The Time For Complaining Is Over! The National Campaign Is Now!

My God! Here it is! May! And there are still several sore loser types who refuse to accept the fact that John McCain is going to be the GOP nominee for President in 2008!

Just who are these people? Well, they claim to be Conservatives. Many of these self-styled Conservatives are hoping for a Dem victory in November in the mistaken belief that somehow a stronger, more energized Republican Party will come out the other end. Some are even suggesting that at the Convention, John McCain should step aside and allow someone else to run for President. Sorry, but that is the lamest idea I've heard yet.

What really irritates me about these self-styled Conservatives is their extreme short-sightedness and their inability to accept responsibility as a group.

What would happen if the Dems win the White House in November? Alot, and most of it bad. Not only would we see our economy get beaten down by higher taxes and a full scale retreat from the terrorists, we would see massive appointments of leftist judges to Federal benches and at least two leftists appointed to the Supreme Court. That is the short-sightedness of those who believe a Dem win will result in a stronger GOP. The exact opposite is true. It will weaken the position of the GOP and we won't be able to re-strengthen it for another 30 to 40 years. Those Republicans who want to see a McCain defeat would do well to look beyond 2008 and 2012 and see what they are really pushing for.

And then there are those who say they would vote for Republican Congressional candidates while leaving the door open for a Dem White House. The idea here is that by retaking the Senate, it would force a Dem President to appoint more Conservative jurists to SCOTUS. Well, let's look at historical precedent on that issue.

In 1994, the Republicans gained control of the U.S. Senate through "good, Conservative leadership." That good leadership failed to stop the confirmation of Ruth Bader-Ginsberg to the Supreme Court, despite a GOP majority. Even though Republicans had more than enough votes to stop the seating of an uber-liberal to SCOTUS, she was seated anyway. Now, imagine what would happen with a Dem-controlled White House and a Dem-contolled Senate (which is looking more likely than a GOP-controlled Senate at this point). That is why we need to look beyond 2008 and 2012 and contemplate the consequences of our actions today. Anyone out there who still thinks that a Dem winning the White House would be good for the GOP needs to go get their head examined. It would be a disaster for Conservatives everywhere.

Now, what about this "group responsibility" thing? I asked about this in a blog posting back on February 12, 2008 and no one ever bothered to answer my question. Here it is: Where was the Conservative Base of the Republican Party on Super Tuesday and during the primaries and campaigns prior?

I don't know where they were, but I do know where they were not. They were not in the voting booths nor were they out campaigning for candidates with solidly Conservative credentials.

Think I'm joking? Look at the combined support of Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Tommy Thompson. The three of them didn't equal the support enjoyed by Rudy Giuliani. Where was the Conservative Base of the GOP? I was a supporter of Tom Tancredo and I was doing everything I could to support his campaign. I blogged, I donated money and I participated in polls to support him right up to the day he announced he was dropping out.

But I don't feel like the GOP let me down. I feel like my fellow Conservatives abandoned me. And yes, I am referring to those same Conservatives who were conspicuously absent on Super Tuesday and before.

So, now these same Conservatives who were nowhere to be found prior to John McCain winning the GOP nomination are getting energized. I'm sorry but their energy is coming several months too late for me to seriously listen to anything they have to say. The energy with which they disparage John McCain today would have been better spent rallying around Tancredo, Hunter or Thompson back in December of 2007. In other words, the vaunted Conservative Base is just a little more than a day late and a dollar short.

So, the time for complaining is long since over. If you are one of those self-styled Conservatives who wants to see a McCain defeat in November, before you complain to me about my support for the Senator from Arizona, please explain to me the conspicuous absence of the Conservative Base during the Super Tuesday voting and during the months before. I'd love to read that excuse.

P.S. Please don't try the lame excuse that the media picked McCain. I refuse to believe that 8.6 million GOP voters allowed themselves to be swayed by a left-leaning media rather than thinking for themselves. If that were true then it wouldn't matter who the GOP nominee was at this point.