Lesser of Two Evils...Again

There isn’t a conservative out there who hasn’t struggled with voting for a candidate who didn’t represent their ideology closely enough. In 2004, many conservatives voted for W while holding their noses. We know this is part of the process and we won’t always get our way. In fact, there are only a few elections where I have gotten my way. The most recent of those elections was in 2002 when Congressman Steve King won the four-way primary.

Typically the two party system works, but in any system there are always hiccups. For conservatives, McCain is not only a hiccup, he turns us into bulimics. Conservatives won’t forget McCain’s immigration stance or the Gang of 14. We won’t forget McCain is in favor of embryonic stem cell research and buddies up with Ted Kennedy on “bi-partisan” legislation. It boils down to being confident McCain is going to run harder to the left than he already has and ruin the Republican Party on the way.

We are sick of voting for the lesser of two evils. If we do win, our party, and more importantly our country, will be damaged in the long run. In the past eight years, W and Republican leadership in Congress have stripped the fiscal responsibility mantra of the Republican Party away forever when it was once our badge of honor. We also had our chance to shift the tide of socialism and we actually accelerated it.

Many conservatives voted and worked diligently for W’s election and re-election so we could get back the Supreme Court. We are now faced with the same battle all over again. I’m tired of it, but what can I do? I honestly don’t know the best route to take.

If McCain wins, our party crumbles. If McCain loses, we lose in Iraq and the Supreme Court will be liberal for many future generations. Yet our party may find this the only opportunity to survive for a few more years. Under a Democratic presidency, disastrous as it would be, there is the possibility Republicans will start reading the platform and return to the sound principles which led us to success in 1994 and drained into obscurity in 2006.