What I am saying is that you called Fiorina a McCain acolyte, which I assumed to be your way of judging her based not on her professed views, but on the views of John McCain (for whom she worked during the 2008 presidential campaign). If that’s not what that was, then I apologize, but that’s exactly what other posters have meant when they ascribe McCain’s more obnoxious views to candidates that he has supported (such as Jane Norton in Colorado).
I have been supporting Raul Labrador in his ID-01 primary race against Vaughn Ward, and while I have pointed out my qualms about nominating Ward (due to his bizarre behavior on the campaign), I have never ascribed to him McCain’s pro-amnesty or pro-CFR views merely because Ward was McCain’s 2008 campaign chairman in NV; in fact, I have noted that Ward takes conservative positions on every issue (as does Labrador). I would hope that, similarly, you would limit your criticisms of Fiorina’s issue positions to the positions she has actually taken, and not on the positions that someone else has taken.
Ragarding JimRob’s endorsement of DeVore in the Senate race, of course I’ve seen the ads, and I read the entire thread in which DeVore answered questions from FReepers. I thought DeVore was terrific in responding to some very difficult questions (especially since he must know that trolls would be out there scouring the thread for any missteps on his part), and I agree with him on almost every one of his positions. If DeVore was within striking distance of first place, or if it was a two-person race between Fiorina and DeVore, I’d support DeVore. But I’m not going to let a pro-partial-birth-abortion, pro-same-sex-marriage, anti-Zionist, pro-Islamist DIABLO such as Tom Campbell walk away with the GOP nomination because I supported the 100% conservative polling at 15% in DeVore instead of the 75% conservative polling at 35% in Fiorina (and remember that, for all her faults, Fiorina is pro-life, pro-gun and pro-marriage).
I have nothing but respect for JimRob, who not only makes FR possible but ensures that it stays a conservative forum. One of my proudest moments on FR was when JimRob announced his support for Tom McClintock in the California recall election; I was supporting McClintock over Arnold right from the get-go, but had grown disillusioned by how the Mods had suspended the accounts of several longtime FReepers who perhaps got a little out of hand in trying to warn everyone about what a mistake it would be to support Arnold. From the day that JimRob announced that he was backing McClintock everything changed, and by the day of the recall I would guess that more FReepers supported McClintock than Arnold, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
That being said, for the reasons I set forth above, I do not agree with JimRob on his assessment of Carly Fiorina (I think that she’s a moderate-to-conservative Republican, not a 100% conservative such as DeVore, but certainly not a DIABLO such as Campbell) or on the best way to defeat Boxer in 2010. In an ideal world, Campbell would run as a Democrat and there would be a GOP primary between Fiorina and DeVore (or, even better, conservative Congressmen McClintock or Darryl Issa would have jumped in to the race, cleared the field and defeated Boxer in November). But that’s not the hand we have been dealt. My number one goal is to keep Tom Campbell from winning the GOP nomination, and I will support any acceptable candidate who has a realistic chance of beating him. In the GOP primary, poll after polls shows that Fiorina, not DeVore, is that candidate.