There are those who are telling me that we need an elect-able Republican to defeat Hillary in 2008. I understand that line of reasoning, I really do. I have been a faithful supporter of the GOP since before I could legally vote. I winced when I pulled the lever for Bob Dole in 96, knowing that there wasn’t a chance in Hell we would defeat Clinton. But we as conservatives are facing what could very well be the last Presidential elections where it might be possible to get a conservative President! But what do we have to choose from here? We have John McCain, who I personally believe would sell his mother’s soul for five minutes with Larry King. I refer to him as ‘hillary without the pantsuit’. He has spent the last 7 years or so undermining our efforts to protect our country. He has in the past supported Roe v. Wade, supported giving the rights only afforded to our citizens to both terrorists and illegal immigrants. He fought the efforts of the President and wanted to apply Geneva convention rules to folks that have the suicidal wish to destroy as many men, women and children as they can.
All of this he has done in the name of “fairness”. But other than that, some say, he’s a conservative! Where? How far are we to bend to find a candidate that may be conservative somewhere in his mind?What about Rudy? Do I even have to point out his liberal views on abortion, gay marriage or tax policy? Where is Rudy conservative? On defense? We spend more money every year on housing illegals in prison than we ever would on a border fence. If we continue to spend a millions in Iraq securing their nation without sealing our own borders, then that is NOT conservative. Nor is it even common sense!
Don’t get me wrong, I support the war in Iraq, I know we HAVE to win there or we will end up with a real-life 24 type disaster occurring on our soil! What about Mormon candidate Mitt Romney? He’s for abortion, universal health care, and is as far left as one can be without being a Democrat. But he is coming out against illegal immigration. Is his finger in the air testing the political ramifications of being for it? Will he do an Arnold and change his tune as soon as he is elected? How much do conservatives have to give up to get an elect-able candidate? Look at Mitt’s record!
Where else can we look? Well, Tom Tancredo has just announced his intent to run for the Republican ticket. He is a great choice for President! John Cox is a political unknown and he too is a great choice for President. Rick Santorum, I would back him any day of the week. So the choices are out there. But if the GOP does not find and nominate a true conservative as their candidate, conservatives will be faced with the option not so much of voting FOR the GOP but voting AGAINST Hillary.
With Hillary we could be looking at a re-instatement of the Fairness doctrine, ending free speech on radio and TV completely. We will be looking at numerous nations who hate the US, they know that a Democrat in power means a weaker military, a peace at all costs mentality, and they will use that to defeat us as a nation. (ala Jimmy Carter style politics)
But will we be better off electing a RINO to office? McCain would do whatever he thinks the mainstream media would like. Rudy and Romney aren’t all that different from Hillary, with Martinez running the GOP and Bush leaving us with a legacy of a war fought with more sensitivity than strategy we are looking at what seems to be the end of the GOP as the party of conservatives. We need to unite the frustrated conservatives under one banner. There are good conservatives that have their own views on the different issues and want to form political parties reflecting those different issues.
The Constitution Party wants to return our country back to the time when the candidate actually knows what the Constitution says before they take the oath to defend and protect it. The majority of the party are Christians of all stripes and from all different churches and they fervently desire a conservative country. I don't agree with all the ideas of the CP, they were very much opposed to the war in Iraq, I was not, I am not, I just believe it needs to be fought better than it is now. There is a new American Party of Florida, many of the same values as the Constitution party, with not as much emphasis on Biblical or Christian values, there are organizations dedicated to the restoration of the second amendment, others that organized to fight the government’s apathy to illegal immigration and still others that have key issues of their own. If we don’t work together to form a viable third party and work to save this country from a horrible fate, we won’t win. If we can't work out our minor differences and focus on what's important, we will be stuck with the two party system that has failed us so miserably the past several years.
Yes, we make a statement when we vote for a more conservative party that gets 10% of the vote. But if conservatives could see a candidate with their values, someone who isn’t a career politician with no experience in ‘real life’, then we CAN actually win! The left has their third parties. The Green party, the communist party, the socialist party and they always get small percentages of the vote. If we could just set aside differences and unite on the constitution, all other issues would follow behind. I am not going to recommend how you should vote as a Conservative. I understand the fear of a President Hillary or Obama, I just want to encourage you to find like-minded people and unite with them.
Because the “Other Than That, He’s a Conservative” mentality may win us one election, but it will completely unravel the relationship that the Right has had with the GOP, and it won’t be something that can be recovered from easily.