Former state senate Republican leader Mark Hillman, an indisputable and articulate conservative, as well as a respected friend, has written a piece for Backbone America titled “If Principles Matter, So Does McCain.” Follow the link to follow his reasoning, but most notable is his conclusion:
Conservatives generally recognize short-sighted self-indulgence when practiced by others. Now many conservatives are in danger of practicing a suicidal self-indulgence of their own.
We must put aside self-pity and frustration and do what we always have done: choose the right and responsible course for our country.
If instead we purposefully withhold our votes to gratify our personal pride and prejudice, the surrendered freedoms, suffocating tax burdens, and national insecurity that result will be as much our responsibility as that of those we “helped†to elect.
Readers should thank Mark for the clear and forceful voice of reason he has presented. Like me, he hasn’t been an enthusiastic McCain supporter. He was pulling for Romney on caucus night like most Colorado Republicans. But times have changed, and the smart and mature approach is to get behind McCain for President.
It’s a temptin’ proposal thar, t’ be sure, Ben. But I thank I won’t have any. Thar’s a skool-a thot out thar sez th’ best thang that cud happen to conservatism is for Juan Mequeno to git beat. Cuz thin conservatism will have th’ kind of “come-ta Jesus” meetin’ it needs-ta have, if’n it’s ever-ta return to conservative principles. And it is all ’bout principles, as ye say here, right?
A Mequeno preseedincy wud mean an even worse waterin’ down of conservatism; a definite pull t’ th’ left, when we oughter be a’goin’ right.
Yep, shore enuf we’ll have-ta suffer the ill effects of a fool librul preseedincy, but we’ve lived thru ’em before. Better to trust God thin Mequeno, seems-ta me.
I wrote some ’bout all-iss not to long ago: http://coloradoconfederatarian.squarespace.com/journal/2008/2/20/wake-up-colorader-yir-liberty-n-yir-property-n-yir-sovrignty.html . In-att thar blog entry, I quoted a commint made by th’ late Roman Catholic classics skolar ‘n cultur’ warrior John Senior. Upon bein’ told in November-a 1980 that Reagan was beating Carter in a landslide, ole John replied, “Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping Carter might win. At this point in time it would be more dignified to be killed in the collapse than nibbled to death by ducks.”
We losin’ our liberties n’ our constitushnul integrity under the GOP jus’ as much as under the Dems. We jus’ losin’ ’em more slowly under the GOP. I thank-att wuz Senior’s point, anyhow.
Anyhow, they devoted a bit of space to Mequeno over at the LoS blog. This is how Southern conservatives pursue true conservative principles: http://leagueofthesouth.net/rebellion/index.php/site/comments/no_room_for_bigots_xenophobes_or_racists/
Hillman’s argument makes more sense. You can place your faith in the dim possibility that an abstract, multifaceted conservatism will reunite itself with its own principles, however that’s supposed to happen.
If John Senior had had his way, we may today have had a very small, pure, and active conservative movement complaining loudly about Soviet communism. Pessimism only gets you so far.
Ultimately, though, I don’t see how the conservative movement – or more importantly, our nation – will be better off with Obama than McCain. I’ll allow you to explain that one, remembering, of course, that we may not always be living in “the best of all possible worlds.”