For conservatives with long memories, John McCain is about the worst possible Republican presidential nominee - unless, of course, anyone still thinks Mike Huckabee actually has a shot at the brass ring, or you like seeing the GOP split asunder. And the reason why can perhaps best be summed up in two words: McCain-Feingold.
Sen. McCain’s campaign finance reform bill - which he pushed relentlessly, almost to the exclusion of everything else - was a frontal attack on the right of free speech. Not commercial or pornographic free speech, mind you. Political free speech. The kind of speech the Founders clearly had in mind when they emphatically declared that Congress shall make no law abridging.
An even bigger problem is that too many Republicans actually agree with John McCain on restricting political speech. Mike Huckabee, for instance.
McCain-Feingold is a constitutional abomination. If John McCain can chuck the First Amendment overboard, no other constitutional protections would be safe under his watch either. Indeed, Sen. McCain has also gone after the Second Amendment with efforts to close the so-called “gun show loophole.” But for gun rights advocates, that was no “loophole.” It was just another chapter in the gun-grabbers never-ending quest to disarm American citizens.
Recall, also, that it was Sen. McCain who led the “Gang of 14” which undercut the GOP attempt to break Harry Reid’s filibusters of conservative judges. Many conservative judicial nominees have never received so much as the courtesy of an up-or-down vote, thanks to Sen. McCain and his band of moderate Republicans.
And then there’s the glue that holds conservatives of all stripes together - taxes. John McCain was against tax cuts before he was for them. Recall that McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts while he was a senator, but now he’s all for tax cuts as a presidential candidate. And McCain is the only remaining GOP presidential candidate to thus far refuse to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge promising not to raise taxes.
There’s also the matter of illegal immigration. No matter how many times Sen. McCain says the bill he co-sponsored with Ted Kennedy wasn’t amnesty - it was. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it ain’t no chicken.
In an effort to re-invent this history and make John McCain palatable to conservatives today, supporters are now pointing to his 82 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union (ACU). But this is extremely misleading. McCain only gets to 82 percent lifetime because he was far more conservative in his early years in Congress two decades ago than he is now. Indeed, his ACU score for 2006 was a paltry 65 percent.
True limited-government conservatives and principled Republicans will continue to oppose John McCain as the GOP’s nominee, but the senator from Arizona might nevertheless prevail. If so, I suspect even the specter of a President Hillary won’t be enough to get many conservative elephants to forget the John McCain they’ve known and vote for him in November. It could be 2006 all over again.
Republicans better be careful who they vote for. They just might get him. And by extension…HER.
Posted on January 24th, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
Hmmmm, but who is left, er , right, to vote for?
flip flopper romney
9/11 gulliani
racist anti-semite paul
…..what have we become?
Denis makes a good point. Seriously - who is there to vote for? The race is coming down to Romney or McCain - both have major flaws but what’s the alternative? Do we sit it out and let Madam President and Vice President Hussein screw things up so much that in four years we can elect someone good out of the rubble? Seriously Chuck - I get your point but what do you suggest?
Either Romney or Gulliani would be preferable to McCain. Neither is perfect, but we don’t have “perfect” running this year. We can’t just sit it out. Conservatives will not recover from Hillary’s appointment of judges.
I would not vote for Huck, he’s an evangelical John Edwards. I dislike populists who refuse to acknowledge basic economics.
McCain was in favor of too many things before he was against them.
I’m sick of being obligated to vote for the lesser leftist.
I swore I would not vote for “The lesser of two evils” again, particularly RINO’s John McPain and Rudy Gouliani.
I’m keeping that oath!
The republican party still has several months available to demonstrate that they have seen the error of their way and return to conservatism before the general election.
Some of “our” candidates are still in office, maybe they can begin demonstrating some genuine conservatism before the general election, or even next week?
With the odious choices remaining for Pres., the races for congress clearly have to take on more importance than ever.
Fortunately, it’s not too late to find more good congressional candidates.
Chuck,
It makes no difference who you vote for, government always gets in!
What will all you right-wingers do when Obama is in the White House? Well, you will benefit from finally having a progressive in the WH who will tax fairly, look out for the American people instead of special interests, executives and big business. Someone who will show some concern for the environment, the middle class, and who will try to move this government into the 21st century.