This just isn't good.
I just saw noted Christian leader Dr. Richard Land on Fox News blowing off the conservative discontent with McCain, saying he's a good conservative and he goes to church and that the talk of a party split is overdone.
But just yesterday I read a public statement by Dr. James Dobson, saying that in his opinion McCain is NO conservative and that he cannot imagine himself supporting McCain under any circumstances.
Dr. Land and Dr. Dobson. I would not have seen this coming. These two guys have been pretty much completely aligned on every issue they've publicly discussed over the past thirty years.
Dr. Land sees the necessity of unity against Hillary. So does Dr. Dobson, but instead of pointing out McCain's good qualities and proposing unity behind him, Dobson points out McCain's bad qualities and draws a line in the sand--
"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.
"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry’s running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience."
Dobson goes on to say how sad this is, and how this is the worst slate of presidential candidates to come along in his lifetime.
And after the careful review I've conducted over the past months on McCain's career of anti-conservative maneuvering and principle-free decision making, I'm afraid I've come down on the Dobson side.
Courageous, determined, indomitable, all that stuff applies to his war record and his suffering in the POW camp. But no matter now you slice it, those things are not equivalent to a set of conservative principles. McCain doesn't have them, not all of them anyway.
Reagan conservatism, as Rush said, is a three legged stool.
Social conservatives, including Christians. McCain doesn't understand them and doesn't like them.
Fiscal conservatives, the low tax low regulation crowd, business. McCain doesn't understand the economy, admits this, and speaks in terms like 'punishing' the Wall Streeters for 'lending to people who can't pay it back'. (Is it even possible to force someone to accept a loan and sign a contract? In America?) McCain thinks in terms of using tax to control behavior, a distinctly liberal trait. He has made cutting remarks about Romney's wealth, as if it was somehow less than honorable to be successful in business.
Defense conservatives, one of which McCain can lay claim to be in general terms.
But even those are split between the 'evil neocons' with their plans for changing the world and the traditional strong defense status quo crowd of times past. McCain is no neocon. He has no vision for the middle east and no plans to rid the world of dictators.
Bottom line is, McCain is a good sell to moderates and liberal-leaning Republicans, and in the general election will pull liberal votes from those on the left who worry about their candidate. Most real conservative candidates wouldn't pull those, so it would be up to the right to make sure they win.
McCain can win without me. And he will have to, because I'm on the Dobson side of this. McCain has stuck his finger gleefully in my eye one too many times, and it's clear to me he would be little different from a Hillary in stark policy terms.
Enjoy your pyrrhic victory, Senator. I suspect at this point that real conservatives are in the long term looking for a different sandbox to play in.
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2 comments:
Conservatives are beginning to amaze me in their inability to see what's really at stake here.
This election is about more than McCain and his inability to follow conservative principals - and that has been proven true a hundred times.
But how is handing the whole country over to liberals a suitable alternative to McCain?
There is a serious difference between McCain and a pure bread liberal who is bent on destroying ALL conservative values as well as our country with them.
Anti McCain commentators such as Rush Limbaugh have ventured the idea that perhaps we should sit this election out and let the Dems have a term in office, claiming it might pave the way for a future shot at a candidate he and others will like in four years.
Imagine the damage our country will endure if Democrats control all three branches of government for 4 to 8 years.
This would give liberals what they will treat as a clear sign from America that is it ready to move sharply to the left. Not slightly to the left.
My daughters will come of age in the next 4 to 8 years, and I'd rather have 50% of McCains earn than 0% of a destruction bent liberal's ear.
Cherry picking our candidate is exactly what got us INTO this mess, and if conservatives aren’t careful, they may throw the entire country into a liberal spin that can take a decade(s) to pull back out of.
There is no such thing as a quick recovery from 4 years of liberalism unchecked. We may be facing what will take years and years of damage to undo. What’s more, there’s no guarantee that it WILL be undone. Have conservatives completely forgotten Roe v. Wade and other extremely important issues? We need an allie on every core issue we can get.
Questioning McCain was right and highly useful for a time and a season. Many of us wish we had acted sooner to support Romney or Huck....
But staying home on election day allows liberals a pass to capture all THREE branches of Government. Do you want your kids growing up in that kind of environment?
I'm not asking anyone to sacrifice their own belief or convictions, but we have a serious serious problem here, that we can't afford to fall asleep on.
Give it some thought, friends.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
http://thalunatic.blogspot.com
I agree.
Give it some thought, friends.
But if Danny's to be taken at his word, that he's not asking anyone to sacrifice their own belief or convictions, then the rest of his note is moot.
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