Blah, Blah, Blah...Less Spending. Blah, Blah, Blah...Judges.
Seriously, I'm supposed to support John McCain? Really? What exactly do I owe him?
The Senator pays lip service to the areas where we agree. He promises to toe the line on judges and taxes, but he has consistently demonstrated an eagerness to stick it to the party's base whenever it suits him. The only promise I expect him to keep as President is staying in Iraq forever and ever. And I suppose that if he feels the need to raise taxes in support of unending war spending, he will do it.
The strength of the Republican Party is derived from its conservative base. Moderates represent many branches of the Party, but they all draw their sustenance from the roots. One can cut a branch from the tree and survive. But to cut out a root weakens the whole tree.
I am not going to fall in line and cast a vote for John McCain. I am not going to move to the middle in support of his positions simply because the Democratic candidate presents a "worse" alternative.
The Senator from Arizona tells me he's going to unify the party and win the Presidency. He says it as though it's the natural order of things. He seems to think that the political realities of the day favor his ultimate ascendancy. He is wrong because he mistakes my firm political loyalties for his malleable ones.
Here's some straight talk for the Senator. My vote does not belong to him simply because he is the default candidate. It does not belong to him any more than it belonged to Bob Dole in 1996 or to George H. W. Bush in 1992. He has never earned my vote. And his speech at CPAC did not earn it today.
