I agree. The time to be a purist is in the primaries; in the general election, most of the time your job as a citizen is to stop the worst of the 2 major party candidates (because, for literally 2/3 of our history, only an "R" or a "D" has been President). Like it or not (and I guarantee everyone that I don't), these are the facts that we have to deal with. We are all entitled to our own opinion, but not our own facts.
BTW, bmwcyle, just to establish my bona fides, I voted for Reagan twice in both 1980 and 1984, wanted Fred Thompson in '08 and Newt this time around (but would've been happy with Santorum). I thought that Fred, Newt and Rick would've made excellent Presidents.
BTW, I also voted for Klintoon in '92 - because "Do you think Bush (41) is a Conservative? He is not." I, like many others, couldn't stomach GHWB - I thought that he lied out of every orifice in his body about being a conservative, and I had really voted for Reagan's third term in 1988, thinking that (based on his campaign speeches and debates) the elitist SOB had learned something over the prior 8 years. So in '92 I wanted to "send a message" to the RINO elites that they "had to pay attention to" - and anyway, that oafish hick, Klintoon, would get his arse kicked in '96. Well, that didn't work out so well, did it? Not only didn't Klintoon lose in '96, but the RINO elite gave us f'ing Bob Dole. I learned my lesson - never again will I vote anything but R in the general election, at least until a credible, and truly conservative, 3rd party exists and runs a credible candidate. Why? Because it is a metaphysical guarantee that WHOMEVER the Dems nominate in any given election cycle WILL be worse than the Republican, and be likely be worse by orders of magnitude. The President proposes budgets, nominates ALL federal judges, nominates ALL cabinet officials and names all lower-ranking cabinet officers, decides our military and foreign policy, issues Executive Orders, negotiates treaties, has pretty much unlimited access to the media, controls the Dept. of Justice, etc., etc., etc. Anyone reading this whose home planet has a blue sky KNOWS that Obama has been an utter disaster on multiple fronts, and that to elect him again is to place the very existence of the Republic in serious jeopardy. Romney, for all of his (very many) faults, is a genuine and genuinely loyal American, someone who will try to maximize economic freedom and will stand up for this country vs. our enemies and back our allies (we'll have to work on a lot of the rest). However, Obama has shown that he will do none of these things and, in fact, we'll do the opposite, but harder in this term (when he has zero accountability to us).
Better half or a quarter of a loaf than none, and better ANYONE than Obama (well, not the Hildabeast, but you get my drift).
Regrettably, politics is the art of compromise. If you can get 60% of what you want, be happy; if you can get 70%, take it and run; if you think that you can get 100%, you are delusional.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” Ronald Reagan
I am quite confident that if Reagan were alive, he'd be voting for Romney, despite the fact that there would be many points of disagreement that they would have - because Reagan understood the big picture, and he would understand that the freedom we have is in extreme danger, and will be in mortal danger with another 4 years of Obama.
...”we’ll do the opposite”...
Uh, “will do the opposite”...
Reagan is not alive. Only paid off servants of the liberal elite are left. That is no choice.
Thank you for your response. I really can’t add anything more to it.
We are faced with a clear choice between a less than optimal candidate who is neveertheless a good God-Fearing Patriotic American and a creature of undetermined allegiance and clear Muslim connections whose entire “reign” has been dedciated to undermining the Free Market System and the American Constitution.
Its as simple as that.
By the way, Ronald Reagan made me a registered Republican. After what the GOP establishment did to Barry Goldwater, I didn’t want to have anything more to do with them.
Like you I voted for Bush I - TWICE, despite very heavy misgivings and despite having voted against him in the primary. Ditto with Bush II.
The Bushes, Doles, Whitmans, etc are clearly a POX on America that prevent Americans from making a CLEAR choice.
Their focus is more restricted to protrecting their own personal finances than national economic health or the County in general or even the Constitution or political philosophy.