Well, I voted.
And it was an unbelievably LA experience. I went with my gut when I voted and find myself, perhaps for the first time since I joined this blog, differing from my co-blogger on a major issue. And while I still have my doubts about my decision, I believe, given the circumstances, I made the right choice. More on that anon.
The only place where one can vote early in LA is in Norwalk, a city that until today I had only heard of, but had never visited. It took me about 40 minutes to get there. On the way there, I saw my first “Hillary” bumper sticker in a while. On one freeway, I was tailgated by an oversize pickup even though I was in the right lane. Later, on another freeway, there was a slight traffic jam, all caused (as I would soon learn) by a Toyota Tercel puttering on (in the second left-hand lane) at about 40 miles an hour (that’s the equivalent of a man with a broken leg competing in a track meet).
When I called the County Registrar, they had told me I might have to wait if I arrived at 2. I go there at about 1:45 and waited no more than 10 minutes. Still, the woman at the counter told me it had been busy. I did see a steady stream of people coming in, but the line was never more than 3 or 4 deep.
This morning, when I woke, my heart was telling me to vote McCain while my head said Romney. I guess our hearts are closer to our guts and I went with my gut. I still have my problems with the Arizona Senator. When, after voting, I followed Glenn‘s link to Bill Quick’s explanation of why he’s not voting for McCain, I found that he spelled out some of my concerns with the Arizona Senator. (I expressed some of my own misgivings here.)
Despite this differences, Eric Scheie reminds us of the Gipper’s rule (also via Glenn) that “the person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and ally.” And McCain has a lifetime American Conservative Union (ACU) rating of 82.3. (He also notes that the devil is “in the details” of that rule, so check out his piece and read the whole thing to see what he means.)
Even with his flaws, John McCain would be a much better president than Ms. Hillary. Most polls show him beating the former First Lady. Her victory, as Eric reminds us, would place the whole country “in a state of extreme dishonor, and it won’t much matter what the Republicans think or say.”
It wasn’t just his electability that swung me. It was that McCain has said (on more than one occasion) that he has “listened and learned” on the immigration and now supports border enforcement first. And, as I noted earlier today, he did tap Ted Olson, one of the most respected conservative jurists, to co-chair his Judicial Advisory Committee.
But, the real thing that moved me to John McCain was his steadfast stance on the War on Terror. In a comment to a post where I contemplated voting for Romney or Thompson, frequent commenter ILoveCapitalism linked a chart which showed that on issues that blogger had selected, Senator McCain voted with the two Democratic presidential contenders on all but one issue, surrendering Iraq to Iran.
While that chart was quite selective and did not show the Senator’s common ground with conservatives on other issues, it reminded me (yet again) that John McCain has never wavered in his support of the war in Iraq, despite disagreeing (until recently) with the president’s strategy and despite polls showing increasing opposition to the operation.
John McCain is not my first choice for the Republican nomination, but he has proven himself on the most important issue of the day, as he put in his phone message, the war “against radical Islamic extremism.” He has moved right on other important issues. Time will only tell if I erred today in my vote. But, if John McCain continues to campaign on conservative ideas, shows more grace (tha he has) to his chief rival for the nomination and taps a respected conservative as his running mate, then my hopes will not be misplaced.
But, as I said, time will only tell. And it’s up to conservatives to keep reminding this man of the values of our party, so that if elected, he will know how to govern. And let us to that in a civil manner.
UPDATE: In the Wall Street Journal two conservative legal scholars offer a lukewarm endorsement of McCain. They focus on the judicial appointments the next president will have. The piece pretty much summarizes my views on the Arizona Senator (at least on the judicial issue, but on other matters as well) (Via Instapundit).
Dan – Why do you think McCain is “electable”?
The MSM is going to turn on him and never permit him to be elected over Hillary or Obama. Further, his “appeal to Independents” is much vaunted – but I, for one, am an Independent and don’t see the appeal.
Second – Why do you think McCain agrees with you 80% of the time? Does he really? Or isn’t it more like 50%? Could you spell that out? Your choice at this stage, assuming you are a registered Republican, was not between McCain and Hillary, but between McCain and Romney. In what ways does McCain agree with you more than Romney? (Curious here.)
I hope you didn’t err. If my fears about McCain turned out to be wrong – If, in fact, he is electable and then (miraculously) he governed as a sensible pro-capitalist and constitutionalist, cared about securing our borders, etc. – I would be delighted.
I just think it’s pretty unlikely.
ILC, in my post, I noted that my heart said McCain while my head said Romney. In the end, it seemed to boil down to the most important issue of this election, the war on terror. And McCain has convinced me he can better fight that battle than can Romney.
I think you’re right that the MSM will turn on him. But, that may well strengthen his resolve and given the media’s credibility may help him more than hurt, especially when papers like the LA Times try to explain why they’re backing Hillary in the fall when they backed McCain and Obama in the primary campaign.
And please note that I’m not entirely comfortable with my choice.
Also, Romney never really completed the sale with me.
I can relate. As I said in the other thread where I posted the pro-Romney chart: I don’t love him. I am not stoked about him. This is a suck-y political year for me, all around.
Like attacking Romney for spending his own hard earned money?
WTF is the “conservative ideas” in that? And no, I’m not backing Romney at this point.
I’m not there yet, Dan, at least for the primary. I will probably vote for McCain in the general but I don’t think I bring myself to do it in the primary. Romney I won’t touch, McCain at least has a shot. I still have a very bad feeling about this cycle…
You’re not the only one, John.
I understand the ambivalence about not voting for McCain. But I have a question for John and TCG, who are you voting for?
Not voting at all may feel good as a protest, but it is a meaningless gesture.
Especially at times like this, one needs to make a choice. And yes it is a hard choice. That is what politics is all about, the lesser of the evil, there is rarely a time when you can vote for a candidate you really believe in.
We can all come up with reasons why Dan made the wrong choice. But he did make a reasoned one – going with McCain because of the war on terror, is not a rash decision. But saying that McCain is terrible, Romney’s not great, and simply not voting is a worse choice.
It all points to the fact that we may need to get used to the Democrats being back in power again. Since there is enthusiasm on their side – that will win the day over distain on our side.
Daily Pundit on McCain:
http://dailypundit.com/?p=29500
[ILC, I linked that it my post and agree he raises some valid points. 🙂 — Dan]
Answers Eric Scheie’s line of argument.
Here’s the problem with McCain. While he loves America, he fundamentally does not understand the political and economic principles that have made it great. “I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected”, says McCain. Translation: “F*ck the People. F*ck the Constitution.” At least under President Hillary, we’ll have a clear fight; we’ll know when and whom to fight.
Leah, I like your comments and I most respectfully disagree here. First, Dan himself said:
Second – Why do we think McCain represents the War on Terror issue better than Romney? Is it just because he talks about it more? Or is there a reason to believe Romney will be soft?
Remember, McCain is the guy who wants to close Gitmo (releasing the terrorists – to where?) and who thinks controlled waterboarding to save American lives is somehow “torture”.
Sorry Dan – I didn’t investigate every link and I didn’t make the connection who “Bill Quick” is.
if it makes you feel any better, which who knows it may, if Obama wins for the Democrats I know I will probably switch to vote for McCain.
I would rather vote for someone with experience and knowledge of how to get things done than the other canidate who is most well known for a Democratic Convention speech in 04.
I really dislike Obama…
Leah (#8) – As a staunch anti-McCain advocate, I think of it this way: the government may be able to take my taxes, tell me what to do, strip-search me at the airports… but I still have the right NOT TO VOTE.
Bruce, looks, like I have my work cut out for me should McCain win the nomination.
First, let me say that I will rally to Romney should he win.
But, this blog could become an important forum for a serious debate on the merits of voting for GOP nominee John McCain or sitting this one out.
ILC, I can clearly see supporting Romney at this time. That is what I am doing. The problem I have is with TCG who is against McCain and won’t support Romney either. (I misread, I see John will probably support McCain).
And I am deducing that Bruce will vote for Romney in the primaries, but not for McCain in the general.
I have a problem with people who won’t vote in this election cycle. We don’t have a clear conservative leader in this election. So we have to choose a lessor candidate, otherwise you are basically giving the Dems the vote.
Sure you have the right not to vote, but if that is your choice than you don’t have the right to complain about the results and consaquenses after the fact.
I can respect Dan for feeling that McCain will be better than Romney on the war on terror. He has admitted to going with his heart, not his mind on this one. One can say this is not the time for emotions, but I’d rather he vote for a viable candidate for the ‘wrong reasons’.
A Democrat in the White House scares the sh*t out of me, but I hate to say that is where we are heading.
With respect, I voted for Nunya DB.
I don’t discuss who I voted for. One thing you can be sure of, it wasn’t McCain.
1. At what point did I say I won’t support Romney either?
B. I merely asked how in the hell could somebody like McCain, who attacked Romney for spending his own money, could seriously be considered a conservative.
Do I detect that you have a problem with me daring to ask such questions?
Dan,
Trust me. You erred big time!
UGH! Let me be clear. Unless we go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and dig up the Great Man, we will not have the perfect conservative Republican! But we have one in Mitt Romney. He has blemishes, but really, does anyone here really think that if McCain wins the nod that he can seriously compete with Clinton? Obama? Forget it! It will make 1996 look good for the Republicans. McCain will be on defense the whole way and no one will give him any money. They are not now. It is all going the Dems way. But, Romney is getting money and he is willing to spend some of his own to get there. Somehow, I don’t think that Cindy is going to go into HER family fortune that McCain married into to save him!
I still want to know why you Republicans think McCain is “electable”.
1) You yourselves (often) don’t like him.
2) You’ve conceded the MSM is going to turn on him for November.
3) I can’t agree he appeals all that much to Independents. Certainly not as much as a “united” Clinton-Obama ticket would, if the Democrats go that route.
So where’s the electability?