

The talking points?

Like these things are bad!

LOL!

Makes me want to support her even more!