Wednesday, February 06, 2008

No to McCain


http://instapundit.com/archives2/014970.php
Instapundit publishes a comment from Bill Whittle:

I am not impugning anyone's motives. I believe I have a reasonable understanding of principled behavior. But if your goal is to see the country punished because---

You can stop right there. If your goal is to see America punished, and her people open to attack and/or ruined financially in order to prove a point for any reason, then you do not deserve politial power nor are you likely to achieve it. A party is a compact. It is, essentially, a pleage of mutual support. As a matter of fact, it's nothing more or less than a promise.

A political party is a series of personal compromises in order to achieve a goal unattainable by the perfect political party: one's own self. If McCain is the legal and lawfully selected nominee, and Republicans decide to walk away from their party in droves, what makes them think they will be able to count on those who, you know, actually went out and voted Republican either joyfully or through clenched teeth, in order to prevent The Deluge?

There seems to be a major misunderstanding among some Republican loyalists about the opposition to McCain.  First, let's get this straight:  I'm a conservative who happens to be a Republican because the party of Reagan was closest to my views.  The party doesn't own me.  If they don't work for conservative causes and govern as conservatives, then they will lose my vote.  I supported Bush even when he slapped me in the face with his compassionate policies on prescription drugs and amnesty for illegal aliens because the war on terror was the most important issue for me.  Perhaps, it's better to say that Bush had the right enemies, even if he didn't always have the right policies.  John McCain has the wrong enemies (conservatives) and the wrong friends (Feingold, Kennedy, etc.), and he'll still have the wrong policies.  So if the Republicans want him as their candidate, I no longer want them as my party.  I can't win either way so why support the guy who hates me for who I am?  We survived four years with Jimmy Carter, which lead to Ronald Reagan's historic victory.  I think we can manage with Hillary or Obama for a term while we regroup.  A McCain failure will do more good for the country in the long run than his victory would.

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