The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 10)

br> -- A. C. Santore /p>

Despite not wishing conservatives well, except perhaps fiscal conservatives, I am in agreement with Mr. Hillyer's unfavorable assessment of John McCain. As president, McCain would surely demonstrate a misguided self-confidence on par with George W. Bush, with the potential for additional damage due to his bad temper, which can be observed simmering even in friendly interviews. Mr. Hillyer's proposal may in fact be one of the few last-ditch strategies available to pit a desirable conservative candidate against Obama or Clinton.

p>That said, I am flabbergasted to see Dick Cheney mentioned as a compromise alternative to John McCain or Mike Huckabee. Cheney, at this stage in his career, has "kiss of death" written all over him, and I'm not referring to his heart condition. The general public perception of Cheney is that he's the brains behind most of the bad ideas of the Bush administration. How did neoconservatism become the rage? Why was Donald Rumsfeld not removed sooner as Secretary of Defense? Cheney is also a symbol of the excessive secrecy of an administration that repeatedly made poor decisions. If Dick Cheney won the Republican nomination, the Democrats could save their money and stop campaigning -- and win the presidency by one of the largest landslides in American history. br> -- Paul Dorell br> Evanston, Illinois /p>

While Mr. Hillyer's suggestion that conservatives run as favorite sons in their home states is intriguing and good old fashioned politics I'm afraid it will be a no go despite deep reservations conservatives in Congress might have about John McCain. Having been pilloried for 3 years by self-described conservative "elites" and much of the conservative base Congressional Republicans will be hesitant to throw themselves on the favorite son grenade for such a fickle group. For that matter why would they risk handing the Presidency to Democrats for those that did the Democrat's dirty work for them in 2006 and kicked the momentum out of the GOP. Those in our ranks who have worked to undermine President Bush's conservative administration (he has governed to the right of Reagan on taxes, pro-life issues, fighting terrorism, Supreme Court justices, Social Security reform, spending, deficits, party building and is even to the right of the Gipper on the issue of illegal aliens) made the McCain and even the "purple dog's" campaign inevitable.

Conservatives because of the self-inflicted crackup of 2005 (it never was a crack down Rush) find themselves going into a Presidential election with a moderate at the helm of what is still the conservative party in the US. Instead of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in November conservatives in Congress should make it clear to McCain if elected he will not get a free ride for his extremist views on the environment, guns, taxes and immigration. They should also make it clear that if he strays from George W Bush's example of nominating only Constitutionalists to the Supreme Court they will filibuster his nominations. On taxes voting against a tax increase after 8 years of George W Bush should be party dogma. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have shown through their leadership skills how a minority can frustrate even a radical and determined majority. The same could be true for a maverick or out of control McCain Presidency.

p>A McCain Presidency will probably be a four-year caretaker Presidency much like Bill Clinton's do nothing administration. If he can continue to prosecute the war against Islamic imperialism, end earmarks and basically enjoying being President without screwing everything up this will be an opportunity for conservative Turks to begin looking at 2012. Of course, the future success of the conservative movement hinges on conservatives, who have done so much damage to the movement, embrace the pragmatic Ronald Reagan and lay aside the myths they've created to promote their own agendas. Maybe that's too much to ask, but unless it is done the conservative movement will be in a self-inflicted political coma of irrelevance for some time to come. br> -- Michael Tomlinson br> Jacksonville, North Carolina

topics:
Taxes, Transportation, John McCain, John Boehner, Bill Clinton, Earmarks, Social Security, Islam, Environment, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Military, NATO, Conservatism, Neoconservatism, Immigration, Oil