Posted by
Wil on Sunday, October 19, 2008 6:59:00 PM
I am not a big fan of country music, but one of its virtues is its down home real life applicable lyrics. In todays post, I will be wading into a "little" firefight we have had here on townhall between two longtime townhall bloggers whose writings I respect but whose conclusions on the current election are far apart.
Dave writes on the Conservative in Cinncinnatti (I can't seem to spell that city right without looking it up) site. He was one of the earliest commenters on my blog and a great encouragement to keep it up. He writes prolifically with very good insights. He is coming down on the side of Kenny Rodgers.
Brian R is an outstanding writer and a natural leader of people with something of a rough edge. He writes on "A View from the Island" and often hosts rather lengthy conversations as well. He comes down on the side of Aaron Tippin.
In his song "The Gambler", Kenny writes: "You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run." In his song "Coward of the County" , he writes at the end: I promised you dad, not to do the things you done, I've walked away from trouble when I can. Please don't think I'm weak, I couldn't turn the other cheek. Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man." Both of these songs extol the virtue of choosing your battles, of standing when standing is necessary, and compromising when compromising does the greatest good. Dave (and many others around here) were not early McCain supporters. They became McCain supporters because they see this as a time when the differences between the parties mean more than the differences they have with McCain. They see 65 to 80% conservative (depending on whose numbers you use) as better than 5 to 10% conservative. They see the next four years as too important to throw under the bus in the hopes that a "new Reagan" will arise from the ashes of the "new Jimmy Carter". Unlike 1976, the Democratic party is militant in its determination to destroy the family, socialize every aspect of American life, and remove all American Exceptionalism, making America over in the image of enlightened agnostic and socialist France and Germany. While in 76 elites in the party believed in this vision, there were too many union and interest group Democrats who would oppose such extremism. Today, union members like Joe the Plumber are constituents to be bought, no longer with the power of influence. The true influence in the party lies in San Francisco, Hollywood, New York, and Ivy League campuses spread throughout New England. They feel that the Democratic Party has moved so far left, that even a pathetic RINO is better than unchecked leftists. At least the RINO ought to block some of the extreme agenda, and since McCain picked Palin, a more legitimate conservative to many of us, they see a hope that a voice of Conservatism will have some place in McCains White House and in the future of the party. In other words, this is not time to walk away from the party, its time to hold your cards, and play out the hand you were dealt.
In his song, Aaron Tippin sings: "You gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything. You've got to be your own man, not a puppet on a string. Never compromise what's right, and uphold your family name. You've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything." Brian has said Romney was as far as he could go in the compromise direction. McCain has thumbed conservatives in the eye on McCain/Feingold, McCain/Kennedy, McCain/Lieberman.....over and over he has betrayed the principles of conservatism in the name of compromise, to the point where he has no conservative principles. He in fact "stands for nothing". While he over a lifetime is conservative in a relative sense, he has been drifting leftwards for years, especially the last 10 or so. He will not only choose not to stand for any conservative ideals, he will tarnish the R behind his name with RINO policies that will fail, that will equal the leftward drift of Obama but will do so under the flag of Republican so when the liberal ideals fail as liberal ideas almost always do, Republicans will still be the target of the masses anger and resentment. These people believe that you have to suffer the purging of a Goldwater defeat and the cleansing of a Ford fall to reap the glories of a Reagan Revolution. They believe either that the harm Obama and a liberal congress can do is little worse than McCain and a liberal congress, or they believe that the pain of this will so anger the masses, that a real Republican revolution can occur in 2010, 2012, and beyond and short term pain is worth it for the long term gain. They believe that until the RINO wing of the party is resoundly defeated, the Conservative wing will always be marginalized.
And these two sides of the conservative movement are so invested in their strategies, so sure of their rightness, they can barely speak without "a negative tone". I will post on that in a minute......I find Powells assertion that McCains negative tone is the problem to be ridiculous beyond belief. I have been back and forth for a long time. I have thought as I see Schwartzenegger destroy California with the liberal assembly in ways Gray Davis never would have dared that maybe this is the tipping point and I need to stand against compromised principles. But then I hear Obama say to Joe the Plumber how important it is to redistribute wealth and realize who we are facing here. I see McCain talk about Democrats in his cabinet and think "no way". But then I hear Obama supporters and Pelosi and the plans they have and think.....Amnesty and Campaign Finance Reform are horrible, but what about the fairness doctrine a massive single payer health care bureocracy, a UN mandated foreign policy and trying to end the 2nd amendment? The desires of the far left make the bad bills McCain has signed seem minor to me. I have to come down on the side of compromise. I have to vote for McCain because the alternative scares me so much. Does that make me weak? Maybe. Does it make me unprincipled? Absolutley not, any more than Jefferson and Adams were unprincipled because for years they wanted to work within the British system rather than scream from the rooftops with Patrick Henry stirring phrases like "Give me liberty or give me death", and "If this be treason, make the most of it". They came to a tipping point where they say independence as the only viable option. I may eventually reach that tipping point with the Republican party, but I am not there yet.
I can say that some individuals in the party, I can't support. If I lived in Oregon, I would be voting third party in the Senate race, even if it gave the Dems their 60th senator. Gordon Smith has strayed from a solid conservative at the State level to a liberal after 2 terms in Washington, and though the third party guy is anti Iraq, so is Smith, and the third guy seems more conservative on other issues. I can say if the law was changed and Schwartzenegger ran for President, I would never vote for him again, and if he runs against Feinstein or Boxer, despite my desire to see them removed, I will vote third party given that option.
But in most cases, hardline conservatives will be marginalized whether they lead the party or whether they abandon it. I was not around in 1964, so correct me if I am wrong, but the Goldwater nomination was a response to "RINOs" of the Eisenhower/Nixon years and compromise on too many New Deal residuals to suit the conservative wing of the party. The Goldwater Republicans were the coming out party for Reagan but were so far to the right, that they led to LBJ in 64 with huge majorities that rubber stamped the Great Society, boondoggles far worse than the New Deal that we are still paying for today. The Goldwater years were followed by 3 straight RINO tickets in 68, 72, and 76 before they led to Reagan. Are we ready for 4 years like the 64-68 era followed by 12 more years of moderate ascendancy all in hopes that we might get another 1980? Because if Democrats sweep all three places, I see 1964, not 1976. And as bad as Carter was, that is far far worse considering how far left of LBJ we see BHO.
Did I articulate the arguements correctly? Did I state something wrong that anyone I am speaking for disagrees with? Feel free to correct me. I may not be around much between now and the election, but even if I don't have time to respond, I still receive the comments.