A Protest vote for Thompson or Romney?
Maybe because I had resigned myself to the prospect of John McCain as the GOP nominee that I had been leaning toward voting for him in next week’s GOP primary. I had reflected on his record and while I was often disappointed with his zeal to compromise with Democrats on domestic issues, I was impressed with his steadfast stance in the War on Terror. He never backed down from support of the Iraq War even when the Administration failed to implement a successful strategy for victory.
Unlike Ms. Hillary who has taken every position under the sun on Iraq, well, that is, every position designed to appeal to the particular audience she needs wins over to gain political favor (without offending people may need later on), John McCain has been unwavering.
Believing as I (and others on the right) do “that the war on terror is the #1 overriding issue of this campaign,” I much prefer John McCain as Commander-in-Chief to his inconstant Democratic colleague from the Empire State.
But, like Mona Charen (in the observation I quoted earlier), just as I “take a step in his direction, I am reminded of some other apostasy.”
John McCain provided an example of such apostasy in the debate Wednesday night at the Reagan Library. While I missed the debate, I did read about it extensively online. It was interesting to be reading about it not to see how my candidate had done, but to figure out which one to support.
In a move which blogger Bruce Kessler called “not becoming,” McCain continued to misrepresent Romney’s record, claiming the former Bay State governor favored timetables for withdrawal from Iraq. The Arizona Senator also suggested Wall Street greed was responsible for the subprime crisis. But, as Glenn Reynolds shows in this post, it seems the problem there has as much do with lax supervision of home loans than anything else. In so doing, as John O’Sullivan put it, the GOP fronrunner undercut “a whole raft of potential GOP appeals.“
Although he does look presidential, Mitt Romney has not won me over. He does have some good ideas, but delivers them more as an executive offering a PowerPoint presentation to reshape corporate strategy than a leader presenting his vision to inspire a nation. He may be smart and support conservative ideas, but is, as Roger L. Simon put it, rather “bland.” If he can’t excite the base in this campaign, how can he excite the base (and then some) in the fall campaign?
That said, if in the next few days, John McCain continues to thumb his nose at the party — and some of its ideas — I will vote next week for Romney (or Fred Thompson) as kind of a protest vote, a signal to the frontrunner that I believe he is taking conservative ideas — and his party’s conservative base — for granted. Of course, my vote won’t make much of a difference unless others do the same.
I still haven’t made up about my mind as to how I’ll vote.
If John McCain wants to rally the base, something he’ll need to do to win in November, he must show more grace in confronting his Republican opponents and more respect for conservative ideas.
9 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
“Believing as I (and others on the right) do “that the war on terror is the #1 overriding issue of this campaign,” I much prefer John McCain as Commander-in-Chief to his inconstant Democratic colleague from the Empire State.”
The overriding issue of this campaign, or any campaign, should be fealty to the US Constitution. McCain fails that litmus test, hands down. Only Paul, and to a lesser extent Thompson, are conservatives that have shown any adherence to the concepts of federalism, liberty, and the free-market. As Thompson is out, it is clear what candidate those that still hold the US Constitution to be sacrosanct must vote for.
Comment by Crow — February 1, 2008 @ 1:05 pm - February 1, 2008
The way I look at is McCain has screwed me several times in the past, has done it badly, is still proud of his performance and then calls me just a “friend” every time I see him.
It’s time to let someone else have a go at it. Romney…You’re up.
*Sorry Y’all - Had misposted that in the wrong comments section before*
Comment by PatriotPartner — February 1, 2008 @ 1:14 pm - February 1, 2008
Over on Ace: John McCain, actual Democrat.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 1, 2008 @ 2:49 pm - February 1, 2008
I do not admire Romney… I am not stoked about him… but this handy chart is pretty darn hard to argue with. (again, hat tip Ace)
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 1, 2008 @ 2:51 pm - February 1, 2008
Write in Fred for the primary. Since both leading candidates SUCK, just support whoever wins.
Comment by cargosquid — February 1, 2008 @ 2:55 pm - February 1, 2008
I am a Romney guy. I just look at his overall record. He won in Taxachusetts and ran the state in a real conservtive manner compared to his three Republican predecessors. He is not perfect. I have to believe when he says that he was wrong on some issues. And, he seems to have come along. A lot of good, conservative people I respect have talked to him extensivly on his views. Rick Santorum came out for him today. Since Gov. Arnold is the most Democrat Republican I know, even more than McCain, his endorsement cements my support for Mitt. I want a conservative, Republican that wants to beat the Islamofacsists and can be an INSPIREING leader. I am begining to feel like McCain is the rebirth of Nixon on the one hand and our version of his good friend, John Kerry. This could be a crappy election or one in which a good guy does win. COME ON CONSERVATIVES, WE HAVE TO SUPPORT ROMNEY NOW! VOTE MITT!!
Comment by Mark J. Goluskin — February 2, 2008 @ 12:43 am - February 2, 2008
#6 - Right on, Mark. That’s why in the Lone Star State primary on March 4, he’s my guy.
Let’s not be the equivalent of the “battered liberal syndrome,” where we take all the abuse from the presumtive nominee and stick with him because “there’s no where else to go.”
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — February 2, 2008 @ 8:31 pm - February 2, 2008
Hello? McCain isn’t taking the base or its ideas for granted. He’s hostile to both, and has been for years.
Nor does he wish to receive your “signal.” David Frum explained it best: McCain is not interested in saving either the party or conservatism. He’s building a personal movement with the GOP as its vehicle.
Comment by Paul — February 3, 2008 @ 3:16 am - February 3, 2008
[...] in the month leading up to the primary, I had posted some critical pieces on John McCain (here and here) and one highly praiseworthy of Mitt [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Why I voted for John McCain in the CA GOP Primary — February 28, 2008 @ 5:03 pm - February 28, 2008