Stop GOP Implosion!
John Gaver
February 22, 2008
Now that John McCain has virtually cinched the Republican presidential nomination, real conservatives must search their souls. We must ask ourselves if we really should vote Republican, even when it's clear that the GOP presidential candidate is not only a Republican In Name Only (RINO), but even more dangerous than either of the Democrats.
To answer this question, we must look at more than just the office of President. We must look at Congress.
In particular, we must look at how the Republicans in Congress have responded, in the recent past, to liberal initiatives proposed by both Democrat and Republican presidents. I say "liberal" initiatives, because John McCain is after all, a liberal.
McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts twice, he voted against the Marriage Amendment, he cast the deciding "No" vote on drilling in the Anwar, he has a Gun Owners of America rating of "F-" (the same as Hillary's and lower than Obama's), he helped form the "Gang of 14", to block Bush's conservative judges, he wants to close the Guantanamo terrorist detention facility and give terrorists access to our courts and the list goes on and on and on...
This is why we look at how congressional Republicans have responded to liberal initiatives from the Whitehouse.
First, I will refer you to the Bill Clinton presidency. Clinton pushed hard to the left and what happened? The Republicans in Congress pushed back. The voters gave the GOP the first solid majority that they had seen in 100 years. The Republicans in Congress blocked Clinton's budget and forced Clinton to negotiate. They blocked Hillary-Care. They kept the pressure on Clinton for eight years, without a single let up. We didn't make much progress, but we didn't lose much either.
Now, let us consider the presidency of George W. Bush. First, he crammed the Patriot Act full of dozens of pieces of anti-privacy, big-government legislation that had absolutely nothing to do with fighting terrorism and then bullied the Republicans in Congress into voting for it, calling anyone who voted against it, "unpatriotic." Since there were some parts of that ominous bill that actually did have something to do with fighting terrorism, he got away with it. Only one Republican congressman had the nerve to vote against it.
But, you must ask yourself if all those congressional Republicans would have so obediently fallen in line, had that exact same bill come from a President Clinton, Kerry or Gore. The answer is a resounding "NO!" Before passing the Patriot Act, congressional Republicans would have stripped out half of what ended up being passed, as being irrelevant to fighting terrorism and subverting the rights of US citizens.
Bush also repeatedly pushed Amnesty for illegal aliens and bullied more than a few Republicans into supporting his Amnesty proposal (note that John McCain didn't need to be bullied on this particular issue, as he has been a long-time vocal advocate of Amnesty). Time and again, Bush pushed liberal issues past our Republicans in Congress, because they were afraid to anger the party leader, lest they lose party support in their next election. Then, consider that Bush was a "nice guy."
Now, look at McCain. To begin with, it is well known that his personality is built on a foundation of rage. He is not anywhere close to being a "nice guy." Those few Republican congressmen and senators, who stood up to Bush, would cower in fear, under the well known "McCain Rage." All of McCain's liberal initiatives would sail through Congress, with Democrats giddily voting for them and groveling Republicans voting for them in fear. And, it would be Republicans who got the blame, when those initiatives ultimately failed.
Contrast that with how the Republicans would treat the exact same liberal initiatives, were they to come from a Democrat president, such as Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Congressional Republicans would fight them every step of the way. It would mean four years of no conservative progress. But, if McCain were to be elected, it would mean four years of conservative decline and initiatives whose failures would ultimately be blamed on Republicans. It would mean four years of liberal judges, who Republicans in Congress would be afraid not to confirm. It would mean the total implosion of the GOP.
After two years of Obama or Clinton, we would see a recovery of the GOP majority in Congress, just as we saw, when Bill Clinton was president and we would be able to elect a REAL Republican in two more years. Our party would recover.
But, with John McCain in the Whitehouse, people would lose faith in the GOP and may even look to form a truly conservative third party. The GOP would deteriorate and it would likely be another hundred years, before our grandchildren might see a resurgence of the Republican Party. We would be pushed back to a position worse than before the Reagan Revolution.
I don't see any way that McCain won't be the GOP nominee.
Therefore, in order to save the Republican Party from complete and utter implosion, ActionAmerica.org is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president in 2008 (OUCH! That hurt!). She is a vile, wicked shrew. But, she is more conservative than McCain and what's more important, is that she is a Democrat, who congressional Republicans will steadfastly fight on her liberal initiatives and liberal judges. McCain's judges would be just as bad as Hillary's, but congressional Republicans would fight hers. It's all about keeping the GOP intact.
If, as it appears may happen, Obama wins the Democrat nomination, we will have to support him. He is not only a Democrat, who congressional Republicans would fight, but he is a novice, with no accomplishments, who could be easily played. So, although he is more liberal than Hillary, he would be ineffective, so it wouldn't matter. What more could Republicans ask of a Democrat president?
Either way, it would mean little or no conservative progress for four years. If McCain were to be elected president, it would mean a loss of recent conservative gains and the implosion of the GOP.
ActionAmerica.org endorses Hillary Clinton for President in 2008.
(Now I have to go shower, because just writing that makes me feel dirty. But at least, it's not as dirty as I would feel had we endorsed McCain.)