There's Nothing Conservative Or Principled About Helping A Democrat Beat John McCain In November

TownHall.com ^ | February 8, 2008 | John Hawkins

[84rules]

There is NOTHING conservative about working with the Democratic nominee against most of your fellow conservatives in order to grow government, socialize medicine, lose the war in Iraq, tilt the Supreme Court to the Left, and make Roe v. Wade the permanent law of the land. If you are conservative and vote for the Democratic nominee or even just refuse to vote for McCain, who is by any and every objective standard, considerably more conservative than either of them, let me tell you what you are NOT doing,

* You are NOT doing the logical thing. When faced with a choice between a moderate who holds some conservative positions and some non-conservative positions and a liberal who holds no conservative positions, the logical decision is to take the moderate. After all, half a loaf is better than none.

* You are NOT helping conservatism or your fellow conservatives. To the contrary, you are helping liberals defeat conservative ideas. Isn't that what conservatives are saying that they're furious at McCain over? Well, who's less of a conservative: John McCain, who, if he were in the White House, would help conservatives win some battles and would help liberals win others or the conservatives who want to help a Democrat get into the office who will go against conservative ideas every time?

* You are NOT looking out for the best interests of the country. If you believe winning in Iraq is better than losing, if you believe balancing the budget is better than higher deficit spending, if you believe that having a Supreme Court that is tilted to the right is better than having a Supreme Court tilted to the left, and if you believe that Roe v. Wade is leading to the immoral murder of millions of children -- and the overwhelming majority of people reading this column certainly believe all those things -- then you are certainly not putting the good of the country first if you oppose John McCain in November.

[roses of sharon]

WHAT?

McCain said Hillary would make a good President, as he said about Kerry in 2004, he flirted with him for VP saying Kerry was CIC material.

Do we agree with McCain? No.

And therefore I will not vote for him, why should I when he has vowed to work with the Dims and the NYT?

As he has for the last 8 years.

[calcowgirl]

Alot of anger and hate has been directed at John McCain since yesterday.

Since yesterday? Give me a break!

Take CFR, as just one topic.

McCain has EARNED all of the animosity he is receiving!

[rightinthemiddle]

LOL!

Fred looks better every day, doesn’t he?

[Reagan79]

I’m not even for McCain. I have supported Huckabee ever since Fred dropped out. I just think at some point the whining has to turn to more constructive engagement.

[marinamuffy]

But if Obama gets the nomination, McCain is dead meat. Obama just comes off as a more likeable fellow than McCain.

Yep. And this is why I'm actually rooting for Her Highness (shudder) in the 'Rat primary. At least we have a chance against her in the general. And if we end up losing, it will stink but we will probably survive her reign. As for OsamaObama, I'm not so confident - I think I'd probably be in a burka or dead within the first 4 years.

[discostu]

McCain made shredding the First Amendment and limiting our participation in government a goal of his career. He called it Campaign Finance Reform, but it’s really just an attack on the most basic principle of America, what the military is fighting for. Kind of doesn’t matter how well he treats the military if he shreds what they’re protecting.

[YummiBox]

Logically the liberal is less dangerous.

I've come to the same conclusion. A pro war dem would be the best outcome over a liberal Repub. At least we would fight against the known Lib vs. the wolf in sheep clothing, McCain. The party would unite and move to the right vs. fracturing even more and moving left. It is true, then, we need to make sure that we shift congress to the right to counterbalance any of the three lib candidates (McCain, Obama, Clinton).

[MassExodus]

I just don't agree with you.
After all, half a loaf is better than none.

Not true.
In the case of McLame, he will cross the aisle and for the sake of "getting things done" and "working with the opposition" we will get a huge measure of liberal policies enacted and with a "conservative" to blame for them
No.
I won't be part of that.
I'll vote in Novemeber, write in Mitt Romney, and vote for all of the Republican Congressional seats that are available.

If John McLame manages to squeek his way in, he'll do it without my support and I just hope we can marginalize his treacheries to come.

A dangerous Liberal who's (Pro) Amnesty, (Anti) 1st Ammendment, (Anti) Bush Tax cut, (Pro) Liberal judges with an "R" after his name, is absolutely NOT better than a flat our socialist screwing things up, and would be tougher to replace in 4 years.

The time for this mealy-mouthed pragmatism is over.

[roses of sharon]

Simply stunning that the GOP base believes that gov can control the weather?

That the gov can determine and control the earths’ temperature?

Simply stunning that they would nominate a man promising such.

[NormsRevenge]

...who will we fight then, amongst ourselves like the 20006 2006 aftermath...

It must be later than I thought.

Cordially,

--

arrgghh.. Thanks! :-)

[mollynme]

The question of whether it is conservative or principled to help John McCain is a more nuanced issue.

Well said.

[VU4G10]

[b9]

In some political contexts, it DOES make sense to “let the other side win” and come back stronger a few years later.

Here, however, it does NOT make sense because damage in only 4 years, by a HillObama with a Dem Congress, to the courts (judges) and foreign/military policy of this country may be irreparable, or take 40+ years (SCOTUS justices’ tenure) to correct.

Agree 100%!

[mollynme]

McCain will also do those things. All of them. If he becomes Prez

Exactly - that is by we must vote for conservative members of congress to counter whoever gets elected president!

[Mrs_Stokke]

I would suggest that John McCain think about naming his VP now.

I don't think McCain can afford to name his VP now. He's promised the slot to too many people.

[y6162]

“We also need to understand that we are responsible for this together, not just one wing or faction of the GOP”

Who’s we kimosabe? McCainiac is on his own.

[dforest]

Hello, are you McCain? He has always been embarrassed of conservatives.

If you are embarrassed, go hang out with the McLame crowd.

You are the one that should be embarrassed.

[MississippiMan]

Sorry, but here’s reality: The GOP, when viewed from a White House perspective, has gone steadily left since 1988, and a McCain presidency would be a HUGE continuation of that trend. The ONLY way to re-establish conservatism is to a) make clear to the GOP that the leftward march will absolutely not be tolerated anymore, or b) forget the GOP and go with a new conservative party. That’s it.

There has come a time when conservatives must choose whether to continue to compromise away principle after principle for the sake of keeping the Democrats out, or to say enough is enough and endure the pain of a Democratic president for at least four years in order to achieve a greater long term gain, that being the restoration of conservatism in the GOP or another party.

There’s an argument (that certainly has merit worth considering!) that the time is not now to make that choice, not when Hillary is the alternative. On the other side of the coin, it’s NEVER going to be the “perfect time” to allow the Democrat an easy victory.

It’s also worth noting that we conservatives can go ahead and compromise one more time, put one more rubber stamp on the liberalization of the GOP, and with McCain as the candidate, we’ll probably lose the election anyway.

I have not yet decided what I’ll do, but neither the author of the article nor anyone on this board has one bit of right to question the motives and patriotism of conservatives who refuse to support the insidious incrementalism that is in play here. Not one bit.

MM (in TX)

[Miss Didi]

RUSH:... And that's the purpose of the monologue here today is to set down a marker, that this debacle continues and happens in November, I'm not going to sit here and get the blame for it by these people who are trying to shove it on me and others in talk radio. What I am saying here, folks, is that the responsibility for fixing what's broken belongs to those who broke it. We grassroots and conservatives did not break this. Yet we are being told that we are responsible for breaking it. We did not break this! They, those who broke it, do not accept that it is their responsibility. So they're lashing out and digging themselves into a bigger hole with the people who they've already turned off. It is important, folks, to understand here that we have to put the responsibility for this debacle back on them, so that we are not blamed for this months from now. They can try. We put our marker down now where it needs to be. Let me put this as simply as I can so that even David Brooks, from the New York Times, can understand. It is the Republican establishment that has taken the grassroots and conservatives for granted and has misled it for many years now; that is responsible for what's going on today, and what will happen in November.

The establishment of the Republican Party has let the Republican Party slide. You've used conservatives when you needed them. You've not led; you've not kept your promises, and now you're promoting a candidate who spent years leading the effort to marginalize the party and demean conservatives in a host of critical issues! You establishment Republicans created this mess. You created this scenario, and your tactics today -- with the name-calling and the demeaning of the base, which is really why you're attacking talk radio. When you attack me, you attack my audience. When you attack Levin and Hannity and Ingraham, you're attacking their audiences. You're attacking the base of the party. It's going to backfire on you, and you'll have yourselves to blame. Until you accept responsibility for what you've done and are doing to this party and take significant steps... Why do you think the Democrats are so happy to see what you guys are doing to the party? And why do we never see this happening to the Democrats themselves? You're going to be responsible for the election if you don't fix this. You establishment Republicans are going to be responsible for the election of a Hillary Clinton or a Barack Obama. It will not be us who are responsible. It will not be talk radio. It will be you. (cont.)



Rush sets down a marker: The McCain debacle is not our fault. It's the fault of the Republican establishment which abandoned conservatism.

Big-Tent GOP's Failure to Uphold Conservatism Caused This Mess



McCain Banks on Fear & Loathing

[The Toll]

No one backing McCain has the authority to tell me what “is” or “is not” conservative.