Although we're several months out from the General Election, there is a great divide amongst conservative voters who are traditionally solid for Republicans. The presumptive party nominee, John McCain, seems to be out to alienate these conservatives at every turn with his track record of support for decidedly un-conservative legislation (McCain-Feingold being the biggest), as well as things like fetal stem-cell research, and so-called "Global Warming". Not to mention his currying favor with leftists of all stripes (like LaRaza). Influential conservative leaders like Dr. James Dobson are so far refusing to endorse McCain, and McCain is refusing to meet with them to try and sway their thinking.
These disgruntled conservatives are more and more willing to either not vote, or vote for third-party candidates that are more in line with their conservative views. These conservatives are a major voting bloc, and presumably ones that a serious Presidential contender would not want to lose in what promises to be a close race in the fall. Yet this does not seem to concern McCain.
So the question for these conservatives becomes one of taking their votes away from McCain by voting for a third party, voting for the Democrat nominee, or not voting at all. Or voting for McCain and hoping a better candidate comes along in 2012.
My own decision making is coming down to this question: which of these three bad candidates will do the least amount of damage over the next four years?
I must say that I am extremely resentful at having to vote this way. I want a candidate I can be for, that I can support without any hesitation, and that I can be passionate about as I discuss the issues in the election. I haven't had that since 1984. I thought I had it at the time in 2000, but events have proved that not to be the case. And now I have a candidate that is even worse than George W. Bush in 2004.
After that election I swore to myself that I wouldn't be put into that position again - having to vote for a candidate that I so disliked and disagreed with on most points, just because the alternative was to vote for a slimy, traitorous, disgusting, crooked, dimwit like John Kerry.
Well here I am four years later and I am in the same quandry. The Democrats give me evil from the pit of hell regardless of who wins their nomination, while the Republicans offer me "evil lite" - one that is only slightly more to the right than the Democrat. A vote for a Libertarian, or a Constitution Party candidate can be viewed as a wasted vote, even though their positions are much closer to my own views than those of McCain, because they have no chance of winning anything.
So as I said, I have to decide which candidate will do the least harm to the issues I care about: the Constitution, the economy, and abortion.
The Constitutional issues for me distill down to a couple of points: Judicial nominees, and the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd guards all the other rights recognized by the Constitution, and gives free citizens of the Republic the final safeguards over their own liberties and a counter to those who would try to take them away. You can't have any of the others without the 2nd. If McCain will follow through on his statements to appoint Strict Constructionalist justices (like Scalia and Alito) to the court, I will feel like I got my votes worth with him. As it turns out, this is the exact
reason I voted for GWB in 2004, and he has gotten to appoint 2 justices who have turned out to be pretty good choices (although Harriet Myers just made me want to, well, spit).
The same situation presents itself now as it did in 2004: whoever is elected will likely appoint 2 justices to the Supreme Court, and that decision will affect the landscape of the Republic for decades to come. I can't in good conscience cast any vote that will put either Clinton or Obama into a position to make those choices.
Of course, if the Republicans so fumble the race this year that they end up losing more seats in Congress and getting 2/3rd majorities in both houses, this will become a moot point, as the Democrats will never allow a Scalia or Alito through the nomination process, and McCain will have to appoint a moderate at the very least. The special elections that have been held this year in normally safe Republican districts have all turned out disastrously for them, and I have no confidence in their ability to change their direction, because their leadership is spineless and weak.
It doesn't look good for a party that 8 years ago held control of the Presidency and both Houses of Congress. They have squandered it all and have very little to show for it.
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