American Elephants

I’ve been reading and hearing a great deal of conservatives saying they won’t vote for John McCain. Ann Coulter, James Dobson, Rick Santorum, radio hosts, their callers and many of my fellow bloggers have expressed their intentions to collect up all their marbles and go home.

I understand the sentiment, but it’s dangerously wrong.

John McCain is not my first choice for the Republican nomination. He is not my second, third, fourth or even tenth choice for the nomination, but unfortunately, I don’t control who throws their name in the hat.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference.”

Nor, in the end, do I control who makes it to the general election.

Rudy Giuliani was my man, but even now that he has left the race and endorsed McCain, I will still not be voting for John McCain in our primary next week. I’ll be filling in my little bubble for Mitt Romney… not that I think he is the ideal candidate either, I’ve criticized him heavily in the past for his appearance of pandering and seeming insincerity.

Nanny Huckabee is even worse. He has proved beyond a doubt these past couple weeks, and yesterday in particular, that he is every bit the sleazy, slimy, corrupt, mean-spirited, big-government, rat-bastard that his record, his ethics troubles, and those who have worked with and for him have said he is. There can be no doubt after yesterday’s shenanigans in West Virginia, that he has struck a deal with McCain and is staying in the race only as a spoiler to Romney.

Now some have suggested he has made a deal to become McCain’s running mate. I don’t trust the Huckster as far as I can spit, and I have never before experienced a ticket that would pain me more to vote for….

However I will vote for the Republican ticket, even if it is John McCain and the Huckster, and I strongly suggest everyone hold their noses, get a little drunk if necessary and do the same. Elections are not popularity contests we hold every four years — they have very real, very nation-changing consequences.

If Democrats win the presidency, and hold onto or increase their majorities in congress (as seems likely):

1. they WILL nationalize and destroy the healthcare industry. And can anyone point out an entitlement program that once started was ever ended? There will be no going back. Ever.
2. they WILL pull out of Iraq. If you are not aware why this would be an unmitigated disaster on all fronts, let me know, I will be happy to expound.
3. they WILL appoint anywhere from 2 to as many as 5 youthful Ruth Bader Ginsburgs to the SCOTUS and pack the appellate courts to bursting with same. They could very well shift the balance of the Supreme court back to the left for generations to come. (A Republican president, even a President McCain on the other hand could ensure the court becomes even more conservative and remains that way for the next 40 years.)
4. they WILL extend many if not all constitutional protections to terrorists.
5. they WILL shrink the military and do extraordinary damage to it, to the intelligence community, and to homeland security.
6. they WILL pass amnesty and weaken border security. They want illegal immigrants in America and they want them voting.
7. they WILL reinstate the fairness doctrine to silence dissent, but only for talk radio. There will be no fairness doctrine for the liberal media.
8. they WILL, as their top priority, pass whatever legislation they can to ensure they never, ever, ever, ever end up in the minority again. (Think: amnesty, motor voter, fairness doctrine, nationwide absentee ballots, nationwide extended voting, making it illegal to ask for voter ID, etc, etc)… does another 40 years in the minority sound appealing to anyone?
9. the WILL commit America to Kyoto and any other number of international treaties designed by our competitors to cripple our economy, and it will have just such an effect. As Bill Clinton accidentally let slip, “We have to slow down the economy.”
10. they WILL allow the Bush tax-cuts to expire, increase taxes on top of that, and drastically increase regulation driving business of all sizes out of business and overseas.
11. they WILL make energy extraordinarily more expensive both intentionally through additional gas taxes, energy company taxes and regulations, and unwittingly through all the “green” crap they want to pull from outlawing light bulbs, to Kyoto, to dangerous foreign policy.
12. the economy is in very uncertain territory. It can be turned around, but Democrats WILL devastate it.

These are not just possibilities. With a strong majority in the house, a majority in the senate and approximately 10 RINO Republicans, a large number of Republican retirements, and a greater number of Republicans up for re-election, it is very, very likely that Democrats will gain strong enough majorities to ram almost anything they want through congress. These are all at the top of their agenda.

I understand the temptations to gather up all your marbles and go home when you don’t get most of what you want. John McCain is a media suck-up and compromises conservative principles far too much. I can think of very few Republicans I would support less than Nanny Huckabee.

But if the only choice I am given is to see all 12 of those things come to fruition, or only half of them, then I know what I must do. Vote and yes, even campaign for the lesser of two evils.

In 230 years, there has been only one Ronald Reagan. There have been very few “great” presidents. Some conservatives are behaving as though they are entitled to one every 4 years.

Democrats have been extremely successful in pushing this nation further and further into socialism because when they cannot make large gains, they are content to make incremental gains. They stand poised to make huge gains. Imagine the damage Democrats can do to this country in just 2 years if they have strong majorities in congress and the White House. Conservatives, conversely, seem only willing to settle for the whole enchilada. They aren’t content to make gains when they can, and hold the line when they can’t. No, many on the right seem to want the whole bag of marbles, or nothing at all.

THAT needs to stop. THAT is how we will lose our country.