Posted by
Glen Albrethsen on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:31:41 PM
Full disclosure before I launch into my thoughts on rallying behind John McCain.
I am registered as an Independent, unaffiliated with any party.
I did this a while back because I was fed up then with precisely what is happening now. There are those who will put party ahead of principles. I can see that being practical in certain situations. In most cases, I don't. This is one of those times.
I think correct principles should trump party. Especially when that party leaves principle behind for the sake of self-perpetuation or for winning.
By standing up for principles, we fight for any party that will be their vehicle, the means by which those principles are projected and perpetuated. By compromising principles, in the name of expediency, or through the lesser of two evils argument, the only thing that happens is, we lose, conservatism loses and America loses.
A caller on Rush Limbaugh's radio program this morning brought up a good point. Basically, the argument was, if McCain is the nominee and then actually becomes president, then we can assure ourselves of 8-16 years of left leaning leadership.
Here's why. If McCain is elected, and does not pull a 180 somehow, then (based on McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy and McCain-Leiberman) left leaning policies and programs will be proposed, and with Congress leaning left, these policies will have good chances to pass. Why? Because the same people backing him now as the nominee and later as the president will back him on his policies once he's in office.
Plus, there's no guarantee the current status quo will be maintained in Congress. Center left candidates may actually pick up seats. The Democrats are jazzed and are ready to rock the vote, not only for their presidential candidate, but for any other liberals running in their districts and states.
The other downside to a McCain presidency is he's also been grandstanding against conservative appointments and legislation (ie, the gang of 14). What's to keep this from happening when he's president?
Thus, the argument that for the sake of the party we should get behind McCain fails in my opinion because the more he fights with conservatives and embraces the center left, the more he breaks down the Republican party and makes it more indistinguishable from liberal leaning Democrats. And, the more the Republican party can be blamed for either the bad policies, because they went along, or for stonewalling, if they don't go along.
If something happens while McCain is president to turn the tide against him, the Republican party will also be blamed. This has happened under the George W. Bush administration. McCain can be spun as a conservative if a lot of conservatives vote for him. McCain can be spun as conservative if a majority of Republicans vote for him, even if those Republicans are moderates or liberals, because Republicans are considered more conservative than Democrats, even if they aren't (a la Arnold Schwarzenegger).
So, the only way the Republican party wins if McCain wins is if McCain actually presides as a conservative and implements conservative principles. If he goes the way he has gone, he only makes it worse for Republicans, and any backlash will damage the Republican party, because he's Republican.
If he loses favor in the eyes of the center and the left, then he's defeated by someone even more left in four years (providing he actually runs for another four years--if not, then his vice president is defeated). The Democrats take over the White House and have potentially taken over more of Congress because of the backlash to the Republicans.
Having a Republican majority, up until 2006, was a fairly recent phenomenon. Congress has been largely Democratic over the years, and thus center left, more than it has been supposedly center right.
Let's say McCain does enough to stay in, and he does run, or his vice president, or some other center left nominee gets in. The Republican party might win, but it's hardly a win for conservatives. And in the meantime, the country is continuing to go downhill, with no backlash. Slowly, but surely.
Remember that frog in the water that is slowly heated up over time until he's cooked alive? Well, that's what's going to happen to this country in my estimation. It may not be in four years, or eight, or even 12, but rest assured, at some point, sooner or later, the Huns will be at the door, and when it happens we'll wonder how this could possibly be. We'll only have ourselves to blame.
The only way McCain keeps such a thing from happening is if he is actually deep cover and is actually conservative and only trying to fool the liberals (click here for an earlier blog featuring an imaginary McCain-Reagan conversation where McCain goes deep undercover for the good of the country).
I voted for Bush twice because I knew what I was going to get with Al Gore and John Kerry. They were the known quantities. Both times, Bush was more of the wild card. Well, I can't say things are as bad as they may have been under Gore or Kerry, but being in or on the brink of a recession, fighting a war in Iraq and in Afghanistan that is being funded through Chinese loans, a deficit which is the highest it has ever been because our spending (a proposed $3.1 trillion for 2008) is the highest its ever been, isn't necessarily what I would call in the best interest of the United States.
The war on terror is one thing. Being the world police, which is what I think we are more than not, is another.
Are we better off now then we were eight years ago? In some ways yes. In a lot of ways no. Where are we likely to go with a president who will vote for amnesty, global warming legislation, and would most likely prosecute more and more wars?
The alternative, a president who will do the first two and then negotiate our freedom away with our enemies, without a fight, isn't any better, but I say, what's the lesser of the two evils?
The best choice is to go back to conservatives. Peace through strength. Peace through prosperity. Peace through principles. Short of that, the fastest way to get to it is four years of disaster from a center left Democrat. Not a center left Republican.
So, for the good of the country, conservatism, and indirectly, the Republican party, if McCain is the nominee, I will be sitting out the presidential election, while trying to promote conservative candidates in the House and Senate.