I have a healthy respect for the Constitution and Libertarian parties. Both appear to have some semblance of intellectual consistency — the Constitution Party pushing for strict interpretation of the 220-yearold namesake document, the Libertarian Party emphasizing personal freedom over all.
Republican John McCain is the candidate who will most likely suffer should the Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr or Constitution presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin manage to accomplish what appears to be their mission: Peel conservatives away from the GOP to bolster their quixotic quests for the White House.
McCain certainly has given some segments of the GOP rank-and-file plenty to be upset about. Anti-immigration (illegal and otherwise ) voters are upset with McCain for his amnesty bill from last year. Strict constructionists and free speechers are upset over McCain-Feingold “ campaign finance reform. ” And the small but vocal anti-war isolationist wing of the GOP is upset with McCain’s support of the Iraq war.
Barr and Baldwin are both trying to position themselves as the voice of these discontents. If disgruntled Republicans give in to this siren song, they will not be merely cutting off their nose to spite their proverbial face. It would be more like cutting off their arms, legs and head.
Ironically, if either party gains any traction, like the bit that Green Party perennial Ralph Nader enjoyed in 2000, both personal liberties and the strength of the Constitution will suffer. With the media in the tank for Barack Obama, McCain already has an uphill battle to keep the socialist-leaning Democrat out of office. Barr and / or Baldwin could seal the deal for Obama, especially in tight states, the same way Nader did in Florida in 2000. (If Nader wasn’t on the ballot, Al Gore would have been president. )
Does Barr really think that McCain is so bad on personal liberties that he’s ready to be a spoiler to throw the election to Obama ? Wait until Obama’s nanny-state, conservativethought-is-hate-speech supporters take over the administration. I shutter to think what the Justice Department, the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency will look like under Obama’s control. Let’s just say I don’t expect personal liberty to be on top of the agenda.
Does Baldwin really think that McCain is so bad on defending the Constitution that he’s ready to risk letting Obama be the guy picking the next few Supreme Court justices ? With a likely Democrat-controlled congress, Obama’s Supreme Court nominees are going to be typical legislate-from-the-benchers. Prepare to get homosexual marriage crammed down your throat by judicial fiat. States’ rights won’t even exist anymore if Obama gets to name the nominees.
For social conservatives like myself, Barr and Baldwin have little to offer. I am more interested with stopping the infanticide of legal abortion, and ending the murder of innocent unborn children, than I am in making a political statement. If Barr and Baldwin spoil the election for Republicans, I know the battle to end the slaughter will face its biggest setback since Roe v. Wade came down from the Supreme Court more than three decades ago.
Some Constitution and Libertarian supporters will no doubt be happy to see McCain fail and the country fall into Obama’s hands and let Obama run crazy left with everything. Only then, the cracked logic goes, when things are really bad, will people see the error of their ways and then in 2012 throw out the Democrats and elect Libertarians and Constitution Party candidates in droves.
Those disgruntles who wish ill on America in anticipation of future political gains for their party of choice have no business participating in the governance of this country. Such sentiments echo those of Democrats who hoped that our soldiers would fail in Iraq in order to boost the donkey’s chances in future elections. It’s unpatriotic and sickening.
So should third parties just give up ? The answer is no, but they should either give us a worthy candidate or quit spoiling the ballot. If Barr or Baldwin had any real credentials or gravitas to lay claim to running the executive branch, they would be real candidates with a real shot. Good third-party candidates bring standing to their parties; they don’t expect their parties to give them standing.
Barr is sending out e-mails to conservative mailing lists asking for money to help him get on the ballot in as many states as possible. If Barr had what it takes to become president, he wouldn’t be begging for $ 310, 000 to help make sure he is on the ballot. If the Libertarian Party doesn’t have enough political will to get on the ballot in all 50 states, why should we have any expectation their nominee can become president ?
Our mainstream parties have morphed over the years, but the Republicans generally have represented political conservatism, and Democrats have come to embrace leftism. There are individual exceptions, but those only serve to prove the general rule.
Libertarians, social conservatives and others within the GOP were part of the process of selecting our nominee in what was a spirited and legitimate contest. As a social conservative, I supported Mike Huckabee. Many libertarian-leaning conservatives supported Ron Paul. Some fiscal conservatives backed Mitt Romney. But we lost fair and square to McCain. We can throw fits and cry about it all we want, and watch Obama float to the Oval Office on our tears.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Pryor hearts McCain?
As Obama movies into the final round, some loyal superdelegates have stuck with Clinton, including first term Sen. Mark Pryor, through the Obamamania. When the nails go into the coffin holding Clinton’s presidential ambitions, I wonder, what will Pryor do ? Will he line up like a good little party-line Democrat and get behind Obama ?
Or will Pryor become the second Democratic senator to become a Sen. John McCain defector ?
I bet the thought has run through Pryor’s mind more than a few times as Clinton’s demise has become apparent. However, Pryor would never be dumb enough to think such thoughts aloud unless he had real intentions of going through with such a move.
Two reasons stick out why Pryor might support a McCain presidency. First, although not a strong hawk, Pryor has staked out reasonable middle ground on the War on Terror and the War in Iraq, shunning extreme left positions on terrorist surveillance and on timetables for withdrawal — extreme positions advocated by Obama. Pryor has shown that he won’t pander to the anti-war left of his party, instead voting his convictions and getting hammered for it on various left-wing publications and blogs.
Pryor’s votes in the Senate on key issues more closely match McCain’s than Obama’s. They certainly do on foreign policy. Obama is the most liberal Democrat in the Senate according to the nonpartisan National Journal, and Pryor is one of the most conservative. The only Democrats to be ranked more conservative than Pryor were Sens. Ben Nelson (Nebraska ) and Mary Landrieu (Louisiana ).
Basically, when it comes to voting records, Pryor and Obama are on opposite sides of the Democratic Party.
Like Lieberman, Pryor could honestly believe that Obama’s foreign policy would be a lethal disaster to America and her allies. Lieberman wrote this week in support of McCain over Obama: “ By considering centrism to be collaboration with the enemy — not bin Laden, but Mr. Bush — activists have successfully pulled the Democratic Party further to the left than it has been at any point in the last 20 years. Far too many Democratic leaders have kowtowed to these opinions rather than challenging them. That unfortunately includes Barack Obama, who, contrary to his rhetorical invocations of biparti-— regardless of its popularity in his party or outside it. ”
The second reason why Pryor may be considering supporting McCain is because Pryor believes in real bipartisanship. In the handful of times I’ve interviewed Sen. Pryor, something that has always stuck out has been his passion to make the Senate more civil and less partisan. His highest profile act of centrism is when he joined the Gang of 14 to prevent Democratic “ filibustering” of judicial nominees in exchange for Republicans not doing away with the 60-vote cloture rule altogether. McCain led the Republicans. Lieberman was another Democrat joining the “ gang. ”
As someone who has walked the walk, Pryor must know that Obama’s talk of working together has no substance behind it. Pryor also must know that McCain can work across the aisle.
The political conditions right now are almost perfect for Pryor to make a defection. In fact, such a move right now would present Pryor with zero political risk. He’s up for election this year, but has no challenger, Republican or Democrat. He’s walking into six more years. If he did support McCain, a slight chance exists that some left-wing Democrats will try to challenge Pryor in the Democratic primary in... 2014. Who is going to remember the 2008 election in 2014 ? Seriously, though, if the left-wingers wanted to knock out Pryor, he’s already given them enough excuses to try. But the reality is that Arkansas Democrats are more conservative than their national counterparts, so for Pryor to support a moderate senator over a liberal senator actually makes sense.
Even if the left-wing Democrats did manage to oust Pryor in a primary, Pryor could easily do what Lieberman did and run as an independent and win. According to the Arkansas Poll, Pryor is consistently one of the most popular politicians in Arkansas; he could afford to lose a little support and still win statewide elections.
Lieberman challenged his Democratic colleagues, writing, “ A great Democratic secretary of state, Dean Acheson, once warned ‘ no people in history have ever survived who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies. ’ This is a lesson that today’s Democratic Party leaders need to relearn. ”
I think this is something Mark Pryor already knows.
Or will Pryor become the second Democratic senator to become a Sen. John McCain defector ?
I bet the thought has run through Pryor’s mind more than a few times as Clinton’s demise has become apparent. However, Pryor would never be dumb enough to think such thoughts aloud unless he had real intentions of going through with such a move.
Two reasons stick out why Pryor might support a McCain presidency. First, although not a strong hawk, Pryor has staked out reasonable middle ground on the War on Terror and the War in Iraq, shunning extreme left positions on terrorist surveillance and on timetables for withdrawal — extreme positions advocated by Obama. Pryor has shown that he won’t pander to the anti-war left of his party, instead voting his convictions and getting hammered for it on various left-wing publications and blogs.
Pryor’s votes in the Senate on key issues more closely match McCain’s than Obama’s. They certainly do on foreign policy. Obama is the most liberal Democrat in the Senate according to the nonpartisan National Journal, and Pryor is one of the most conservative. The only Democrats to be ranked more conservative than Pryor were Sens. Ben Nelson (Nebraska ) and Mary Landrieu (Louisiana ).
Basically, when it comes to voting records, Pryor and Obama are on opposite sides of the Democratic Party.
Like Lieberman, Pryor could honestly believe that Obama’s foreign policy would be a lethal disaster to America and her allies. Lieberman wrote this week in support of McCain over Obama: “ By considering centrism to be collaboration with the enemy — not bin Laden, but Mr. Bush — activists have successfully pulled the Democratic Party further to the left than it has been at any point in the last 20 years. Far too many Democratic leaders have kowtowed to these opinions rather than challenging them. That unfortunately includes Barack Obama, who, contrary to his rhetorical invocations of biparti-— regardless of its popularity in his party or outside it. ”
The second reason why Pryor may be considering supporting McCain is because Pryor believes in real bipartisanship. In the handful of times I’ve interviewed Sen. Pryor, something that has always stuck out has been his passion to make the Senate more civil and less partisan. His highest profile act of centrism is when he joined the Gang of 14 to prevent Democratic “ filibustering” of judicial nominees in exchange for Republicans not doing away with the 60-vote cloture rule altogether. McCain led the Republicans. Lieberman was another Democrat joining the “ gang. ”
As someone who has walked the walk, Pryor must know that Obama’s talk of working together has no substance behind it. Pryor also must know that McCain can work across the aisle.
The political conditions right now are almost perfect for Pryor to make a defection. In fact, such a move right now would present Pryor with zero political risk. He’s up for election this year, but has no challenger, Republican or Democrat. He’s walking into six more years. If he did support McCain, a slight chance exists that some left-wing Democrats will try to challenge Pryor in the Democratic primary in... 2014. Who is going to remember the 2008 election in 2014 ? Seriously, though, if the left-wingers wanted to knock out Pryor, he’s already given them enough excuses to try. But the reality is that Arkansas Democrats are more conservative than their national counterparts, so for Pryor to support a moderate senator over a liberal senator actually makes sense.
Even if the left-wing Democrats did manage to oust Pryor in a primary, Pryor could easily do what Lieberman did and run as an independent and win. According to the Arkansas Poll, Pryor is consistently one of the most popular politicians in Arkansas; he could afford to lose a little support and still win statewide elections.
Lieberman challenged his Democratic colleagues, writing, “ A great Democratic secretary of state, Dean Acheson, once warned ‘ no people in history have ever survived who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies. ’ This is a lesson that today’s Democratic Party leaders need to relearn. ”
I think this is something Mark Pryor already knows.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
