Inept Republican president better than Democratic one
As the election returns rolled in on the night of Super Tuesday, my heart sank lower and lower. My worst nightmare was coming true: Senator John McCain was gaining a significant lead in the Republican delegate count.
I maintained my optimism through Wednesday and the following morning, vicariously enjoying Super Tuesday’s results through the glee of my Obama-supporting friends. I was forced to face reality on Thursday, however, when Mitt Romney, the last hope for conservative Republicans, suspended his Presidential bid. I am currently grappling with the fact that John McCain is now — gulp — likely to be the Republican nominee for President.
What is it that makes the conservative movement dread a McCain nomination? In a nutshell, he is not a conservative Republican. Indeed, in the last Presidential election he actively considered running as Senator John Kerry’s vice president. The list does not stop there. As political commentator Charles Krauthammer accurately stated on Special Report with Brit Hume, “McCain’s apostasies are too numerous to actually count.”
McCain has a terrible habit of co-sponsoring nationally damaging legislation with liberal Democrats. Irrespective of the offensive components, the names of these bills, say it all: McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Lieberman and McCain-Kennedy-Edwards. Conservatives do not begrudge McCain for attempting bipartisan legislation. Right-wingers do take issue with the fact that these bills represent an absolute abandonment from the conservative principles they hold dear.
In addition to his attacks on free speech (McCain-Feingold), attempts to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants (McCain-Kennedy), promotion of economy-stifling global warming initiatives (McCain-Lieberman) and an increase in medical liability suits (McCain-Kennedy-Edwards), John McCain also voted against the Bush tax cuts in 2001.
The list does not end there, either. Many a conservative Republican could go on voicing disagreements with McCain on his desire to shut down Guantanamo, loosen restrictions on federally funded stem-cell research and even his participation in the “Gang of 14” during the Senate showdown over Supreme Court nominees. I will spare you from monotonous lists, although I am sure that by continuing I will pique the interest of many wavering Democrats.
My conservative brethren and I now stand at a crossroads, and though the inventory of grievances with McCain is painfully long, I am loath to think that the only other options come November will be Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Conservatives throughout the country are reacting to the McCain nomination in a number of ways, some positive, many negative. In this situation, with the movement seemingly in disarray, the worst thing conservatives can do is sit out this election, or worse, vote for the Democratic nominee out of spite. Instead, Republicans must ask themselves what they believe is in America’s best interest.
The course of the country is not a joke, and media pundits like Ann Coulter do nothing but harm when, for shock value, they seek attention by advocating support for Hillary Clinton or not voting at all. A McCain presidency is better than surrendering the helm to either Clinton or Obama.
The fact that the Republican candidate is not a conservative does not mean the movement has ended. Rather, it provides an impetus for conservatives everywhere to get active and enthusiastically fight for change at the grassroots level. If the president does not fully represent the ideology, then let’s saturate our local and state governments with conservatives and elect conservatives to the House and Senate. Michelle Malkin put it well, “If you can’t stomach John McCain, channel your support and energies to Republicans who do represent your values and who have treated the conservative base as allies instead of enemies.”
All Americans have a voice — it is up to us whether or not we chose to use it. If conservatives play an active role in the various campaigns nation-wide, they can maintain a presence and continue to build and preserve the movement through and long past a McCain presidency.
Caroline May is a Will Rice College junior.
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