The Blogfather (Cheddarsphere edition) has a very active discussion (both on the blog and on his 50,000-watt microphone) on the four broad categories conservatives are faced with because of the inevitability of John McCain:
Conservatives are now breaking down into four categories:
CATEGORY ONE VOTERS: Think McCain is conservative enough and will rally around him as the nominee.
CATEGORY TWO VOTERS: Depressed, disillusioned, angry. Backed someone else, disagree with him on a lot of issues, but will hold their noses and vote for McCain in the general against either Clinton or Obama.
CATEGORY THREE VOTERS: Depressed, disillusioned, angry. Will sit out the general election if McCain is the nominee.
CATEGORY FOUR VOTERS: Depressed, disillusioned, angry. Following Ann Coulter off the cliff and actually vote for Hillary or Obama.
Charlie is currently a Cat 2, with the right to flip to either Cat 1 or Cat 3 depending on the VP nominee (Mike Huckabee would cause him to move to a 3). As for me, I’m a “Cat 5”; I will write two people of my choice in on the Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket, and then work on trying to get conservatives (not synonymous with Republicans, though every conservative in federal politics is a Republican) into Congress.
I’ve already laid out my case why I cannot vote for McCain, but I’ll repeat myself. The War on Terror notwithstanding, and then not even all elements of that, he would be far happier as a ‘Rat. Indeed, he sought out an opportunity to become one twice in the last 8 years, once attempting to do so with someone diametrically opposed to the War on Terror. Except for certain elements of the WOT and his opposition to earmarks (which, depending on the earmark, is also shared with the ‘Rats), every issue he’s passionate about is shared with the ‘Rats: from his persistent attacks on the rich to McShame-Slimeroad Lieberal Protection Act, from closing Club Gitmo to supporting liberal Supreme Court Justices (yes, McCain supported Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer), from torpedoing tax cuts becuse the government “cannot pay for them” to ending pharmaceutical research by allowing reimportation of drugs at Canadian prices, from enriching trial lawyers by claiming he’s “for the people” to his active support of various liberals and liberal causes against conservatives to his acceptance of Gorebal Warming and government’s heavy-handed role in “ending” it.
Voting for the ‘Rat, whether it be Obama or Clinton, is similarily not an option. I am not prepared to bow to Mecca or pay the huda to stay alive, and that is the inevitable conclusion of failing to win the WOT. I am also diametrically-opposed to the expansion of the welfare state, and both Obama and Clinton will do so.
I know that writing in somebody else will not mean anything; however, since I am in Wisconsin, I reject the premise that not voting for McCain is a vote for the ‘Rat. If Bush could not carry Wisconsin in 2000 or 2004, the former with a Republican in the governor’s mansion, no non-Democrat will carry Wisconsin, at least as long as Doyle and company are in charge of the machine, and probably for decades on end. We have become North Illinois, and the Milwaukee/Racine/Kenosha corridor has become North Chicago (side note; I guess that’s why the KRM train is being shoved down our throats).
Instead, I will focus on getting conservatives in to Congress. It has been proven time and again that it is the brake on liberal tendencies out of the Oval Office. From stopping the first attempt at universal health care (remarkable because both the Oval Office and Congress were occupied by ‘Rats) to stopping shamnesty, it was pressure on Congress and the presence of enough conservatives (though barely in both cases) that stopped the shift.
I am a realist; in state after state after state, far more ‘Rats than Pubbies showed up at the polls for the primaries. It’s likely I, and the shrinking number of those that think like me, will be no more successful in stopping the ‘Rat tide than we were in stopping McCain. However, I will die with my boots on.
