GOP to Conservatives: Drop Dead

Updated: 9:46 PM 02/21/08 Obama Scores, Clinton Flops on Copy Cat Spat Updated: 9:16 PM 02/21/08 Notes on Obama's Immigration Debate Talk Updated: 8:40 PM 02/21/08 <a href="http://ads.townhall.com/accipiter/adclick/CID=00014ba3d8d6daef00000000/site=TOWNHALL/area=TownHall.Web.Columnists.DouglasMacKinnon/POSITION=TOWN_SKY/AAMGEOIP=68.112.78.1"> <img src="http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/creative/MortgageMinuteAdSkycalcsky.swf" alt="" width="160" height="600" border="0"> </a> GOP to Conservatives: Drop Dead By Douglas MacKinnon Friday, February 22, 2008

As with small children, many of the entrenched, beholden, or power-hungry hierarchy of the Republican party, simply wish conservatives could be seen, but never heard.

In a very telling headline, The Washington Times recently reported, “McCain Refuses to Pander.” In the first paragraph of the article, the paper said, “John McCain's campaign manager yesterday said the candidate will not pander for conservative support…” Yeah, we know. Message received.

For those conservatives or talk radio hosts who still don’t get it, or who are still not prepared to compromise their principles for the party, then some elder statesmen have some names they’d like to call you. Chase Untermeyer, the former high level official for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and the current president, said in a recent column, “At both the national and local levels, there are those who declare that certain Republican elected officials are insufficiently conservative and must be purged. Senator John McCain is getting the worst of these blasts right now, with some self-appointed tribunes of Reagan’s legacy saying they might even prefer Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – scarcely followers of the Gipper – to McCain.”

For those conservatives who admire President Reagan but would dare question the record of McCain, Mr. Untermeyer, labeled each a “SQUIRREL.” As in “Snarky Quibbler who Undermines and Ignores Ronald Reagan’s Enduring Legacy.”

“Snarky.” I guess if you went to Harvard, called yourself “Chase” instead of Charles, and mingled with the elites of the world, then “Snarky” is a name you might assign to conservatives who have an honest disagreement with John McCain. If you’re someone like me, who grew up in poverty, barely got an education, and never met an Ivory Tower elite worth a warm bucket of spit, then you might substitute the word “ethical” for snarky.

When I first came to Washington, I had the honor to work in the White House as a low-level writer for Ronald Reagan. While certainly lacking the pedigree of Mr. Untermeyer, I did share one or two special moments with that President. In a conversation that Peggy Noonan was kind enough to chronicle in her bestselling book entitled “When Character Was King,” President Reagan and I spoke in the Oval Office about the alcoholism of our fathers, poverty, and the cruelty of life. It was actually because of Ronald Reagan’s wisdom, kindness, and suggestion, that I was able to reach out to my estranged father.

Understanding that, I’m more than proud to plead guilty to using Ronald Reagan as the template for true conservatism. As such, I just don’t think there is any way that anyone can accurately equate Reagan’s conservative legacy with McCain’s moderate voting record. Does saying that make me a bad person? Am I now an Untermeyer “Squirrel?”

The thought of voting for Clinton or Obama makes me nauseous. We are a nation at war with Islamists who mean to exterminate us. To vote for Clinton or Obama is to vote for the authority to wave the flag of appeasement or surrender. I have no intention of voting for the next Neville Chamberlain.

John McCain is a good person. I do believe he has the best interests of our nation at heart. That said, as an American, it’s my right to disagree with him on substance. John McCain heroically fought and sacrificed to give me that right, and for that, I am forever grateful. On issues such as immigration, taxes, judges, global warming, drilling in Anwar, and the detention and prosecution of enemy combatants, I take issue with some of his past comments, votes, or current positions.

Unfortunately, the message I’m getting from the Republican establishment is that conservatives should bite their tongues, do their duty, and await the crumbs that may come their way in a McCain administration. Is that what it’s come to? Party loyalty before principle?

In endorsing McCain the other day, former President George H.W. Bush said, “…no one is better prepared to lead our nation at these trying times than Senator John McCain.” Really? No one? Does this incredibly decent former president truly believe that McCain is better prepared to lead this nation than say, his own son, Jeb? Or Mitt Romney?

In his endorsement, the former president also said, “…I believe now is the time for me to help John in his effort to start building the broad-based coalition it will take for our conservative values to carry the White House this fall.”

“Conservative values.” That’s all this election is about for millions of Americans who choose to put country before party. As such, they are entitled to have McCain further define or clarify his “conservative values.” He needs to earn their vote.

Like Untermeyer, former President Bush questioned those on the right who question McCain. He called such criticism “grossly unfair” and an “unfair attack.”

If some in the party succeed in quashing the conservative voice, then they will have silenced the conscience of America. Surely, John McCain will stand shoulder to shoulder with conservatives to prevent such an outcome.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the forthcoming novel, The Apocalypse Directive.

Be the first to read Douglas MacKinnon's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox. GOP to Conservatives: Drop Dead By Douglas MacKinnon Friday, February 22, 2008 Send an email to Douglas MacKinnon Email It Print It Take Action Read Article & Comments (27) Trackbacks Post Your Comments

As with small children, many of the entrenched, beholden, or power-hungry hierarchy of the Republican party, simply wish conservatives could be seen, but never heard.

The thought of voting for Clinton or Obama makes me nauseous. We are a nation at war with Islamists who mean to exterminate us. To vote for Clinton or Obama is to vote for the authority to wave the flag of appeasement or surrender. I have no intention of voting for the next Neville Chamberlain.

ohn McCain is a good person. I do believe he has the best interests of our nation at heart. That said, as an American, it’s my right to disagree with him on substance. John McCain heroically fought and sacrificed to give me that right, and for that, I am forever grateful. On issues such as immigration, taxes, judges, global warming, drilling in Anwar, and the detention and prosecution of enemy combatants, I take issue with some of his past comments, votes, or current positions.

Like Untermeyer, former President Bush questioned those on the right who question McCain. He called such criticism “grossly unfair” and an “unfair attack.”

Give it up already...

I WILL NOT be guilt-tripped into compromising my moral obligations to God and family ever again.

It is your support of the Rin-o-p that will ensure a socialist sleeps in the White house next year, not my conscious vote for honest government and freedom from tyranny...

LFOD...

MEMO TO McCAIN: If you wanna win, baby, you better tell the hyphenate crowd to get lost.....and that includes Mexican loyalist Juan Hernandez.

McCain's got a strange group around him---BUT McC says he won't "pander" to so/cons to get this important constituency behind his candidacy. According to McQueeg, it's called "pandering" only when applied to conservatives.

McC has no problem pandering to illegals McCain chose a dual-loyalty traitor to be his "Hispanic Outreach Director." Talk about pandering-----McCain said he chose Hernandez because he agrees with his positions.

Juan Hernandez was born in Dallas and decided as an adult to become a dual-national Mexican citizen. His last verifiable job was serving in Mexican President Vicente Fox's cabinet as Fox's "American Reconquista Director." Hernandez then worked for Bush hater George Soros' international foundations---(one such foundation published Hernendez's book that taunts Americans).

Hernandez believes all illegal Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the USA should become dual citizens and consider themselves Mexicans first, "to the 8th generation." The "New American Pioneers" proclaimed in his book are the illegal alien invaders he urges to become settlers in the USA for "Reconquista"---the plan to take back the SW.

===================================

Another group switch-hitting to McCain is Billy Kristol (Fox pundit) his daddy, and their crowd.

The Kristols are cheerleaders for the current admin's most destructive polices---including the twice-failed illegals amnesty plan.

The Kristols are also the architects of Giuliani's failed strategy to religiously cleanse the Repub party and kick conservatievs to the curb. They switched to McCain when their boy Giuliani tanked like a deadweight going down a 300 ft cistern.

"conservatives are to the republican party what blacks are to the democrats"

Catchy. But I think it's religious conservatives they view that way. Because the Religious Right will keep on being ridiculous in their backing of someone just because he's a Christian. Did we learn nothing from Jimmy Carter?

That would explain their support of Huckabee.

Either the religious right is actually comprised of Christian Socialists, or they're just playing identity politics.

What is a given... is that you'll usher in a socialist administration teamed up with an equally socialist Congress.

False. "I" won't usher in any such thing, it will ONLY be those who vote for that type of candidate.

Remember, only affirmative votes count and they only count "for" that candidate. They don't show a break down of votes 'McCain received 4 million votes total, and 3.2 million were against the other candidate and the other 8 hundred thousand were for him...'

Pissed-off-stupid is no way to enter the voting booth.

Calling people pissed off stupid is no way to encourage them to vote for YOUR choice!

Besides, I never even implied that I wouldn't vote, just might not vote for the leading contenders.

Wouldn't that be a shock if people stopped trying to vote for the winner and just voted FOR whomever they wanted in office?

Of course, choking on the GOP choice and holding your nose while compromising your integrity is no way to enter a voting booth either.

McCain is calculating, extremely intelligent, ruthless and focused.

Wow, you don't know much about him do you? At a minimum, read his Wikipedia biography, which will likely convince you otherwise. Extremely intelligent, focused people tend not to graduate five from the bottom of their college classes or to have a military career consisting almost solely of crashing airplanes. He is a lifelong loser who is only where he is because of who is father and grandfather were.

In addition, if the GOP has any thoughts that Hillary voters would prefer McCain to Obama, they’re even dumber than I thought.

I’ve been told, in no uncertain terms by the McCainiacs on this board that there will be no deals with conservatives. So, it seems apparent that the conservatives will just have to sit this one out because falling in line behind an inevitable loser would marginalize conservativism forever.

The best that we can do is concentrate on our state races and get conservatives elected in both federal and state legislatures. Make a strong energy policy and sensible environmental regulation the focus because that can be influenced at the state level. National security is a federal issue.

When driving a car with a tendency to veer left, is it better to fix the car, or to redefine "road" in such a way that the road is always under the car? The GOP is asking us to redefine the road. Conservatives are trying to fix the defective car. Both solutions appear to keep the car on the road, but only the conservative solution gets the car to its desired destination. The GOP solution only creates the illusion of having solved the problem.

The GOP establishment wants conservatives to back McCain. The problem is that the GOP has forgotten that conservatism is rooted in principle. There is only so much conservatives can do to "reach out" without abandoning their principles. That said, it makes more sense to hold McCain to conservative standards than to redefine conservatism such that McCain fits the the new definition. And that's what I see happening -- Those who keep calling McCain a conservative are trying to redefine "conservative" to include someone who truly doesn't fit the definition.

Attention GOP: Instead of conservatives joining McCain, McCain needs to join conservatism. Yes, conservatives will ultimately choose McCain over the Democrat nominee -- but I'd rather elect McCain because he promotes conservative values, not because he's "better than the alternative."

The headline I want to see: Conservatives Refuse to Pander.

Repubs NEED conservatives to win and they know it. Parties want to win. Period. The Repub party can be dealt with.

They need to be reminded about the party’s harrowing defeat of Nov 2006......when they chased away conservatives.

They tried to foist Giuliani on us-—he’s gone. They tried to foist Mehlman on us-—he’s gone. They tried to foist Mel “open borders” Martinez on us-—he’s gone.

That is all.

“More than likely it will be our troops that will suffer”

I keep seeing you McCain supporters post these things. I wonder what exactly you think a Democrat POTUS would do to the troops in Iraq or Afganistan other than bring them home where...well, where NO ONE is shooting at them.

I really believe that you are taking the wrong tack here and that perhaps you need to be pushing completeion of the mission, touting how well things are going, how close our troops are to coming home victorious anyway and that to bring them home prematurely would be like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Or was your point that Hillobama is going to put every last one of our troops up against a wall and shoot them?

So, it seems apparent that the conservatives will just have to sit this one out because falling in line behind an inevitable loser would marginalize conservativism forever. The best that we can do is concentrate on our state races and get conservatives elected in both federal and state legislatures.

Spot on Eva. That is exactly what I intend to do. Sit out the top of the ticket and vote for conservatives at other levels.

I think the RNC and their ilk are going to be very surprised after the election when they see many more votes for republican candidates for congress and state offices without the "coattail vote" for McCain. Maybe they'll get it then, but I'm not holding my breath.

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