Wyoming Vote Tracker

Politics is a funny thing. At one point in time, you can be totally outraged at something, think all hope is lost, and seem pretty well determined to cast a spoiler vote against your party. I know a while back, I did that, right here on my blog. I was mad, sad, scared, concerned, worried, and on my way out the door when the Republican Party had a presumptive nominee that I DID NOT LIKE. I told myself last year that there was no way I ever could cast a vote for a particular Senator from Arizona. Thankfully, I’m a Wyoming resident, so I don’t have to worry about it a lot, except when he decides that he’s “feeling Presidential.”

You have to understand, that I was only on my way out on the national level, particularly on the Presidential ticket. On the state and local level, I was a good, strong Republican. I love most of the Republicans that are in elected positions in this state. There’s others that I tolerate until voting day. But by and large, being a Republican in this state is a pretty nifty thing.

Since February, I have been watching, observing, seeing, discussing, listening, hearing, and contemplating. My interest was piqued when Bob Barr announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party Presidential nomination. Bob Barr is of course famous in GOP circles for leading the charge against then-President Clinton in the impeachment process. There certainly seemed to be some prospect here, but there are just too many things about the Libertarian Party that I cannot latch onto. On the plus side, they have status in Wyoming as a major third party, thus they are on the ballot.

I like where the Constitution Party is coming from, but in Wyoming, they are not large enough to be recognized on the ballot. Plus, the picked the same candidate that they ran in 2004, a virtual unknown.

Meanwhile, I have been listening to Rush Limbaugh lead a bunch of willing voters into turning out the vote for Sen. Clinton, all for the sake of “keeping her alive” and “bloodying up” Sen. Obama “since our party and nominee won’t do it.” The aim was chaos in the Democrat party so that we could win in November. I have to admit, I had my doubts that there was going to be much frustration amongst the Dems. After all, Sen. Clinton has the last name she has, and there is no way that a bunch of Republicans are going to turn out and vote for a Democrat that has that last name, especially with the first name Hillary.

Over the past few months, I have been surprised. The Democrats are in total chaos, the nation is seeing them for who they are (socialist liberals that want to reinvent communism), and you know, Obama isn’t really all that tolerable to have in the White House for four years.

As the Clinton/Obama Uncivil War has raged on, I have gradually warmed to the idea of voting for Sen. McCain, not because I particularly like what he has done over the past few years, but I would sure rather have him than some guy that can say a bunch of sweet nothings and cause people to swoon and faint as if he were Benny Hinn.

Of course, about the time I started liking McCain, he would go out and say some stupid thing about how wrong it is for a state Republican Party to call Democrats Democrats, and the whole mood I was trying to create was ruined. Then Rev. Wright would go out there and utter some hatred about America, and I was back to McCain-tolerable.

Then John Hagee came out and endorsed Sen. Mccain, mainly on the basis of supporting Israel. That certainly caught my attention. National Right To Life seemed OK with Sen. McCain, and even better, NARAL can’t stand McCain, as he only has a 4% “pro-choice” voting record. And to think the Republicans for Choice thought the world of Sen. McCain back in the early part of the nomination process. What got into them? So, now he’s tolerable again.

Then, he doesn’t really like Pastor Hagee’s endorsement, because people might liken him to Obama/Wright. Never mind the fact that Pastor Hagee is not Sen. McCain’s pastor, nor has Sen. McCain been to his church, whereas Sen. Obama could have chosen a different pastor and church in the last 20 years. So, I was once again frosted. I was almost convinced that having a Democrat Socialist-Commi President was the best hope for the GOP. At least the Republicans in the Senate and House could stand up for their beliefs and not feel like they are committing mutiny against the top dog of the party. Not that I would go out and vote for either Democrat, but I was willing to go Third Party of some kind just to help keep McCain out.

Then it happened. Someone called Rush yesterday and asked about the thing that has likely been heavy on many conservative Republican hearts other than mine alone. Will Scott in Cody, WY ever find his true love? Yes, he will, but as you suspected, even if you never listen to Rush, that’s not what the caller asked! I just had to get your attention again. Here’s what he asked:

it sounds that you may have finally conceded that the Republican Party is not going to be the venue to advance conservative ideas, and so I know Obama is the messiah, but, Rush, conservatives are looking for a Moses, a Moses who will go to the Republican Party and say, “Let my people go.” Are you ready to do that?

The answer was a resounding “NO.” He went on to describe how conservatism has a home in the Republican Party, it’s just that there has been a leadership void over the last several years. This leadership void has left the gate wide-open for the liberals to rise to the top, and now McCain is our guy. However, all hope is not lost. We can rebuild. Ronald Reagan did it. He didn’t throw a fit of rage when Ford got the nod for being Veep in the prior term. He stayed in and he threw every bit of conservatism at the party he could. When the nation had it with Carter, guess who the Republicans were ready to nominate? A true, rock-ribbed conservative named Ronald Reagan.

Another thing that needs to be cleared up is party affiliation and ideology.

The Republicans could have nominated a conservative, but the field was quite weak. The open primary process in the early states played into the hands of non-conservatives, mostly McCain. So the party is merely the instrument through which we offer our positions and seek votes and then move those ideas into reality. The party is what we make it.

[…] Liberalism is what’s on the ascendancy in the Republican Party, and that will lead to defeat eventually, and that’s when we rebuild it.

The strategy we take on is not the Exodus, but rather the Trojan Horse.Who wants Sen. Obama to be promoted topt he Oval Office? I sure don’t. In time, liberalism will lose in the Republican Party. In the next couple of years, we can start getting conservatism pushed up into the positions of leadership that will lead us to a bright sunny day of victory. For now, we have to let them see that McCain’s way, even if he does win, is the strategy for long term victory.

So, today, I offer my endorsement of clothespins. It is the only way that many of us are going to be able to vote for McCain. Simply affix one clothespin on your nose when you enter the privacy of  the voting booth, and fill in the oval for John McCain and his yet-to-be-determined running mate (hopefully a conservative). Once you have made your Presidential vote, you can remove the clothespin and continue on  down the ballot. If the clothespin strategy doesn’t work, there are poll workers there that you can get assistance from. Simply have one of them come to your booth, hand them the #2 pencil, and instruct them to fill in John McCain’s oval for you , on the grounds that you just can’t get your hand to arrive at the Presidential portion of the ballot, but you do want to contribute to Sen. Obama losing.

No Comments »