John McCain vs. the Right: No easy peace; Update:McCain at CPAC
Update 11:11pm Eastern. The Club for Growth joins what McCain’s defenders derisively and speciously label the “McCain Derangement Syndrome” crowd. Here’s the CFG’s statement tonight. You can dismiss it as “hate” and accuse them of “acting like a liberal,” or you can deal with the facts:
When Janet Hook asked John McCain in tonight’s CNN Republican debate “What makes you more qualified than Mitt Romney, a successful CEO and businessman, to manage our economy?” Senator McCain offered a simple answer: “Because I know how to lead.”
Well, John McCain is certainly right about one thing. He knows how to lead, but he is often leading in the wrong direction, and often found with his liberal Democratic friends at his side. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are a case in point. John McCain was certainly a leader on the tax cuts: He led by being 1 of 2 Republicans in 2001 and 1 of 3 Republicans in 2003 to oppose the most pro-growth legislation in a generation.
John McCain joined with his Democratic friends in leading the opposition against the tax cuts. Like Ted Kennedy—who said “Now, they are proposing more of the same, more tax breaks benefiting only the wealthiest among us”—John McCain stood on the Senate floor and declared: “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief.” John McCain also proved his leadership skills by teaming up with Senator Tom Daschle in sponsoring an amendment designed to reduce the tax cuts and undermine their efficacy.
John McCain has also been a leader on several other key Democratic issues:
·He led by crusading, along with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, against the First Amendment, pushing for legislation designed to wipe out free speech from the political realm
·He led by teaming up with Ted Kennedy and John Edwards in sponsoring the Patients’ Bill of Rights, a bill that imposed onerous mandates on insurance coverage and encouraged an increase in the number of frivolous lawsuits filed against healthcare providers
“Having leadership is an important quality, but it is important to consider the political philosophy underlying John McCain’s leadership,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Hillary Clinton is also a leader, but Republicans don’t want Hillary Clinton to be their nominee. While John McCain has demonstrated his leadership skills, too often, on economic issues, he is leading the country in the wrong direction.”
Update 10:53pm Eastern. What Karl at Protein Wisdom said: “On one level, I cannot help but respect McCain for not wanting to change his positions to align himself with the conservative base. It is undoubtedly the same defiant streak that got him through the hell of the Hanoi Hilton. On the other hand, many people wish that he would at least reserve his most harsh, sneering, morally arrogant and childish rhetoric for liberals, Democrats and their subset in the media, rather than for those with whom he purports to agree with most of the time. Unlike Romney, McCain has built his political fortune on kicking people right of center in the teeth.”
Update 10:48pm Eastern. From commenter RationalThought: “OK, I was softening toward McCain. I really, really do not want a Shrillery presidency. I think her Supreme Court appointments will be a disaster for decades. But the class warfare BS he’s throwing around — and the anti-business crap — man I HATE that stuff. It’s red meat for ignorant, spiteful, envious voters (the Jerry Springer/Oprah crowd), which means the candidate who uses it doesn’t actually believe he has a damn thing to offer except, “Hey, I really want to be President of the United States.” I don’t know if I can pull the lever for him. And I agree with others here tonight: that nasty little smirk. It was positively…Hillaryesque. I’m back to thinking McCain or Hillary — What’s the difference? I don’t really see it, and for the first time in my nearly 50-year life, I may not vote at all. Why bother?”
Update 8:02pm Eastern. Wisdom from The Other McCain – “If you offer to be a doormat, don’t be surprised when people wipe mud all over you.”
I’m liveblogging the GOP debate here.
Update 6:30pm Eastern. Go here for my chat with Glenn Beck about McCain, Juan Hernandez, Jerrold Perenchio, and the conservative base.
Update: 4:50pm Eastern. Something to make you smile: Makaniak.
Update 2:20pm Eastern. Mark Hemingway reports that John McCain himself is coming to CPAC, in addition to reserving the campaign staff booth reported previously. So he can dismiss conservatives’ “foolishness” to their faces? Should be quite a show. Not to be missed.
Update 2:14pm Eastern. Must-read from Jeff Goldstein, who gets the heart of the Constitutional disaster that a McCain presidency portends: “The McCain Mutiny.” (hat tip – HAheadlines) But I guess we’re all just suffering from “McCain Derangement Syndrome.”
Update 11:25am Eastern. McCain to conservatives: You’re fools!
***
Despite his longtime alienation of the Right on countless issues, John McCain secured a solid win in a closed Florida Republican primary and is assuming the air of inevitability. Many pundits have been urging John McCain to reach out to conservatives (how novel that would be). In response, he made a small point tonight in his victory speech of emphasizing judges–an olive branch, apparently, in the aftermath of the Alito/Fund kerfuffle.
Well. We hear what he says now. But we know what he has done for years:
Insult the base, trash the base, and pay lip service to the base only when it suits his needs.
The declaration that he is the “conservative leader who can unite the party” is yet another smack in the face to those who have watched him reach out and slap conservatives time and again–and then run to the warm, gooey embrace of the liberal media. Is it too much to ask to nominate a Republican candidate who is not as openly and historically hostile to the Republican base as CNN and (McCain’s endorsers at) the New York Times are?
McCain’s open-borders supporters will declare that immigration is no longer a factor in this campaign. They so wish it to be so. (Right on cue, here’s Kennedy-fawning NYT columnist David Brooks dismissing immigration sniffily as “not a good issue for Republicans.”)
But the fact is that McCain was driven to play up his border security promises (however hollow they may be) and to start talking up attrition through enforcement.
That’s a small victory. But questions like this remain: How can McCain honestly reach out to conservatives when he defends his extremist campaign Hispanic outreach director who doesn’t believe in borders and when he boasts a national campaign finance chair and soft-money mogul who poured millions of dollars into the fight against English-language instruction in California, Planned Parenthood, and radical environmental fear-mongering groups?
We know that Juan Hernandez is McCain’s Hispanic outreach director.
Who is McCain’s conservative outreach director?
Hillary Clinton likes to say that whatever differences she and her Democrat opponents may have, “they pale in comparison” with the differences she and her Dem rivals have with the Republicans.
Can the Republican front-runner say that the differences between him and his GOP opponents pale in comparison with the differences between him and the Democrats?
The McCain=Hillary ad from the grass-roots conservative group Citizens United provides the disturbing answer.
Conservatives have core concerns about McCain’s trustworthiness, adherence to conservative ideology, and commitment to sovereignty that can’t easily be brushed off with glib answers about being the “straight talk” candidate. The problem is that the media chuckleheads who get to question the GOP candidates are as hostile and out of touch with the conservative base as McCain is. This monumental deficiency has been exposed repeatedly during the election-year “debates.”
Wouldn’t it be helpful to have at least one bona fide conservative questioner on the CNN debate panel tomorrow night when the GOP candidates meet at the Reagan Library? They made room for minority journalists when they broadcast minority interest group-sponsored debates. They made room for local journalists when they broadcast the Iowa caucus and NH primary debates. Why not someone at the GOP debate who actually knows and cares about what conservatives care about?
Too much to ask, apparently.
***
Last month, I asked readers: “Would you, could you, vote McCain?” How about now? At the moment, I’m with Rush: “I can see possibly not supporting a Republican nominee.”
Yes, the possibility is real. But we also have a long, long way to go.
With that in mind, I’m running a closed poll for registered MichelleMalkin.com commenters. (For those who can’t access the poll, I’m asking: Where do you stand with nine months to go until Election Day? If it’s McCain vs. Hillary in November, will you 1) Vote McCain; 2) Vote Hillary; 3) Stay home; or 4) Don’t Know.) I’ll post the results at the end of the day.
This portion of the content is restricted to registered users of this site. Please log in to view the content:
***
Meantime, let me share some of the reader e-mail that’s pouring in. At the moment, the depression and disgust are palpable. John McCain may have declared that he is the conservative uniter. But judging from my mailbox, his fight with the Right is far from over. On to Super Tuesday:
Carol…
I cannot in good conscience vote for John McCain.. If the country is going to hell, I’d rather Hillary, Barack, or the Dems can take credit for the destruction of the country than the Republicans.
Eric…
As a lifelong, politically active Conservative I’ve decided to vote Dem if McCain is the nominee. Why? Because I think that McCain will perform almost exactly like a Democrat and it is better to have the real thing in office rather than a Dem in GOP clothing. If McCain is elected and then performs poorly, because he acts like a Dem, he virtually guarantees a Dem win in 2012. However, if a Dem wins and runs things as they are dying to do then the GOP has a strong shot at 2012 and beyond.
I’d like to see someone start a very public campaign to keep Conservatives home on election day to make sure the Dems win, but win with a large segment voters sitting out so they can’t falsely claim a mandate.If McCain wins it will be harder for GOP House and Senate members to oppose him on Liberal initiatives, initiatives they would oppose if a Dem were to propose them.
Rick…
I’m a member of the conservative base and I just can’t see myself voting for John McCain EVEN if Hillary is the opposition. I am voting for Mitt Romney knowing that he panders. But at least he will promote conservative principles through the course of the election. Bottomline, I would be willing to lose with Romney over winning with McCain. McCain would ruin our movement by redefining what it means to be conservative, furthermore there is absolutely no way of knowing how that guy will govern.
I will never vote Democrat, but I will stay home!!
About me:
49 years old
Married and father of 3 (married once)
Business owner/operator for 21 years
College Educated
Christian faith
Extremely anti-abortion
Extremely pro-gun ownership
Support: strong national defense; small government; lower taxes; free trade; strong borders; personal responsibility
Harvey…
I think the Republican establishment needs to know just how many of us voters will never vote for McCain. I certainly won’t. I’ll just pass if he’s the nominee. I like the country’s chances with 4 years of Hillary better than 8 years of McCain (as much as it pains me to say that about a Republican)…
The electorate needs to know that McCain cannot win in November… and if I’m wrong about that and he does win in November, I think American voters will get the wrong impression of what it means to be a conservative. I have issues with all the Republican candidates and feel that no true conservative is still in the race… but if McCain becomes the nominee, I won’t vote for him.
Gerry…
If McCain becomes the republican nominee, Rush will be proven right. The “republican” persuasion will cease to exist. It might as well merge with the democrats to become its true self. Good riddance.
Staunch conservatives for life, my wife and I will vote for the democrat nominee (Billary or Obama) since they are scarcely different from McCain except on Iraq. Better to have a democrat pres kill the country than a faux-conservative republican like McCain kill it.
Then maybe another Jimmy Carter in 2008 will bring forth another Reagan for 2012.
Dave….
I’ve not voted for a Democrat in 25 years. I wont’ this year either. But if “my” party’s choice is McCain, I’m sitting on my hands. We’ll walk in the wilderness for the next 8 years together.
William…
Read my lips: I will NEVER vote for McCain.
Rod…
It seems to me that John McCain’s straight talk express is running on four flat tires. As a veteran I have always respected the man if not his policies. As the nation watched the Republican race in Florida it soon became apparent that the race to the finish line was a two man race, it also showed how sleazy and nasty McCain’s will stoop to gain a few votes. As he attacked Mitt Romney with underhanded tactics and outright lies he not only lost my vote he also lost my respect.
David…
Dear RNC:
I am very concerned about the direction toward which it appears that the Republican Party is going. In the words of Presidential hopeful John McCain, “they voted us in to change government, and the government changed us.”
John McCain’s own admission of how he failed in his duty as Senator, along with the rest of our fellow Republicans who were voted out of office in 2006, to make the changes that he promised is very telling. First, it raises suspicion as to his promises that he is now currently making. Additionally, it provides us with real insight into exactly who John McCain is, and why he should not be the Republican nominee.
John McCain, the “Maverick” has proven that he is indeed more of a liberal than a conservative or a Republican. What makes McCain a moderate is his staunch support for the war in Iraq. However, all of the Republican candidates, save Mike Huckabee would provide the same strong backing for the war. Which brings me to my next point demonstrating why John McCain would be more appropriate running for the Democratic nomination than a Republican one, McCain’s biggest successes in the Senate are renowned as the liberal’s biggest legislative accomplishments in the last quarter of a century. McCain-Feingold, a big blow to free speech and capitalism, McCain-Kennedy, was not only a smack-in-the-face to conservative Republicans, but also to more than 80% of the American people, who believe that there should be no amnesty, whether technical or not, and finally his global warming initiative McCain-Lieberman is a monstrosity that demonstrates his self-acknowledged lack of understanding of how economies work, particularly the economy of the nation for which he is running to lead.
Most remarkably telling of McCain’s liberal nature is his Clintonesque political maneuvers whereby he lied about and twisted Mitt Romney’s record by saying that Romney stood for something that even the most generous assumptions would not support, then attacked Romney for being dishonest, and repeated it consistently with the hopes that the public would believe it. This effective Clinton tactic is deceitful and it is not the sort of tactics that Republicans should use in a race against each other, simply for the reason that if for some reason a Republican were to lose, despite these terrible tactics, the Democrats would have plenty of ammunition to use fellow Republican’s own words against other Republicans.
I cannot support a candidate who claims that the American people have lost their faith in government and claims that he can restore faith in government, yet at the same time cannot even refrain from being dishonest in a campaign. John McCain is one of the biggest reasons people have lost faith in government, especially over the McCain-Kennedy bill where secret meetings were conducted with the hopes of ramming amnesty down the nation’s throat, despite overwhelming opposition direct from the American people.
If John McCain is selected as the nominee, I will not sit out of the election, but I will vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is. Rush Limbaugh and others have pointed out that if the choice comes down to between a Democrat on one side and a liberal Republican on the other, it’s much better to have the Democrat because at least all the problems that will arise from such an administration can be blamed on their party not ours. It is absurd to suggest that we should vote for a liberal because he is the only one who can beat a fellow liberal. I give much more respect to the liberal who announces his or her intentions and sticks to them rather than the liberal who pretends to be the most conservative Republican only to change positions in office and hide behind the shield that it was important to “reach across the isle” to get something done. Furthermore, we have all seen the damage that George Bush’s compassionate conservatism has done and how he has refused to serve the will of both the party that elected him and the American people as a whole, who believe that the borders should be closed and all the illegal aliens here asked to leave, go home, and wait at the end of the line like the rest of the millions who are trying to come here legally.
I pray that better judgment befalls you, as a party, and you do the right thing and select anybody but John McCain. It will truly tear the party apart in a way that I don’t think that you would like. I am prepared to donate the maximum contribution to the Republican party if the nominee is anybody but McCain, however if the nominee is McCain, I will keep my hard earned cash and vote for whomever the Democratic candidate is.
The sentiment expressed here is not isolated to my own personal beliefs, but it is felt among many of the conservatives in our party. We have been betrayed by John McCain enough. For us, a victory this Fall is not nearly as important as adhering to the principles that once made the republican party great.
Newt Gingrich has set forth a plan to win the majority back by following some simple conservative principles. To the Republican moderates some of these ideas may sound radical, but they are all winning solutions backed by a majority of Americans and transcend party lines. His ideas represent what real Americans believe and a majority of the nation support, like make English the official language, close the border and put an end to illegal immigration, and there are many others, all of which John McCain does not embody.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I hope you do indeed consider the ramifications of seeking power over principle. In the end, if you only go for the power and forget the principles for which we represent, you will have no power.
One more from Vietnam veteran Russ Vaughn:
Up front, as a Vietnam veteran, I will readily concede that I respect John McCain for his service to his country, first as a naval aviator and POW in Vietnam, then for his long years in our national Congress. I even will admit to the fact that I somewhat admire McCain’s desire to effect some sort of political reconciliation with the Democrat party. That being said, I must also make it very clear that I do not support certain decisions McCain has chosen on his pathways to political advancement.
Now that the Senator has won primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina and the network pundits are proclaiming he may well be the Republican “Comeback Kid,” I am reminded of an old Army joke about a platoon sergeant faced with the prospect of breaking the terrible news to one of his young charges, Private Jones, that the soldier’s mother has just passed away. The sergeant calls his platoon into formation and barks out the order, “All of you with living mothers take one step forward.” Then after a momentary pause, he mutters, “Not so fast there, Jones.” That’s my take as a veteran and a conservative Republican on this new political development: “Not so fast there, McCain.”
My first and biggest beef with John McCain is that when a very brave group of Vietnam veterans who had served with John Kerry stood up to say that Kerry’s self-serving portrayal of his war record was patently false, that his blanket charges of war crimes against them were absurd, and that his testimony in Congress was used by the North Vietnamese to further torture McCain’s fellow POW’s, Senator McCain airily dismissed these courageous men and sided with his Senate pal. Playing conciliator in the national media, McCain despicably denounced the Swift boat veterans’ ad as dishonest and dishonorable, hinting that they were pawns of George Bush and the Republican right.
Like all the leftists in the MSM, John McCain never gave these true American heroes even the least opportunity to defend their claims. As a veteran who had suffered more than most to defend our constitutional right of free speech, McCain inexplicably used his powerful office and national presence to ally himself with the repressive forces of mainstream media to suppress that right to men who had risked their lives in combat to preserve it. It was one of the bitterest betrayals the Swift boat vets and the millions of us Vietnam veterans supporting them would have to endure. We expected treachery from the MSM and Kerry’s campaign, but not from John McCain.
What I can never reconcile in my mind, my heart or my soul, is how this naval aviator, POW and true war hero, could so easily turn his back on his fellow sailors, combat veterans all. In the name of political expediency, and a sorely misguided attempt to lay to rest all the troubled ghosts of Vietnam that his treasonous Senate colleague was primarily responsible for creating, John McCain turned his back on the true heroes and sided with a phony vet with phony medals and a suspect discharge.
Never mind that I disagree with McCain on immigration, taxes and his unconstitutional McCain-Feingold bill; that’s all merely politics and has nothing to do with honor and loyalty to those who served bravely alongside you in combat. Nope, that’s not the issue. But I’m putting the Senator on notice right now; if you should somehow get the Republican nomination, you are gambling with the votes of millions of veterans like me unless you repudiate your reprehensible siding with the traitorous, treasonous John Kerry. I have never stayed home on Election Day in protest of a distasteful candidate, but this could be the first time for me and many Vietnam vets, again turning our backs on a fellow vet who turned his first.
The Senator should read the excellent recounting of how a determined few veterans, whom he disgracefully defamed, defeated his old buddy, John Kerry, in the 2004 campaign. In ‘To Set the Record Straight,” authors Scott Swett and Tim Ziegler, lay it out, page by page, what the concerted efforts of a few honorable patriots with an unrelenting resolve can accomplish in the arena of national politics.
Like the old platoon sergeant, I would caution, “Not so fast there, McCain!”
Russ Vaughn
Vietnam 65-66
Bryan Preston has some good suggestions for both McCain and the Right:
The GOP could do worse than nominate a bona fide war hero for the presidency, even while he presents serious problems on many issues. Our party at least takes national security very seriously and votes on it as a priority, something that can’t be honestly said of the Democrats. And for all his maverickness, McCain does vote conservative about 80% of the time. That fact gets lost in his high-profile betrayals of conservatives and conservative principles, and the existence of legislation called “McCain-Feingold” and “McCain-Kennedy.” He needs to work on something called “McCain-DeMint” or “McCain-Hunter.” Some sort of earmark-slashing tax cut package would be nice…
…Hope and courage are two things in short supply these days. If you have either one, and especially if you have any amount of both, use them.
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Trackbacks
- The Other McCain: Despair is not an option
- PoliGazette » John McCain Republican Nominee
- EdBlog » Blog Archive » Why the Field is so Bad
- The Other McCain: Sexy vs. Grumpy
- Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator
- WTW: The Maverick Pulls It Out On Super Tuesday — Pirate’s Cove
- Right Wing News
- McCain Is All The Worst Of G.W. Bush : “7.62mm Justice” ™
- McCain’s Uniting Effort
- Dinocrat » Blog Archive » Some thoughts on Florida
- Lump on a Blog » Blog Archive » The Carter Effect - Or No Thanks, I Think I'll Sit This One Out
- Line in the Sand | And Rightly So!
- McCain hides record - child experimentation
- 7 Deadly Sins
- We will repeat history this fall
- PoliGazette » Base Speculations
- Why Do Conservatives Hate McCain?
- Bull Moose Strikes Back »
- Get a Grip (CraigC)
- As I See it » McCain, a live dud.
- Keith Burgess-Jackson » John McCain
- Michelle Malkin tells Glenn Beck: I won’t vote for McCain over Hillary | Election Geek Blog 2008 Election News 24/7
- Nate's Thoughts
- darcsaint.net weblog » Blog Archive » The Super Bowl (of politics) approacheth.
- AMERICAN NONSENSE » The Well Is Dry
- Dr. Marc Lamont Hill » Is John McCain In Easy Opponent?
- Kah Zoohl List
- affect vs effect
- John McCain is in trouble..? « Conservative Libertarian Outpost
- It’s amazing what the GOP will do « Will Rhodes Portmanteau
- EDS – Everything Derangement Syndrome. Derangement-Gate? | Christopher Estep's America
- Things You Should Know About Senator John McCain « Lighthouse Patriot Journal
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I think this whole primary thing is BS. As someone who lives in Wisconsin, I don’t get to vote for a candidate until a lot of other states have already voted, leaving me with THEIR choice. How is this fair? I feel the primary should be on the same day in all states. How can we get this changed? My pick at this point is Romney but what if he gets lost in the primary shuffle before I even have a chance to vote? I don’t want to vote for McCainesty.
On January 30th, 2008 at 7:42 am, DesertLover said:
This is my opinion, of course, but it is offered from one that has watched it happen from the ground level here.
… McCain is a traitor-cum-politician who will turn whichever way the wind blows. Like Bush and Clinton, right after using up the votes of the electorate, McCain will turn around and stab his foolish votere in the back.
Thanks to the “compassionate conservatism” of George Bush, the media’s relentless war on all things conservative, and the Republican’s inane system of “open” primaries, liberals will likely have two choices in the presidential elections in November while conservatives have none.
Oh, that’s right, one; to vote or not to vote, that is the question. Ridiculous.
The most difficult wounds from which to recover are invariably self inficted.
I consider myself very conservative and between the two front runners, I believe Mitt Romney is the best choice. While McCain has had some moments of conservatism and made some good points on various topics, he’s destroyed all of that by what he’s done on other issues such as illegal immigration; Gitmo; water-boarding; campaign finance reform; etc. And, as it’s been said, he goes out of his way to insult conservatives when they don’t agree with him.
As to who I would vote for between Hillary/Obama versus McCain, I’m afraid I’m not ready to throw the baby out with the bath water. I’d vote for McCain and hope there are a few nuggets of conservatism left in him that would stop a total liberal take over of congress and the presidency.
To not vote doesn’t seem to be an option. That’s like staying home and pouting when one doesn’t get their way even when the choice is between bad and worse.
You people crack me up…
You think any of these candidates on either side give a hoot in hell about you, or stopping illegal immigration. Not one of them is going to do anything about it, or stop the decline of the conservative American middle class.
Global, left leaning, mega corporations, and the ultra-rich billionaires have already stacked the deck. Your vote be damned!
Vote. Don’t vote. Vote Dem, or vote Rep. The outcome is predetermined. The commies and socialists, in league with corporations, have won already.
God has a way of destroying the best laid plans of mice and men… He is your only hope.
I will vote for Hillary because if McCain is a lackluster or failed presidency, then we’re guaranteed democrats will gain more power.
If Hillary wins: the Republican party can straighten itself out, go back to it’s roots and takeback the power once the dems screw it all up. Clinton or Obama will be disappointing presidents during tough times.
If there is amnesty I think there will be a realignment in the parties over the next decade or two, similar to the one in the 60’s & 70’s
Blacks will return to the Republican party. Blacks will be affected the most by amnesty. The mythical black-brown coaltion will be exposed as a shame. Blacks will see their power fad as hispanics completely take over low-skilled jobs and when hispanics want affirmative action jobs. Black Dems will realize the dem party and their black dem leaders have sold them out.
Union Members go Republican: Union members will see their salaries go down and wonder why their leadership did not oppose amnesty. Hopefully the members push the unions to stop funding the dem party.
As the dems enact laws & regulations for ‘the greater good’ such as high cig tax, thermosat control, no spanking, etc, the working class base of the dem party will finally say enough – let me live free – and they will become reps.
Sandy
McCain as the nominee would be bad enough, but what if he chooses that toothless hillbilly Huckabee as his running mate? You know that’s what the Huckster is angling for and it’s why he’s still in the race despite his poor showings since Iowa. Choosing Huck is exactly the kind of thing McCain would do as an attempt to reconcile with the conservative base. And it’s exactly the kind of thing that would backfire because 86% of Republicans realize he’s Jimmy Carter in Republican drag. If McCain is the nominee I’ll probably stay home, and I’ve never missed a presidential election since 1980.
McCain says he is the best on national security, while most illegal drugs and illegal aliens are crossing his border in AZ.
There is also documented proof from our border guards that even the Mexican military has crossed our border protecting this illegal activity.
This is his state of AZ and still McCain has done nothing to stop it – defend that McCainiacs.
My main reason for supporting the repub is the appointment of conservative judges, McCain however can’t even be trusted to do that…I am no longer holding my nose for McCain. I will vote for Shillary. I still have hope for Romney tho.
We are all jumping to decisions too quickly. A nominated McCain will then look to get support of those posting here and can do so with a strong VP and some strong pledges – unless his campaign is fully infected with the likes of Juan.
That will bring a lot of people under the umbrella and will be much better than ‘teaching a lesson to the GOP’ – there is no such thing.
Also I hope this fires up the base to increase the GOP strength in the senate and house – to keep control on the guaranteed ‘moderate’ Pres. We need to re-elect the Sununus and who knows maybe defeat the likes of Kerrys.
Focus on the larger battle not just the Presidency
sandspur (#66) got right down to the nut of the issue.
Not voting for McCain — if he gets the nomination, still not certain — means condemning too many in our military to meaningless deaths.
You can be as much of an ideologue as you like, but destroying the country to “save” conservatism is a stupid option. That’s a flawed theory, based on some mythical future Reagan-like figure (there’s no sign of one right now) and a belief (misplaced, in my view) that a Clinton or Obama will disgust the general public instead of soothing them with welfare bread and giveaway circuses.
Four years of a Dem president with a Dem congress? Given the far-left propensities of their so-called leadership, that’s enough time for them to do irreparable damage.
Theory is wonderful, and I understand the comfort one can get from adopting a “long view,” even if it is based on bogus assumptions.
We don’t have the time to allow us that luxury.
It seems clear to me that McCain has spit in the face of conservatives time and again. So to vote for him now is simply out of the question. I would seriously consider voting against him.
It would be much easier to get republicans to work together in defeating hillary’s agenda as president.
If McCain wins we will see his liberal policies winning support from dems and rinos.
I agree with Sandy…
I think the party should do this anyway. A McCain win would kill conservatism period and the party will believe in nothing but whatever is “popular” for the day. History shows what mob rule does to a nation.
I’ve also always believed you should vote, because if you don’t you forfeit the right to complain. I would probably vote for the Democrat (1st time in my life since Reagan). The judicial appointments are the scariest consequence of that, but the Republican Party is sick/injured/infected. I believe its a necessary pill.
Indeed, Rus, and in such a scenario wouldn’t it make more sense to vote for the more faster, merciful end anyway?
We’ve gotten to the point where a guy like McCain may be the GOP candidate because we’ve repeatedly held our collective nose and pulled the the lever for a non-conservative. If we keep taking what they give us, why would they ever give us something different? At some point we have to draw a line in the sand. Now’s as good a time as any.
What good is a McCain presidency if it irreparably shifts, or damages the only viable conservative option we have? Sitting out now is a long-term plan. It’s not like the short-term fixes that politicians put on problems that address immediate concerns but pay no attention to problems that will arise after they’ve left office. We understand that sitting out will be painful, but in the long run, if more people have their eyes opened to just how much freedom and prosperity they can kiss goodbye, they may move over to our side.
Who knows? We may already be outnumbered and we won’t be able to stem the tide of socialism that FDR started for us. But why go down doing the same thing we’ve always done, picking the lesser of two evils?
At any rate, I find it difficult to believe a grumpy, old white guy can possibly beat the first woman or first black-American candidate. We’re a nation of 300 million, and how many of us actually read michellemalkin.com or HotAir or similar sites?
I know this is a two-party system but remember, this system has it’s faults, exploited by enemies of America. This system was before:
- Saudis attacked America.
- CAIR put a shop in Washington.
- Bush adopted Bandar.
With all of the above, isn’t it time to think it is time to think American and only American?
Isn’t Clinton sell-out: http://www.blessedcause.org/proof/Clinton%20Embracing%20Islam%20selling%20out%20children.htm enough to dump Democrats?
Isn’t Bush sell-out: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html enough to dump Republicans?
I request patriotic Americans to stop thinking Republican/Democrats. Only thinking America, can save America.
What’s the saying?
“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you always got.”
Golly, I hadn’t heard God had joined the race. But if Fred’s late entry was his downfall, I’m not sure God has much of a chance either.
Not only that, but also Reagan really was not that solid a conservative. He appointed two liberals to the Supreme Court (Bush did far better) and he pulled out of Lebanon as soon as we were attacked instead of retaliating. In other words, he appeased terrorists.
McCain is more conservative than the communist Hillary and the pseudo-Muslim Obama, and I will definitely vote for McCain if he is the nominee.
I’m so depressed right now it’s not even funny. Will someone wake me when it’s 2012?
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is for McCain – this is from his CNN article:
For the foreign-born, many of whom care deeply about the immigration issue, maybe the person who deserves their support in November isn’t the candidate who voted to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border (Barack Obama) or the one who equivocated on giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses only to cave in and oppose it (Hillary Clinton). Maybe it’s the guy who stuck his neck out and co-sponsored with Ted Kennedy, no less, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that offered a path to legal status and made him a pariah in his own party.
OK – do i need anymore reason to vote against McCain?
If it’s hillary and McLame as the candidates, America will probably set a new record for Lowest Voter Turnout.
Either one would be a disaster for America. Obama is even worse IMO. Is this the best America has to offer???? Jeez. When is the Rapture???
On January 30th, 2008 at 9:07 am, MrScribbler said:
sandspur (#66) got right down to the nut of the issue.
We don’t have the time to allow us that luxury.
Given that Islamic Trojan Horse is inside the country’s gates, an excellent point to remember!
I voted ‘I don’t know’ on the poll because you didn’t have a third party option.
I will vote. but not for McCain or Hillary.
I couldn’t support McCain in the primary and I can’t support him now.
If McCain is the GOP candidate in November, I will write-in Mitt Romney
Believe me people, I am a sick about the results last night as nearly everybody who considers themselves to be a conservative.
I do have one thought that I do need to mention. The general approach against McAmnesty is to sit out 2008 of even vote for “her hipness”. Just remember this….no matter how much devastation she causes this country, the media will never blame her! It will be blamed on Bush and the Republicans and they will get away with it!
The approach is to find the new Reagan in 2012 like the aftermath of Carter. That is a long shot at best and the damage might be far to great to ever recover….like the Supreme Court going way left for a generation!
Again, I am sick to my stomach but we need to prevent a Dem in the White House period. McAmnesty would only be a one term President and it might prevent catastrophic damage to this country!
I feel just as strongly that McCain is a RINO but I IMPLORE the rest of you NOT to sit out the election. Write in a vote if you must ( I will be writing in Romney) but VOTE. One of two things will happen:
a) The Democrats win but the Republican voters turn out in record numbers voting against McCain- message sent to GOP leadership.
b) Romney (or another candidate) wins over McCain- message sent to GOP leadership.
Either way they will get the message that we need to take a turn to the right. And no more RINOs.
PLEASE!
I won’t vote for Hillary Clinton NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
If I do end up voting for McCain, it won’t be for him, it will be to prevent socialized medicine and go give the troops the opportunity to finish the job.
And if you think it’s bad now, just wait till he names Huck as his VP.
Again, of all the dangers America faces, two of the biggest are:
- Islam.
- Immigration.
.. in that order.
One only needs to read (in addition to this blog), http://www.jihadwatch.org http://www.vdare.com to grasp the depth of the dangers America faces. Any candidate who disregards the above puts America in danger. I still believe Tom Tancredo was the right candidate for presidency. However, now Mitt Romney offers just a glimmer of hope in the darkness of this presidential race
I’m a conservative who wants a candidate that will follow our Constitution. That rules out any DemocRAT nominee right off the moonbat.
It also rules out McCain for me. In addition to his non-conservative stands on many issues, his personality is just not what I look for in a President – he is arrogant, cranky and vindictive, and convinced he knows best and is willing to impose his views on others whether they like it or not.
I know it’s not over yet – I would support Romney if he gets the nomination. If he doesn’t, I will vote my conscience – and it won’t be a vote for McCain.
The future nominees of the SCOTUS, along with the winning of the war against Islamic Jihadists, are twin reasons alone to vote for John McCain.
When Republicans sat out the 2006 elections, what did it get us? The GOP establishment simply re-elected boneheads like Trent Lott and Mel Martinez back into leadership positions, while ignoring such obvious choices like Maryland’s Michael Steele and the two fine senators from Oklahoma.
I’m convinced that the RNC, as it is currently set up now, will NEVER get the solidifying frustration and anger at the Conservative Majority in the GOP. Simply staying at home is not an option as they will draw the wrong conclusions yet again.
Name ONE person in the RNC leadership most likely to help bring about a course correction that will bring the party back to the essential roots as described by Ronald Reagan back in 1964.
I submit to you that no such person currently exists right now.
If right-of-center minded people want to affect change in the US today, they are going to have to stop waiting for others to initiate it, and take matters into their own hands, starting at the local level. The grass roots have got to be actively involved, lest they get defined yet again by those with nefarious and/or hostile agendas.
Sitting out the election is NOT an option. Neither is voting for Senator Clinton, who would effectly lead our great nation on its final steps toward a thousand years of darkness.
The bottom line? Vote Mitt Romney (while you can) in the primary season, clean house over at the RNC, and support the GOP candidates that you can. There are no assurances that 2010 will be 1994 all over again, but for those of you who think that non-participation is a viable option for 2008, I implore you to think again.
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “There is only one way to have peace, and you can have it in the next second – surrender.”
#98 Scribbler: I completely agree with the sentiment of your argument, however, the difficulty I have is I’m not aware that we’ve ever not had some solder somewhere not in harms way. If we say “since we have solders in harms way, we have to vote a certain way” our slide to oblivion is completely inevitable. We need to change course completely to get back to a moral foundation (which will lead to a conservative one as well)
Yes, John McCain has liabilities. Lots. Bryan Preston has said strong, valid points. To stay home in November assures Hilliary/Obama victory. Yes, we’d prefer the Dems get credit for the destruction of America. But they will take us with them and our kid’s futures after we’re gone. I would rather see ANY Repub in the Whitehouse than a Dem. Besides, if we stay home, how many critical local issues will be lost? Here in Colorado, the only Republican Senate seat is up for grabs. We lost the governorship, state and Fed congress seats to Dems in these last elections. Staying home is not an option here in Colorado. We were a solidly red state. There has been a creeping “blue cancer” worming its way through the state. Now’s the time to fight, not sleep.
Mattymatt10 – you said, “Who knows? We may already be outnumbered and we won’t be able to stem the tide of socialism that FDR started for us. But why go down doing the same thing we’ve always done, picking the lesser of two evils?”
I fear this may be the truth. Almost 50% of the population no longer pays income tax. So, they will vote for anyone who gives them more at the expense of the true “working class”. We may be just too far down the road at this point. In which case, it doesn’t matter who you vote for.
Crud, I am depressing myself.
Again people, stop thinking inside the box. You have the option of writing in a name. The hell with party affiliations! If you vote McCain only out of fear of the wicked witch of the east, then you are rewarding bad behavior on the part of the RNC. If everyone who feels this way revolts by writing in Romney, we send a clear message to the RNC AND we get an acceptable president. We must be resolute.
McCain trotted out some blatant lies about Romney at the last moment in the Florida primary, and of course Huckabutt has trashed Romney as a Mormom. And McCain got an endorsement from his buddy Crist, which in reality is a quid pro quo from years past and says little objectively about McCain or his political credentials, which net out clearly left of most of the Party.
The last resort for conservatives is going to be the congressional races. It might become necessary to send a strong mesage in the presidential race (ringing McCain defeat), and then ensure that the president will have to contend with a conservative congress.
I’m not there yet. I believe Mitt is still competitive, and conditions in Florida were not representative of the country as a whole. There’s time to wake up and terminate the looming nightmare of a Clinton-McCain choiice in November, but not much.
Looks like it’s time for a new, truly traditional and conservative political party.
Let the Wall Street Republicans wither on the vine and fade away as the early 20th-century Liberals in Britain did.
Otherwise, it seems we are creeping closer to an actual “hot” culture war; which might be the only way to save our culture and society as we know and remember them.
I, too, plan to sit on my hands if McCain is the nominee; but the Republicans in Congress better grow some and use the same methods the Dem’s used to stall legislation if Ms Rodham is elected. Unfortunately, I’m not too hopeful they will. If we work hard enough, maybe we can take Congress back!
By the way, I am a Florida native and was introduced to Gov. Crist by my parents (both firm conservatives). I had misgivings about some of Crist’s positions then and even more so now. There is not that much difference between Crist and McCain so his endorsement comes as no surprise to me. Gov Crist was the same kind of consolation prize to Florida as McCain would be to the nation. No thanks.
I’m no McCain fan. He’s more liberal than conservative. If conservatives ’stay home’, his opponent (probably Hilary) will become president. Not voting is a vote for Hillary.
She will not defend this country nor stop illegal immigration and she will hoist her ‘Universal Health Care’ on us with the help of a Democrat congress.
The likely repercussions of her presidency are a major city with some amount of terrorist destruction and a health care system with long wait times.
These things are irreversible!
If McCain is the nominee, he probably won’t socialize our health care and he’ll be as good as anyone in defending the country. The caveat is that everyday conservatives will have to battle him (like we did with shamesty) on his liberal tendencies.
The conservative’s best hope is for Romney to win the nomination. McCain is a far behind second choice. Hilary is a disaster.
Conservatives can take the ’staying home’ approach, but that doesn’t guarantee the Republican Party will understand or pay attention as to why it lost the election. Conservatives can only take back the party by passionately and convincingly promote strong conservative principles and policies. This is done outside of a presidential race. Conservatives won’t get what they want by ’staying home’.
So when push comes to shove I’ll hold my nose and grudgingly vote McCain and then spend four years pestering his administration and the party to do the conservative thing. If Hilary is president, how much do you think she’ll listen to conservatives?
I ran as a McCain delegate in the 2000 IL Primary, then I came to my senses.
McCain is no conservative Republican in any sense, but what other choice would we have???? After all of my work the past 3 years on the grassroots campaign trail, I feel utterly, completely helpless.
Get ready for burkas and Aztlan in the near future. (How are Iceland’s policies on immigration and Islamic terrorism???)
I guess if we have a Republican in the White House, doesn’t that help in the tally of which party controls the branches of government?
If McCain had the right VP, that might change my mind.
He’s lying his way to a nomination. I will not vote in this election because either way I will be voting for a liberal democrat!
What will happen when conservatives sanctimoniously sit out the election will be that the MSM will declare that Hillary and Obama won because the country no longer cares about conservative values and that they have a solid mandate to bring us even farther left. At least McCain will be accountable to Republicans in 2012.
I’ll vote for whoever is the Republican candidate in November because, mark my words, if a Dim gets in, there will not be a backlash with a Republican congress getting in 2 years later to check them and the Senate will not go back to Republican anytime soon. Times are different and people I encounter in my formerly solidly Republican county are going more and more for the Dims whatever reason. If we don’t keep the Presidency, that one check against the legislative branch will be gone…I’d rather have someone I’m not 100% for (McCain) than someone I’m 100% against (Chillary/Obama).
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is for McCain – what more do you need to know? I will never vote for him.
A party that hates itself is not long for this world.
McAmnesty and RomnestyCare are a deal-breaker for me.
Today is 6th anniversary of Daniel Pearl’s brutal murder. Quote from WSJ article:
The MSM is #1 enemy.
I’m a WWII GoldStar Sis and know/knew plenty of heroes. We cannot give Juan the nomination out of some misplaced sentimentality. (We’re not all senile!)
Thanks to MM and ALL of you.
(another great quote!)
I have a serious case of “electile disfunction.” That is a lack of ability to get excited by any of the candidates in this election.
You’re absolutely right. I saw a quote recently, can’t remember who, but it basically said democracy can only exist until voters realize they can vote themselves benefits from the public trough. And even now our politicians are campaigning on what they will give us…healthcare, free money for mortgages, etc. I’m not so sure there’s a whole lot of hope for the future.
Of course, I was at work all night and need to get to bed. That may have something to do with my negativity.
The poll should have the following option:
“I will vote against Hillary”
I despise McCain. I think he’s mean, nasty, and quite frankly, a little “off his rocker.” And he is not a conservative.
Having said that, I will vote for McCain against any democrat for a single reason: The war on terror.
This war is the most important “issue” of our lifetimes. Democrats uniformly want to surrender. McCain absolutely does not.
And so, on election day, should I be forced to do so, I will vote for McCain for this single reason. Hold my nose, yes indeed. But we must win the war, and I hope all other conservatives will join me in making sure a democrat does not have the opportunity to surrender on our behalf.
There is much to dislike about McCain and his politics. However, I refuse to get too upset about his nomination because, at the end of the day, is he really that different from Bush? They are equally terrible on immigration. McCain is shakier on judicial nominees and Bush is much worse on pork/big government. I think a McCain presidency would be alot like the last 8 years. Disappointing, but not disastrous.
CC: I heard that in the speech too, I heard it when Ann Romney spoke. I’m crossing my fingers its true and real republicans get off their duff and stop being spectators.
However, I also want Romney to get tough. The hell with McCain whining about negative ads. The man is slime and will do anything to become President (remind you of anyone?).
The “real” Republicans in the House & Sentate need to get serious too, and start vocally backing Romney in their home states.
mngirl—> soon to be “anywhere-else“girl; its damn cold here at -30F
SCOTUS is the prize, and as bad as a Kennedy or O’Connor might be (and after the recent Alito kerfuffle, McCain might not go with a “moderate”, at least for his first nominee), another Ginsberg or Bryer would be worse.
And their decisions on abortion, illegal aliens, rights for terrorists, union organizing, school choice, capital punishment, etc., would live on for generations.
That said, I would vote for McCain, if he were the nominee. (I might be holding a barf bag or holding back tears, but I would).
What I would NOT do is give McCain or the GOP my time or money. The last two presidential elections were won by getting out the base to donate, distribute mailers -all the work for which one needs a large army of footsoldiers.
McCain and the GOP are taking these footsoldiers for granted. They think “Hillary hate” will motivate us to GOTV and open our wallets. They are wrong. They may get grudging conservative votes-but that won’t win them elections.
McCain’s smarmy “my friends” or his condescending remark this morning on Bennett’s show that those who doubt his committment to protecting the borders were just showing “foolishness” show he still doesn’t get it.
He may try condescension for a while, then maybe a little pleading. Then the real McCain might burst loose and show his anger at conservatives for not giving him the time and money to which he thinks he’s entitled.
I think his upcoming appearance at CPAC will tell us a lot about what he thinks of the conservative base. He has avoided appearing at them (at least in public), because it would harm his “maverick image” and deny his ego the stroking that he gets from the MSM.
If he really is a conservative who can unite, he’d better nail his colors to the mast at CPAC.
Aw com’n, that’s going by the windchill, not actual air temp, MN Gal. Don’t be such a wimp!
I invite all conservatives to join me as an independant. When the election comes, the independants control the outcome. What we need are more conservative independants forcing the politicians to at least gain some accountability. I guarentee you the political parties don’t care about accountability. It would spoil any victory.
Right on the mark, If you have listened to his arogance when he’s asked about the conservitive base he act’s like, If I’m the Republican Candidate they’ll vote for me anyway. As for me, sorry Juanny I’ll cut my left leg off before I’ll vote for you, I’ll write in a true conservitive like Duncan Hunter.
You have stated the problem/s perfectly.
Keep it up.
The worst Republican is always infinitely better than the best Democrat.
Can’t hold my nose and vote for McCain. Can’t do it. Just can’t abandon those principles. The lesser of two evils doesn’t work for me here because I really don’t see McCain as the lesser. The evils are identical in every way but party name. What good is having principles if you abandon them?
Count me out. I won’t vote for Hillary or Obama – just can’t do that either, but I won’t sit out either. I will write-in someone first.
As I often find myself I have not been offered the option I would prefer regarding McCain’s selection as the Republican candidate. How anyone could consider casting a vote for a Democrat or McCain is beyond me. I would not be silenced either. I would vote as I have in every election since Reagan; I would vote third party. And that party would be Constitution Party. Why do conservatives continue to look to the Republican Party when the only candidates they have proffered since Reagan have been Bush I, Dole and Bush II? They have all been Democrats! I can’t decide whether the people are ignorant, illogical or plain stupid. Yet I have little confidence in a Romney presidency. I would truly love to see a Republican field of Joseph Farah, Phyllis Schlafly and Michelle Malkin. Then it would be a tough decision I would relish.
No way ever will we,our family,or friends support McCain.We will simply not mark the president portion of our ballot.If we are going to have open borders let the Dems be to blame.I say this because McCain will not win this election.He is the Bob Dole of 2008.It is a change election which doesn’t suit a 28 yr sitting senator not to mention a 70+ yr old one.He still isn’t winning among conservatives and many will just sit out or nor vote for him.
How about those folks in Flordia the governor tells thenm who to vote for and they do it.The reason 58% of exit pollers want a path to citizenship for illegal aliens is one there are a lot Cubans in Flordia and two they had no clue about the ramifications of the CHAIN MIGRATION aspect of that horrible amnesty bill last year which the bill allowed to continue for several yrs before ending it.
Just say no…to McCain. That is what my wife and I plan to do in the primary and, if need be, in the general election.
We would never vote for Hillary and we won’t vote for Obama. But, we will either leave the top slot on the ballot empty or write in a name on principle.
If McCain is the nominee — and I’m not giving up yet — this could be the biggest year for the independent candidate in the history of the United States of America.
I can still do a write-in for that slot on the ballot, mjk, and have fulfilled my duty to exercise my voting privilege and, thereby, have the right to complain about the outcome.
One poster here brought up the idea that the Republicans lost the majority in 2006 because too many of them “sat on their hands” and stayed at home rather than vote – well just maybe McCain and his Gang of 14 who prevented Frist from finally showing he had a backbone and using the “nuclear option” was one reason for that! It would have energized Republicans and conservatives to see us stand up for our principles.
We conservatives have seen too many compromises of our principles. It’s time to draw a line in the sand!
This election may be like someone giving you a choice of which disease to die from – cholera, or the plague? How about rejecting both of those and getting healthy instead?
Those of you who keep advocating voting for the Republican nominee no matter who it is are missing one point: Party affiliation is not the indicator of policy positions it used to be. If it were we wouldn’t be having so much debate about it.
If putting an (R) beside a person’s name had some magical ability to compel them to adhere to conservative principles, then I would be all for voting the party line. But John McCain and a few others have repeatedly and alarmingly shown that is not the case.
I cannot control what other people do, but I can control what I do. If the RINO’s want to destroy everything the Republican Party stands for, they will have to do it without any help from me.
The straight talker is old and could die in office if elected. A solid VP choice could be more important than ever.
I will vote 3rd party is Mac is the GOP nominee.
He will destroy the country, much more than GWB.
I don’t know. I still waiting to see if Juan Hernandez becomes his VP running mate. You know, McCain is a “maverick” and all. *sigh*
*sigh* Watching this entire…debacle…and truly, there can be no other word to describe it….there can be no other word to describe what my “Fellow Republicans” are not only doing to this once great and powerful party in just a few small and meaningless primaries, what they are doing in their poll results is absolutely distressing in ways I have never known or felt before.
Watching truly honorable, justifyable, great and perfect candidates go completely ignored in this, quite possibly the most important Presiential Race of the last 75 years, is the most disheartening thing I have experienced in my 40 short years on this planet.
To have imploded so incredibly as a party in 20 shott years, as a country in just 6 and a half short years is something to observe and for the history books.
When a man like Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and even Rudy Guiliani get over-looked and frowned upon…two of them proven Conservatives with real Conservative family values, all three of them with strog beliefs in the War, the fight agains Jihadi’s real Reagon-esque values…and then the front runer…the all but declared candidate whom the brainless lemmings will now vote for in order to be “Part of the right crowd” is a man who actualy helped authot the very law that would have legalized 20 million illegals in this country and given them amnesty, who is more of a Liberal Democrat at times than the two front runners on the Democrat ticket, who authored the law that bears his name that forever screwed up Campaign Finances, and who we have all watched since his last bid for the Presidency act more like a Liberal Democrat than even anything remotely resembling an even Moderate Republican, let alone anything resembling a Conservative…then I truly, truly weep not just for my party and the sad, pathetic decline that it finds itself in, but for the future of this country that will take God knows what and God knows how long to come out of, if it comes out of it, and for my own children and the future they face and what it means for them in the way of what kind of world they have to look forward to.
It truly is a sad state of affairs and I ask those in those states that have already voted…have you no consciences? Have you no brains or souls?
I will vote in the November election, and I will vote for whomever the Republicans nominate. Not with any great joy or anticipation, but I will do it.
Why, you may ask? Because 1) it is my duty as an American citizen to participate in the election and 2) I cannot in good conscience punish my country for the failures of one of its two major political parties. The consequences of a Clinton or Obama presidency are simply too dangerous for people to indulge themselves this way.
IMO the key to reining McCain in [if he is elected POTUS] lies in the Congress.
If enough strongly conservative Republican or Democrats [think Zell Miller types] are voted in then McCain will not be able to implement his many shameful policies.
“Reluctantly, reluctantly, I’d vote for McCain. Only because I feel that if one doesn’t vote, they don’t have a right to complain about who gets in office.”
Yup, and in addition it’s not like there aren’t other partys & candidates for which one can vote.
Read ‘The Nightingale’s Song’. McCain didn’t have the ‘grease’ at the Naval Academy and he doesn’t have it now. What’s more, he doesn’t have my vote come Hell or High Water.
I’m looking for a third party candidate I can support
I think the country deserves a democrat in the White House and both Houses of Congress. If that happens, we can expect a conservative surge in 2010 midterms. Maybe take back Congress.
But I can’t vote for Hillary and I can’t vote for McCain. I voted I don’t know, but I wish there was an option for third party
Oh, how I do wish we would all just not pay the %^&* taxes. Let the illegals pay for all the give away programs with all the tax dollars they send in……
Ok – I’ll catch the next train out of Fantasyland and just keep plodding on with the status quo like a good little drone.
I will vote. In the Primary, I will vote for ROMNEY.
If Romney does NOT win the NAMINATION, then in November, I will still vote.
But I will vote for a write in candidate who reflects my values system.
Some think that becazuse of the War on Terror, they MUST vote for McCain.
They have to disregard MOST OF WHAT McCAIN HAS DONE since 9/11 IN ORDER TO BELIEVE THAT IS A GOOD MOVE FOR AMERICA.
Stuff like BEING A LEADER IN THE CHARGE TO CLAIM TORTURE AT ABU GHRAID AND GITMO and demand GITMO be shut down…
WRITE AND PUSH THROUGH A BILL OUTLAWING ALL “TORTURE” BY OUR MILITARY, OF “ISLAMIC TERRORISTS”.
Writing McCain Feinstein THOMPSON in order to silence SWIFT BOAT VETERANS, and the families of MIAs, KIAS, and POWS from Vietnam.
THAT HE GROUNDLESSLY CLAIMED THAT BUSH SLANDERED HIM IN SOUTH CAROLINA in 2000, in his military record. Ann Coulter provides the facts that an investigation ensued, that Bush gave INSTANT AND FULL DISCLOS*URE and showed HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY ATTACK CAMPAIGN AGAINST McCAIN – but challeneged McCain to DO THE SAME – which McCAIN DID NOT.
Further investigation SHOWED THAT NO SUCH SMEAR CAMPAIGN WAS EVER LAUNCHED AGAIN McCAIN, but THIS SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY, McCAIN AGAIN RAISED THE ISSUE OF BUSH’s “SLANDER” as an excuse for his “TRUTH SQUAD”.
Do we really want a DERANGED EGOMANIACAL DESPOT IN THE WHITE HOUSE with a “TRUTH SQUAD” operating, THROUGH McCAIN FEINGOLD???
About 6 MAJOR evangelical ministries are currently under investigation by the IRS via McCain Feingold, because of their BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES that McCAIN labeled “POLITICAL” – while all NON-CONSERVATIVES go preach through Liberal churches ALL DAY LONG all the time.
THIS IS AMERICA. Where our FOUNDING FATHERS put churches in EVERY govt building INCLUDING THE ARMORIES, the CONGRESS AND SUPREME COURT HALLS, where they also put Bibles, hymn books, prayer books, and the Ten Commandments, and religious artifacts. Where the majority of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence were SEMINARY GRADUATES and active preachers.
But McCAIN co-wrote McCain Feingold THOMPSON, anyway, AND HAS A “TRUTH SQUAD” where so far, the only PROVEN LIES are HIS OWN.
I would NEVER think it so important to have an (R) as COmmander in Chief as to put such a man in charge of our Military, who on top of everything else is BEST CO-HORTS with Hanoi John and Toady Chappaquiddick Kennedy, so much so that he SERIOUSLY TOYED with the idea of becoming hte VEEP on Hanoi John’s ticket in ‘04.
THAT IS INSANE.
Add to that the BORDER SITUATION, where I live less than 2 hours from Mexico,
and also McCain’s definite slant towards SOCIALISM. MICROMANAGERIAL POWERMONGERING SOCIALISM.
NOTHING could posess me to vote for McCain.
That to me would be the most gross abuse of my authority to vote that I have ever faced.
NOT ON MY WATCH.
So you folks who are so determined to NOT SEE A DIM IN OFFICE better vote CAREFULLY in YOUR primaries.
NOTICE that only 27% of the FLORIDA Primary voters in the GOP PRIMARY were Conservatives.
You won’t get a winning number of them to the polls with John McCain – no matter WHO you put on the ticket with him.
All you will do is destroy the career of any one IDIOT enough to collude with him, any further.
NO TO JOHN McCAIN – NO MATTER WHAT!
PERIOD!
I believe Rush Limbaugh is right about ripping the Republican Party apart of McCain wins the nomination. Not one conservative I now could hold their nose and vote for him. They would rather vote for a Democrat and let them take the blame for destroying the country first. I didn’t leave the GOP they left me.
Four years of Carter got us a conservative President and Senate.
Just two years of Clinton got us a conservative House and Senate. (Thank you, new media!)
For Hunter or Tancreda, I would whip out my checkbook this summer and dance my way to the polls come November.
For Romney, I will suck in a deep breath, hope for the best, and vote for him.
But if McCain is the Republican nominee, I will pull that lever for a Democrat.
I guess that makes me a “maverick.” I’m sure John McCain will understand.
I bet 50% of the people on this comment section of the blog would vote for McCain. This from an area that has been demonizing him for at least a year.
I don’t like McCain either for lots of reasons. But he’s at least AS GOOD as Bush ever was. And he’s at least AS conservative as any of the other RINOs running.
I don’t understand why he gets so much venom and the others get a pass. I’ve got plenty of venom for McCain too, but not because any of the other candidates are better alternatives.
The poll says 30% will vote for McCain and another 28% ‘didn’t know’. If the choice is to vote for McCain or not, then ‘didn’t know’ would be a good mark for McCain. So 50% of people here who HATE McCain will vote for him. I’d say that McCain is a good Republican candidate.
NONE OF THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES WERE CONSERVATIVE. WHERE HAVE YOU GONE JESSE HELMS?!
Ronald Reagan didn’t start the conservative movement. . . Jesse Helms did. When he left the senate, conservatism left the senate.
Enough Rush-limbaugh-style idealist-minded fatalism, which is certain to destroy the Grand Old party faster than anything else.
There is a debate tonight. There may even be another before Super Tuesday. Remember when 4 words made Reagan the man to beat in 1980 – “there you go again”. And Mitt is a fighter.
McCain has no record on any economic ability whatsoever. He’s been in lockstep with the dreaded Ted Kennedy. He endorses open-boarders policies of the mnost heinous kind.
Will I vote for Sheriff Open Boarders if it comes down to SOB or Hillary? Yes, because she’ll do the same and worse. But this game is far from over. Romney doesn’t even need to score a knockout punch in the debate tonight. If he just erodes enough support in a little way, he wins. Yes, some of Rudy’s votes will go to McCain. But like in my case, some will also go to Romney.
A little less fatalism, please. Yes it’s tough to be strong when it looks like the world is coming down around you. But quit your g*dda*n whining, pick yourself up and get back on the horse. We’re not Democrats. Stop acting like them.
To be clear, this is my wife and I and Why we will not vote for John McCain in 2008. That’s a link with extra emphasis added on in 2008.
The truth is this race is far from over. Many states will have their delegates divided and it seems McCain will be far from having the necessary votes. Lets hope Mitt delivers a slap-down tonight.
Ok so I’m supposed to be concerned about national security at the same time that they want to sell my culture down the river with 30 million illegals. The 30 million bring in 2 each and whammo 90 million and that’s the end. That is like me worrying about the soil I am to be buried in after I am already dead. I have seen what he future holds but evidently many voters cant. Good luck with the economy when you don’t have a job. I’m tired of being a member of the stupid party and after this election I am reregistering as an independent. As Reagan said, I didn’t leave my party my party left me.
I don’t care about spreading freedom and prosperity over there as we lose it over here. The republicans=mexixcan nationalist party.Thats right they care about Mexican illegals gaining citizenship, that is all. All you other law abiding hopeful immigrants buzz off your potential future has been stolen, forget your dreams McCain has. In the end amnasty 2 will lead to amnasty 3, what you think it will all just end if we give em citizenship? Please! Get ready for round three, mcain has been jobbed by the Mexicans, I wonder if he has a clue regarding the islamists, I doubt it.
Oh and I heard that the number one issue in Florida was the economy, so McCain is going to fix it, like I said no more of the stupid party for me.
No arguement whether it be Dick Morris or any fellow commenter has convinced me to hold my nose and vote for McCain. Furthermore I’m more convinced than ever to make sure that this back stabbing SOB RINO never sees the Oval office except as a visitor. If you hold your nose and vote for McCain you must enjoy saying “beat me more I enjoy it,” as for me I’m tired of being betrayed and won’t stand for it any more. I’ll vote for state and local stuff but will choose another party when it comes to the Presidential race if McCain is the nominee.
Even if you would hold your nose and vote for McCain I believe it’s too early to declare it as the uncertainty of whether the base would support McCain might put doubt in the minds of those who are voting for McCain on the basis of electability. I’m not sure about anyone else but I’ve already started to communicate with those who influence grassroots conservatives that there is an undercurrent of rebellion over the possibility of McCain as our nominee. I’m listening to Neal Boortz right now and someone is making the same arguement as myself and perhaps that’s what we have to do in order to put the doubbt in the minds of who are voting for McCain because of his electability.
Eight years ago, I fell for the McCain lie. During the promaries, when it was between Bush and McCain I fell for all his BS, how he was the “better man”, how he was better qualified, the better Republican, the better Conservative and such. I was 8 yars younger, eight years less experienced and so was the world. I voted for him in the primaries and was disappointed when he did not carry into the general.
Over the last 8 years I have watched him very carefully. Rarely does one get a chance to see a choice one makes for President in action and to see what would have happened had that person actually been elected as President. Rarely does one get a chance to witness for themselves whether or not they had made the right choice all those years ago, if the country made the right choice, if the country and the world would have been better off with that person or the person that ultimately ended up int the Oval Office.
I watched very, very closely. What I saw, I was appalled. I had never before been ashamed of my voting choice. I had never before been disappointed in who I had chose. I had never before been so glad that I had made the wrong choice.
I study candidates and politics incredibly close…as some of you may or may not have noticed, and like to pride myself on making truly informed decisions based on a great many issues. I do everything I can to stay away from the fluff, the lies and the glitter of them, and go for the heart and meat of the issues and candidates.
To have been so wrong about a Presidential candidate, to have been taken in, flimflammed in such a way, truly disturbed me and I vowed never to make the same mistake again.
There will be no way I will be voting for him come Feb.5th. I will remember very well what happened eight years ago, and remember in great detail every single thing that man has done since then. Mostly I will remember the headlines only a few days ago, claiming how he is so “buddy-buddy” with Hill-Dawg and all the Liberals in the Senate and just how many times he has sold out the COnservatives, the Party and this country for his own personal gain, ego and to keep his “Maverick” title.
I will be throwing my all behind Romney, in the hopes he will be taking on Fred Thompson as a running mate. I am hoping that he and Fred announce that as soon as today, that this will change the entire dynamics of this race, take away the spotlight from this little man and put it back to the closest thing that we can consider to be a conservative Republican left in this race. If nothing else, Romney has a very strong belief in family, children and National Security and against the Islamic Thunderhead that threatens the world.
I cannot guarantee the same from the 70 year old senile man that has long ago abandoned his Reagan period beliefs to sell his political soul to the Democrats.
I hope all of you will join me on Tuesday in making sure “Maverick” stays out of the White House for anything other than to congratulate someone else on getting the job he tried to sell his soul and our party out for.
There is but a single difference between McCain and the democrats: The war on terror.
And the war on terror is the most important issue, right now!
Yes, I know McCain is full of crap about waterboarding, Gitmo, etc. But, he has said, and I believe him, that he will not surrender in the war on terror. The democrats have announced that they will.
Betraying conservative principles by voting for McCain? Give me a break! If he is the nominee, then we will have a classic case of a choice of the lesser evils and McCain is the lesser.
With the war on terror ongoing, I will vote for him to protect me and my family and realize there will be another day to fight for conservative policy implementation. In the meantime, we have to make sure there is “another day” to fight.
Will you really vote for the democrat or third party candidate or write-in your vote with our country’s national securtiy on the line? Don’t be so selfish. Help me protect my family!
I’M TAKING A STYLE CUE FROM OMBRE ROSE AND LEAVING THE CAPS ON FOR IMPACT:
IF INDEPENDANTS WERE ALLOWED TO VOTE IN FLORIDA IN VIOLATION OF THE STRICT VOTING RULES OF THAT STATE, THEN THE RESULTS ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NEED TO BE RETABULATED ELIMINATING THE INDEPENDANT VOTES. PERIOD. NO QUESTION. ABOUT THAT THERE CAN BE NO DISCUSSION. GET THE WORD OUT. FAST.
The one thing about McCain, Iraq/middle east/Afghanistan/world will remain stable but our country loses it’s sovereignty. Is it enough to vote for him? If the country is going to hell in a hand-basket, I just as soon the handle is held by a registered democrat.
I may sit this one out.
How does McCain keep winning these things? Who’s voting for him? I don’t know even ONE conservative that wants him.
I have no idea how to vote in the national election, now. If McCain is the nominee. Maybe I’ll stay home.
You have MILLIONS of options before you “HAVE” to vote for McCAIN.
Whenever McCain pulls MORE of his stunts after elected, every time I see a McCain voter, I know who to take it out on. I hold you RESPONSIBLE.
And don’t think I WON’T!.
I want to tell you a secret:
I went ALL OVER the internet, last night – THIS was one of my FIRST stops.
By the time I got to my LAST stop, I realized THERE WAS NO CONSERVATIVE SITE WITH McCain CELEBRATIONS going on – just a FEW LIBERAL TROLLS OUT CROWING and NOTHING ELSE AT ALL!
EVERYWHERE, last night, ALL the conservatives who were out were saying NOTHING could make them vote for McCAIN.
THAT SHOUD TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE BLOODY SCARY.
There were not even GUILIANI AND HUC KABEE VOTERS OUT ROOTING FOR McCAIN.
NO REGULAR GOP VOTERS.
It looked like the empty celebration room for one of those Spencer Tracy DIRTY POLITICIAN movies, where he finally pulled something so dirty that when he finally won re-election THOSE WHO HAD ALWAYS STOOD BY HIM AND LOVED HIM BEST did NOT come to his victory party AT ALL!
NEWS SITES had NO STORIES of CONSERVATIVE CELEBRATIONS, FORUMS had NO celebrating VOTERS.
Just two or three LIBERAL TROLLS – Get it?
I am 56 years old AND IN MY ENTIRE LIFE I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE DEADLY SILENCE LIKE THAT!
VICTORY?????????? FOR McCAIN??????????
NOT ON YOUR LIFE!
MAYBE THE DEATH OF THE GOP!
NO, HE IS NOT THE CANDIDATE OF THE CONSERVATIVES.
It is PUTRID STINK OF DEATH!
Not my WISHFUL THINKING – go check transcripts of the forums’ comments sections, today.
JUST MY OBSERVATION!
It is like the morning after the Enola Gay flew over.
NOTHING BETTER.
You who say you will “RELUCTANTLY” vote for McCAIN because “you feel you have to” – IS THAT WHAT YOU WOULD TELL YOUR KIDS ABOUT THE MAN DOWN THE STREET IN A VAN WITH A BAG OF CANDY HE IS OFFERING TO THE KIDS AT THE PLAYGROUND???
Go ahead and do it – YOU HAVE NO CHOICE???? IF YOU WANT “CANDY”???
I don’t have to.
The GOP and the GOP MEDIA FRIENDS have been sitting on TONS of black material about McCain, and that is all they did with it – SIT ON IT and not even let the VOTERS KNOW.
Don’t tell ME that I “HAVE” to.
The GOP can swim in the cess pool without me, just fine.
I will vote for Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Oliver North, Franklin Graham and John Bolton, and plenty of others who strike my fancy – IT IS MY VOTE and I can do what I want to with it.