John Hawkins has written quite a column about why we should support a McCain candidacy. I posted it over at Free Republic and it stirred up one hell of a hornet's nest. Lot's of Conservatives are still bitter about John McCain getting the GOP nod but what are our alternatives? B. Hussein Obama or Hillary Clinton?
Tempers will flare for awhile but I suspect that as time goes on, those who are right now saying they would never vote for John McCain will have a change of heart, especially as the agenda of the Dem candidate becomes more public and people can see where a leftist President would take us. While it is true that we would be able to fight a Dem President's legislative agenda and court appointees, we would not be able to fight a Dem President's Executive Orders nor the gutting of the military nor the surrender in the War on Terror.
Now, those of you who have been reading my blog may be asking, "84, why after all the railing you did against John McCain are you saying this?" Because something in his speech jumped out at me and caused me to give this whole thing a second thought:
| Surely, I have held other positions that have not met with widespread agreement from conservatives. I won't pretend otherwise nor would you permit me to forget it. |
Whether you like Sen. McCain or not, the above statement at least shows a spark of honesty that has been sorely lacking from politicians both D and R for many, many years. No smoke and mirror tricks there. Just a plain, simple statement of fact and an acknowledgement that history cannot be changed. He might as well have said, "Yes, I screwed the pooch and I know it. I know that you know it too. And I know that you will be watching every move I make from now until November. I know that I have to be careful about what I say and do in order to earn and maintain your support."
That is what made me give him a second look-over.
And, I liked the major points of his speech:
- Secure the border first.
- Reduce the size of government.
- Get rid of earmarks.
- Make the 2001 Tax Cuts Permanent.
- End the Alternative Minimum Tax.
- Cut Corporate Tax Rates from 35% to 25%.
- Keep Health Insurance in the realm of the Free Market.
- Appoint Supreme Court Justices in the vein of Roberts and Alito.
- Win the War on Terror.
Can a leopard change its spots? Well, Saul of Tarsis was ardently against those who followed the teachings of Jesus before he converted and became the Apostle Paul. Why couldn't that happen again?
Anyway, here is an excerpt from John's column:
| There is NOTHING conservative about working with the Democratic nominee against most of your fellow conservatives in order to grow government, socialize medicine, lose the war in Iraq, tilt the Supreme Court to the Left, and make Roe v. Wade the permanent law of the land. If you are conservative and vote for the Democratic nominee or even just refuse to vote for McCain, who is by any and every objective standard, considerably more conservative than either of them, let me tell you what you are NOT doing, * You are NOT doing the logical thing. When faced with a choice between a moderate who holds some conservative positions and some non-conservative positions and a liberal who holds no conservative positions, the logical decision is to take the moderate. After all, half a loaf is better than none. * You are NOT helping conservatism or your fellow conservatives. To the contrary, you are helping liberals defeat conservative ideas. Isn't that what conservatives are saying that they're furious at McCain over? Well, who's less of a conservative: John McCain, who, if he were in the White House, would help conservatives win some battles and would help liberals win others or the conservatives who want to help a Democrat get into the office who will go against conservative ideas every time? * You are NOT looking out for the best interests of the country. If you believe winning in Iraq is better than losing, if you believe balancing the budget is better than higher deficit spending, if you believe that having a Supreme Court that is tilted to the right is better than having a Supreme Court tilted to the left, and if you believe that Roe v. Wade is leading to the immoral murder of millions of children -- and the overwhelming majority of people reading this column certainly believe all those things -- then you are certainly not putting the good of the country first if you oppose John McCain in November. |
Some good points in that column. I may be jumping on the bandwagon early, but at least I will have a good seat. I started out as a supporter of Tom Tancredo, then Fred Thompson and finally Mitt Romney. They have all led me here to John McCain.
You can access the complete column on-line here:
There's Nothing Conservative Or Principled About Helping A Democrat Beat John McCain In November
John Hawkins
TownHall.com
February 8, 2008
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