I’ve got some bad news for you: there’s already a huge wedge and its been growing for years — really since the first Bush took office. This election (and the four previous ones) would be in the bag but for conservatives that have been staying home in droves since 1992. To answer this trend, what does the Republican party do? It nominates John McCain to run — the exact OPPOSITE of what it should have done. While I’ll concede that there weren’t very many good conservative presidential candidates this cycle, the main reason is the mess Bush and Congress have created — not the mess the RATS and the media blame him for, but the ones caused by ignoring conservative principles.
Conservatives are NOT “united” in trying to elect McCain. They may be holding their nose to keep Obama out, but even then, there are literally millions of votes the Republican party is throwing away because it refuses to nominate true conservative candidates that will actually behave as conservatives when elected.
turd in the punchbowl
And it seems now from the polls the independent voters are starting to come home to McCain....
Do you suppose that the conservatives staying home in droves might have something to do with a non-conservative getting the nomination?
Your arguments don't hold water, FRiend.
You claim that conservatives have been staying home since 1992, presumably because of the two Bush presidents, and that "The Republican Party" nominated John McCain.
...except that it was the Republican voters who nominated John McCain. Remember the part about him winning the primary? Did the party somehow fix the election? The voters chose him, not "The Party".
Oh, and the same goes for Bush I and Bush II. The voters put them in the White House, not "The Party".
The Republican Party is the way it is because of how the voters within it are. That's an obvious statement, of course, but you seem to be ignoring it anyway.
"The Party" isn't some vague and distant "them"; it's us. The majority of we, as a group, including you, nominated and elected Bush I and Bush II, and nominated John McCain.
Part of a Republican form of government is that individuals don't always get to see their man in office. That's no different now than it has been for over 200 years. To see whomever you believe is the "right" man in office, you need to campaign for him and convince the majority that you're right.
Welcome to politics.
The media gushed over McCain during the primaries, knowing that he is weak candidate who would do very poorly in the debates, not be nearly aggressive enough as a campaigner, and be generally unappealing to the republican base. Howard Dean himself was quoted as saying the democrats were most afraid of Romney and were glad that McCain got the nomination. And he is right. Romney killed McCain during the debates and Obama would have looked like the inexperienced Marxist fool he is if he had faced Romney in debates.
Independants were allowed to vote in many of the primaries, thereby handing McCain victory in several winner take all states. The republican party needs to change how its primaries operate such that only Republicans can vote. That way we won't end up with a pandering RINO who real Republican would generally not support.
The media has played this to perfection for their candidate and only a “perfect storm” has allowed Obama to get this far. And it is still possible, though not probable, to stop him.