The Conservative’s Dilemma
Even though it appears that the primary election phase on the Republican side is all but over, or at best just a process for the remaining State caucuses and primaries with John McCain the clear winner and well on his way to become the Republican’s Presidential nominee, the troubles and concerns with his nomination are not at all resolved. In reality, there are some major concerns for a huge block of voters of the Republican Party. There is a very large group of conservatives who do not like Senator McCain at all and voted accordingly in the previous caucuses and primaries by pulling the lever for Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. McCain is simply not conservative enough for this huge group of stalwart conservatives. They feel that he has abandoned them and their principles by voting too many times with Democrats in the Senate over the past years.
Conservatives have been considered belonging to one or more of three groups; they are either social, economic or national security oriented conservatives or any combination thereof. It has been referred to as the three-legged stool of the ‘Right’. Each group believes strongly in these principles and has felt betrayed by John McCain with his actions in the United States Senate when he not only supported and voted for; he actually sponsored and initiated laws such as McCain/Feingold (Campaign Finance Reform), McCain/Kennedy (Immigration Reform) and also McCain/Lieberman (Global Warming Reduction). There are several other initiatives and positions that McCain has taken contrary to what is considered true conservative stands. This is the basic cause of the anger on the part of conservatives who did not vote for him in the early caucuses and primaries.
It used to be an unwritten rule for candidates of the Republican Party to run to the ‘Right’ during the primaries and then run in the ‘Middle’ during the General Election to win enough of the Independents and Moderates to be victorious. This rule is truly in reverse this year in that John McCain has won primaries by getting a great number of Independents and even crossover Democrat votes (as he did in 2000 in New Hampshire and Michigan when he ran against George W. Bush) to beat out his conservative rivals Huckabee and Romney. Now with the recent endorsement from Mitt Romney who asked his 280 delegates to vote for John McCain, it appears that the nomination process for President on the Republican side is over.
But that still leaves a major task for candidate McCain, he has to win over the Conservatives who despise him and did not vote for him. As a matter of fact, many have publicly stated that they will not vote in November, they simply cannot see themselves voting for someone who they believe has betrayed them time and again during the past many years when it came to voting against laws and initiatives these conservatives supported. They simply believe that they have remained true to their beliefs over the years while John McCain has left them by voting with the Democrats on many bills they, the conservatives, opposed strongly.
One vocal and also very influential group of McCain critics are conservative talk-show radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Neal Bortz and many others. They have been very critical of McCain for many years whenever he, the Senator from Arizona, happily crossed the line and worked with the Democrats and explaining it by “reaching across the aisle”. Conservatives have asked that by doing so, Republicans got nothing in return and compare McCain’s actions as giving in to liberals and that just does not sit well with conservatives.
The big question is now: Can McCain and his supporters, and there are quite a few of them, convince the huge number of conservatives to vote in November for him after all? Can he not only ask for their vote but also present an agenda that is believable for them? He has to essentially say to them: Here is what I will do on issue after issue in somewhat specific terms and not just in vague generalities. This will be a major undertaking and his personality and style leaves a lot to be desired to be successful. He has come across as too smug and even arrogant on many occasions, he even has attacked his critics openly and they have not forgotten this. Words like: “Trust me, I know what is good for America, I have the experience and the background to be a strong leader” most likely might not be sufficient to reverse the current attitudes towards him. The endorsements he has been getting from prominent conservative party leaders calling for Party unity might carry some weight with those who do not trust or like him but it will be up to him to win them over.
It will be an interesting time until November to say the least. There are, of course, many other aspects to the general election; unforeseen events worldwide could also sway voters one way or the other, a lot will depend on who McCain’s opponent will be in November on the Democrat side. Polls, as unreliable as they have been in the past (Uselessness of Polls), might show an overwhelming lead by the Democrat candidate by the time November rolls around and that might affect the turnout by Republican voters. If they see or sense that McCain cannot win, no matter whether or not they will vote, they just might not vote for any Presidential candidate to stay true to their conservative principles. On the other hand, if the election is close, conservatives might just feel that their vote counts and – while holding their noses – pull the lever for John McCain after all.
There is a lot that can and will happen in the next eight-and-a-half months and we here at this site will be monitoring and commenting from our common sense perspective. We do not share the enthusiasm or despair of many millions of citizens that it is all but over; there is simply too much time for all sorts of things yet to happen and to unfold before us. But one thing we have stated before is true: 2008 is definitely a different type of election year.
This article and others on Common Sense Authors are designed to provoke further thought and investigation. It is not the intent for the articles to be politically biased. Sources are referenced in each article to encourage readers to delve into the supporting material. We welcome all readers to participate with their point of view either in support or contrary with additional information sources.
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