Posted on 02/05/2008 6:57:58 AM PST by Delacon
Why do so many conservatives detest — and yes, "detest" is the most accurate word — John McCain?
Why are radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Hugh Hewitt abandoning their customary stance on Republican unity by endorsing or supporting Mitt Romney?
Why would the right-wing queen of provocation, Ann Coulter, claim that she would rather campaign for Hillary Clinton than the longtime Republican senator from Arizona?
Why, many talking heads marvel, are conservatives ambushing their only real shot at a general election victory in November?
Well, just maybe, to conservatives, the principle is worth more than the victory.
After all, hadn't conservatives won the presidency with George W. Bush? Hadn't they won both houses of Congress in 2002? How many conservatives are celebrating this week's news of the first-ever $3 trillion budget unveiled by the president?
Anger towards McCain, despite the spin of his supporters, isn't exactly irrational. McCain has shown an elastic sense of principle. To conservatives, it seems like temperamental predilections are just as likely to determine his positions as poll numbers. He's a man they have trouble trusting.
Conservatives may remember that after losing the South Carolina primary in 2000, McCain derided conservative evangelical leaders as wielding "evil influence" on the Republican Party. ("Evil influence" apparently means convincing people not to vote for John McCain.)
Now, he's one of the believers.
Conservatives may wonder why McCain joined Russ Feingold in writing legislation that allows the federal government to dictate free speech in ways never before imagined. Or that he joined Ted Kennedy on an immigration bill that was opposed by most conservatives. Now, McCain sounds like he's ready to join the Minutemen.
Free-market types may wonder why John McCain supports cap-and-trade schemes. Others may wonder why he not only buys into end-of-world global warming scenarios, but opposes drilling in ANWR — comparing that stretch of tundra in Alaska to the Grand Canyon and Florida Everglades.
Fiscal hawks may wonder why McCain was one of two Republican senators to vote against Bush's across-the-board tax cuts. He justifies the position by claiming he believes it should have been tied to spending cuts.
A perfectly reasonable stand — if McCain has actually taken it. But the maverick must have kept those concerns to himself, instead brandishing the liberal rhetoric of "tax cuts for the rich" during the debate.
None of these issues, on their own, would be deal breakers. No candidate can meet all ideological expectations. But conservatives have been asking themselves: Other than Iraq, what does McCain offer us?
We'll soon find out. This week McCain will be stopping in at the Conservative Political Action Conference to cultivate the hard hearts of the rank and file.
He will, self-effacingly, forward the fable that he was a mere "foot soldier" in the Reagan Revolution. Serving in the house beginning in 1983, McCain was, at best, a soldier in mop-up operations.
Who knows? The mood of the country might be swinging towards John McCain pragmatism. Conservatives might be an ideological minority in the Republican Party, once again. But things change.
After all, one day Karl Rove is planning a permanent Republican majority, the next day he's a Fox News analyst, pondering whether Democrats will have a veto-proof majority in the Senate in 2009.
And perhaps conservatives are dead wrong. Maybe McCain will become a great Republican president. Still, there's nothing shameful about holding your ground on principle.
Reach columnist David Harsanyi at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
Something that many in the GOP seem to not understand.
I like the title of that article that was posted on FR: “John McCain: He’s always there when he needs us.”
Just went to a meeting in Houston last night where Tom DeLay was a speaker. He does not seem to think McCain is a conservative.
CITIZENS FOR A CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY
His stance on immigration is; at least for me. He could be a conservative knight in shining armor, and I wouldn't consider him because of how he's handled the immigration problem. It sucks, and so does he.
So vote for Romney? HA!
Sorry. McCain “detested” me first.
Amnesty for illegals, and especially the way he handled it, was the absolute deal-breaker for me.
I will never vote for the man...even in the face of Hillary.
This column sums up much of what many of us don’t like about the prospect of a McCain nomination. I’d add his mercurial temperament to the list.
Vietnam Veterans are now uniting against McCain. Check it out at:
http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/
AND, republicasn don't want to be blamed when a McCain Presidency tarnishes "republicanism" for decades and would make it near impossible to elect a real conservative in our lifetimes. Better let Hillary define liberalism and help the consrvatives elect a real conservative next time around.
Just what I have been saying over and over and over and over here on FR. I am no longer holding my nose. I am no longer voting the lesser of evils. I am done with it. I am voting my beliefs. I am voting for what I am, what I stand for, what my life and soul are. I will not lose my soul again. No more RINOs. I've never voted for a Marxists Dimocrat, so no worries. I simply, for the first time in my entire adult life, will not vote. I refuse too vote for McCain, Rumney, the Hulkster, Hillary or Obama. Vote for one, you get them all in my opinion. So, a man without a party, stays home. (Oh, and those who wish to flame me for my beliefs, go ahead and waste your time posting, for I will not respond to your hate of my stance.)
To those of us who hold Illegal Immigration, Tax cuts, embryonic stem cell research, homosexual marriage, and family values of importance -- YES!
“Why, many talking heads marvel, are conservatives ambushing their only real shot at a general election victory in November?”
Talking heads who say McCain is the best shot to win the general election, and newspaper writers who repeat it, are just using a cheap and cowardly tactic to promote their favored candidate, whether their real aim is promote the candidate they think is most likely to win, or most likely to lose.
And all the polls matching various Republican and Democrat possibilities for next November’s general election are a complete joke. President Dukakis had a 17 point lead over GHWB after the Dem. convention in 1988. These polls mean nothing. Only after the two candidates are nominated, and people begin to compare them, and watch them in campaign events and debates do polls for the November vote mean anything. And then we can still have a Dukakis in the tank moment that turns the polls upside down.
“I will never vote for the man...even in the face of Hillary.”
If necessary I will vote for McLame against Hellary. On the detestability scale of 1-10, McCain ranks a 7, the Devilish Duo rank a 20.
McAmnesty is beyond inconsistent. Look at his record not what he says!!!!....and for him to say he stood shoulder to shoulder with Ronald Reagan!....Please!....You are a “I’ll say anything for your vote whore!”
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