The American Spectator

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Fun in the Sun

7.15.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 6)

Sadly, those using similar magical thinking hoping for a Republican/conservative backlash in 2012 are just as deluded. Democrats and their radical base have learned the hard lessons of being out of power and they plan with Obama in the White House to cement their grip on the Federal government. With the help of paleocons and "liberalterians" eager to destroy the election winning Reagan/Bush coalition its possible Democrats will surpass even their haughty dreams and dominate US politics for this century.

If the prospects of an Obama Presidency weren't so frightening I'd wish those who've done so much on the right to undermine the GOP and this country got what they'd deserved -- Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Fortunately, I'm not that stupid and will do what I can with contributions and my vote to forestall liberal dominance in the US, but you could hardly expect less from someone who wants to keep the nation sailing on the course Ronald Reagan charted over a quarter century ago.
-- Michael Tomlinson
Jacksonville, North Carolina

Robert Stacy McCain hit the nail on the head today when he penned:

"Some conservatives (not all of them young intellectuals) actually dread a John McCain victory as an unmerited ratification of the GOP's abandonment of principle. They believe Republicans "deserve to get their [rear ends] kicked," as the veteran communications operative told me last week."

Therein lies the rub for conservatives; a McCain victory has the potential of finishing the job which began back in 1989 when Bush 41 was inaugurated. No one wishes for defeat; political defeat gains conservatives nothing. Yet, the GOP is represented at the top by a Senator who spent darn near a decade battling conservatives and or conservative-libertarians. As one conservative put it, "If I'm going to have a liberal as President, it might as well be a Democrat.

There are actually two elections going on: the Presidential Elections as mandated by our Constitution, and an election for the future of the GOP. The leadership at the top of the GOP has been conducting a running war with conservatives ever since Reagan left office. The GOP tide which had been rising since 1978 really didn't peak until the 1994 mid-terms. In hindsight, one could even spot trouble back then as moderates, Beltway Insiders, and the GOP establishment set-up shop and axed many of the reforms that were percolating from the grass-roots. By 2000, the momentum was gone, and the party nominated a "Compassionate Conservative." But President Bush wasn't all that different from his father. The implosion came less than 6 months after his second term began. Party corruption, an unquenchable hunger for taxpayer's money, and a lack of a governing philosophy, hollowed out a party that is now in major decline. John McCain, like President Bush, is a decent man, but he is also part and parcel of the problem. The GOP, on the national level, is still the party of centralized government. When push comes to shove, McCain as President will sit down and hammer out another No Child Left Behind Act, or another Amnesty bill, or nominate another Souter or Kennedy to the High Court. He will continue to pull the rug out from under conservatives like the current President or the President's father.

Conservatives, in short can say: been-there, done-that. We came out in large numbers in 2002 and 2004 to give a Compassionate Conservative the political support he needed to complete the Iraqi War, and to enact a rather modest domestic agenda, Six years later, the GOP lies in tatters. We are fully cognizant of the potential mischief an Obama Presidency with a governing majority can do. We also do not believe that a replay of the 1976-1980 years are not about to happen (Where the Democratic policies lead to an unexpected GOP resurgence -- there is no Gipper in the wings). A defeat would have one and only one benefit; it would give the party time to think long and hard about its core governing philosophy. Without that core, all political efforts are tactical and not strategic (something, the Democrats will soon learn). The social, political, and economic pathologies of our massive centralized government are so large as to take up several volumes. If conservatives cannot convince its own party of another road less traveled, where personal liberty is its mantle piece, then our problems are much worse than imagined.
-- JP
Indiana

Mr. McCain just gave me one more reason to vote for Sen. McCain. Yes, it would be fun to watch the Dems all in a huff on Nov. 5th when their charismatic leader gets shot down. I've long held the belief, the hope, that Obama will show his true colors and be shot down hard for the elitist liberal that he is. And while I think that Sen. McCain has a chance in this election, it is Sen. Obama's to lose. He's the favorite in many, many ways.

A lot of people have said the Sen. McCain was the best nominee to win for the Republicans this year. That might just be true, and with the choices we had during the primaries, he was the best choice to win. But what the Republicans need more than anything is someone who can unite the conservative and libertarian messages into a solid platform and drive the cause into the White House.
-- Charles Campbell
Austin, Texas

The mood concerning McCain's chance of winning is beginning to turn his way. But Republican chances in the House and Senate still appear dismal. This will change too because Democrats in Congress have revealed that they want energy prices to go higher. Their quest is to turn away from carbon and go toward alternative energy, thus slowing the pace of industrialization which would bring higher gas and energy prices and tank the economy. Democrat leaders refuse to bring the issue of new drilling off shore, on shore, Alaska (ANWR), and shale oil in the West to a vote because they know it would pass. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, went so far as to state that he wanted to save all of us ignorants from oil that makes us sick.

In the 2006 Congressional elections many Democrats in Red states ran and won as Conservatives, taking control of the House and Senate. But when they got to Congress, they voted with the Democrat liberal leadership. Many of these voters did not foresee that higher energy prices would result and that sacrifice for the many would become the Democrat's credo.

Voters will find a clear choice, drill and conserve with Republicans or sacrifice with Democrats. For what? Jimmy Carter gave voters the same choice in 1980. The answer will be the same in 2008.
-- Howard Lohmuller
Seabrook, Texas

R.S. McCain misapprehends the despair felt by voters like myself. It has nothing to do with some amorphous Republican ennui. It has nothing to do with Obama or McCain (the elder, not the writer). It has to do with the very nature of conservatism.

You see, Mr. Cain (the writer not the elder), there are no conservatives in evidence now. There are many Republicans scurrying around trying to hang on to the best part time job in the world -- an elected official in DC. But none of them is conservative.

At best, is John McCain ( I'm not doing that again) who at best would have been to the left of Scoop Jackson and not far right from the Elder Dodd from Connecticut. Today's Republicans are the watered down version of yesterday's conservative democrats, NOT conservatives.

Letter to the Editor

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