Posted on 02/25/2008 9:55:55 PM PST by FocusNexus
Unless one of Huckabee's miracles happens, McCain will be the Republican nominee for president. As other presidential candidates have dropped out, some conservatives, such as Senator and former presidential candidate Sam Brownback from Kansas and Jonah Goldberg from National Review have decided to support him. But many conservative Republicans including Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and James Dobson have continued to hold out on supporting him, and may continue to do so right up until the general election.
For those conservatives who have refrained from supporting McCain because he has too many negatives, they must decide whether those negatives outweigh the negatives of having a Democrat in office.
Even so, the most important issue facing the U.S. today is terrorism. McCain has promised to be tough on terrorism and keep our troops in Iraq until we're assured of stability. The thought of Barack Obama handling our approach to terrorism should send chills down anyone's spine. Hillary Clinton wouldn't be much better, because her motive on the war on terror is to score a legacy for herself.
(Excerpt) Read more at intellectualconservative.com ...
What makes you think that Obama will be able to wave a magic wand and make all the Democrats in Congress go along with his wishes? It didn't work for the Clintons in 1993-1994, and I don't think it will work for Obama in 2009-2010.
If McCain wins, congresspeople will receive a clear message that they can ignore conservatives with impunity. By contrast, if McCain loses and a conservative third-party candidate finishes decently (say, a 45-40-15 election result) congresspeople are more likely to decide that ignoring conservatives would be unacceptably dangerous to their careers. Which message do you want Congress to receive?
Coupled with that these same conservatives must also decide that it's OK to reward RINOs for years of constantly kissing Teddy Kennedy's ass and the asses of any and all other democRATs who happen to be nearby.
I think I see a pattern.
It's not time yet. I haven't decided yet whether the long term interests of conservatism, which would be well served by seeing McCain go down in flames, outweigh the short term pain of having a leftist in the White House. I think those are the factors we need to weigh. Even then, people will come up with different calculations, because the future cannot be known with any certainty, so we have to guess as to what might happen.
What I won't do is vote for McCain just because he's better than the Dem. We know that; but a. can he win? (If not, who cares how I vote); and b. If he did win, is he better for conservatism, or does he make permanent the socialist agenda?.
I tend to believe that he has no chance to win, so this is one of those times when we can send a message without penalty. The lesson may be learned when McCain's loss of Dole-like proportions becomes a McGovern-like landslide.
I also am currently leaning to the belief that McCain's supposed benefits on defense and foreign policy are not as great as advertised. I think he will be so eager to please that he is likely to pull out of Iraq quickly (after all, he has "credibility" and it will please the NY Times and make them like him again), and I don't think he will be any tougher in the WOT than Bush has been, which is not enough.
On domestic issues, I don't trust him one bit Taxes, he is a wild card. Maybe he'll honor his campaign promises, maybe he'll revert to form. On immigration, we know he will not protect the border, and he will sign anything the Dems send him. That will end American politics as we know it, and guarantee that conservatives remain a minority forever. With a Dem in charge, the Republicans might retain enough gumption to fight an amnesty bill--maybe.
The one category that I think plays strongly in McCain's favor is judicial appointments. He will not be very good for a Republican, but light years better than the kind of judges that Obama or Hillary would appoint. The next Prez will get one or two SC appointments. If it's a Dem, we'd still have 4 conservatives and Kennedy, so it would still be ok, but we'd have at least 4 years to wait for another conservative. However, I don't believe McCain would appoint a true conservative, but more like another Kennedy. So, not as much loss at the SC level, but some damage at the lower courts level.
All in all, not even close to being ready to vote for McCain.
My answer is that it is time for American citizens to support their country and to make a decision in the upcoming election. I’m proud to be a conservative, but even more so an American, and I will be voting. Obviously, not for Hilary/Obama.
Rush. But he won't do it.
I would like to see McCain really campaign as if he wants support from conservatives. And he had better choose a V.P. that conservatives can get behind if he expects to have any chance of winning.
Try this one on for size: McCain supports amnesty and benefits for illegal aliens. In other words, the law only applies to you, not to them. In other words, obey the law and get punished; disobey the law and get rewarded.
McCain also supports carbon credits. In other words, he supports taking your money under threat of force and giving it away.
I can't understand all the fearful, panicked conservatives who are willing to surrender their principles to a wolf in sheep's clothing.
There are republicans, and there are Republicans.
That said, I am not voting for Hillary or Obama either.
I don't see any realistic possibility of having anything but either a Democrat or a Democrat puppet in the White House. The only hope I can see of saving this country is for conservatives to do at least halfway decently in the congressional races. McCain on the ballot is going to do a lot of damage there. The only hope I can see (other than somehow not having McCain on the ballot) is to have a conservative third-party candidate who will draw conservatives to the polls.
Further, I would expect Congress would be less likely to stab conservatives in the back if McCain lost 45-40-15 than if he won 51-49-0.
It continues to be time to help get Mike Huckabee as much support as we can.
Don’t pin many hopes on McCain fighting the war against Islamist to win.
I say we try to get rid of McCain and get a conservative governor like Haley Barbour. We can change this convention.
You are so right. I remember the same fear-mongering, arm-twisting at a state level when Schwarzenegger, the "moderate" ran against Phil Angelides, the liberal.
I'm sure Angelides would have been a terrible governor, but the real difference between Angelides and Schwarzenerrer is ...er, wait, there is no real difference.
McCain has nothing to offer conservatives, and he hasn’t even tried. We’re waiting for McCain to ask us personally, as a group that it and make some demonstration of good faith. I don’t see that happening. McCain doesn’t want conservatives to support him.
And what do you think he should tell us?
BURN THE “BIG TENT” DOWN.
No more Bakerites.
No more RINOS, not a single, solitary one.
ONLY REAGAN CONSERVATIVES NEED APPLY.
As usual Eva, you are right on.
This thread askes the wrong question. It should be, "Is It Time for McCain to Support Conservatives?"
Exactly, Texas Eagle!
Here are the points I posted at Intellectual Con for conservatives to back him:
1) He calls a press conference NOW and states that as President, ANY kind of amnesty or legalization of the millions of illegals here “is DOA”.
2) He makes Romney his VP WITH THE UNDERSTANDING that he, McCain, is A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT, ONLY!
3) He will build the double fence in 6 months and if necessary, put troops on the Border which is totally out of hand.
4) He will INCREASE ICE raids and INCREASE the number of agents at DHS.
5) He will shut down SPP and guarantee that under his presidency, there will be NO move towards the NAU/Amero.
First, he needs to select Romney as VP. That would be a huge first step. Saying that “Amnesty is DOA” would help, but he needs to back it up with other statements.
HUckabee is a socialist — he just happens to be religious, but he is callous enough to use his religion for political purposes and to further his own ego — not very Christian like behavior.
askes=asks
“No more Bakerites.”
That’s a laugh, since Baker was the one who pushed Fred Thompson and conservatives fell for it hook, line, and sinker — result: McCain the Republican nominee.
I hope all Fred supporters are very happy now, having contributed to McCain’s winning the Republican nomination.
The least you can do now, is to support McCain against Obama.
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