McCain May Not Get my Vote, Either...

Although I'm still not well, I felt compelled to comment on the McCain bandwagon in light of Rudy Giuliani's exit from the race.

In a recent post I stated that I could not endorse ANY of the present candidates in either Party, but that I would certainly vote for any of the GOP candidates over Hillary or Obama.

This was before Rudy pulled out of the race, meaning that moderate to liberal Republicans have jumped over to McCain. The conservative base of the Party is still split between Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney, with none of them receiving enthusiastic support from the majority of this base.

This means, of course, that the moderate to liberal element within the GOP is having its way with the nomination process, leaving conservatives split and basically powerless, at least for now.

It occurred to me, why encourage the McCain bandwagon with assurances that he will get my vote, if not my endorsement, in a matchup with Hillary or Obama? This does nothing but encourage and reinforce his bad behavior.

I am not going to vote for John McCain unless MAJOR concessions are made to the conservative base, and that includes a complete repudiation of McCain-Feingold, an unfettered expression of support of the Second Amendment as an indiviual right WITH NO STIPULATIONS, and a promise of NO SPECIAL PATH to citizenship for dishonorable illegal aliens, who MUST get in the back of the line with those who are honorable enough to come here LEGALLY.

The ONLY 'path to citizenship' is the legal path already contained in the LAW!

McCain claims to have been a foot-soldier in the Reagan Revolution in 1980. If this is the case, then the former President must have rolled over in his grave enough times to creat an earthquake.

McCain's votes may have reflected the conservative principles of Reagan for the first 10 years of his service in the Senate, but since 1990 or so, he has shifted decidedly to the Left on various matters such as gun rights and free speech.

We conservatives won't have any of it!

Unless he reaches out to us with solid, verifiable promises to keep the conservative base of the Party intact, we will jump ship...throwing the election to Hillary or Obama. I have come to the conclusion that only such a threat will get the attention of the numbskulls who now run the GOP and who are running as fast as they can away from the Reagan Coalition.

On the Presiential ballot, one can add a write-in. A movement has begun in South Carolina to do exactly that. They are calling themselves 'The Conservative Party,' and they plan to type or write in the name of Fred Thompson on the ballot.

I just may well do that.

If McCain chooses Fred Thompson as his running mate, that would be a great development, but McCain himself is going to have to personally address the conservative base of the GOP to make assurances that he will not throw us under the bus when it comes to taxes, illegal aliens, gun rights, and free speech.

If he cannot do that, then even Thompson on the ballot won't be enough.

Illness has caused me to do a lot of thinking over the past four days. And I have determined that I'll be damned before I let a group of turncoat RINOS destroy the Reagan Coalition without a fight.