The Fiscal Conservatives Have Won Again

With the news that John McCain is now the frontrunner for the Republican nomination it is official, the social conservatives have lost again to the fiscal conservatives. This demonstrates again that money in conservative America is still trusted more than God. The question now becomes has the Republican factions split beyond repair as is widely being reported? I tend to say no. What we are witnessing is the same phenomenon that occurs every four years with conservatives, every four years a fiscal conservative will come along and pander to the social conservatives in the primaries only to desert those “family values” for the more established values of greed and selfishness.

It is amazing how fast God and country are abandoned for the good of the Party. With all the talk about standing up for the “Christian values” of America, many in the social conservative movement are only too eager to take from Caesar what is Caesars and to leave God standing at the gate. Choosing to enrich themselves over standing up for principles too many so-called Evangelicals are willing to take their principles and plug them into their circumstances versus plugging their circumstances into their principles. In other words rather than asking how the situation fits into their principles they would rather ask how they can adjust their principles to fit into the situation.

Since his victory in the Florida primary, the growing possibility that Mr. McCain may carry the Republican banner in November is causing anguish to the right. Some, including James C. Dobson and Rush Limbaugh, say it is far too late for forgiveness.

But others, faced with the prospect of either a Democrat sitting in the White House or a Republican elected without them, are beginning to look at Mr. McCain’s record in a new light.[1]

I can’t wait to see how John McCain will be transformed right before our eyes into the embodiment of all the social conservative values in time for the general election, just like George W. was. I really thought this year the grass-root social conservatives would finally rise up and rebel against their fiscal conservative counterparts, but alas it was not to be. His record and positions will go through a revisionist rewriting and many of the social conservative leaders will recount their earlier criticisms and state unequivocally that John McCain is one of us. Never mind that he voted against the tax-cuts, opposed the same-sex marriage amendment, supported stem-cell research, looser immigration, and campaign reform. This will be the best repackaging since they tried to exhume Reagan from the grave and recreate who he was.

In the final analysis those staunch voices of American virtue will once again surrender their principles and their God for their real god, which is the god of money. Instead of voting their conscious’ they will again follow the money. It strikes me as odd that these pillars of the Evangelical community would instruct their followers to support John McCain. What we are witnessing is the hypocrisy that has characterized America in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of the secular communities. When given the chance to stand on principle and support a candidate that supposedly embodies their beliefs, they have chosen to deny him before the cock can crow.

Meanwhile, conservatives are growing increasingly “resigned” to the idea of a McCain nomination, said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, adding that among Washington activists, many of whom, like him, double as lobbyists, self-interest may also be a factor.

“There are people who don’t like the idea of a being off a campaign or being on the bad list if the guy gets into the White House,” Mr. Keene said. “This is a town in which 90 percent of the people balance their access and income on the one hand versus their principles on the other.”[2]

Let us not be fooled John McCain is not mainstream. He has consistently embraced the policies of the Bush White House and we have no reason to believe that if elected he wouldn’t continue to do so. We can also expect Senator McCain to try and expand the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I would also expect Senator Mc Cain to echo the bellicose and belligerent tone with Iran that has been the hallmark of the Bush administration. Once the nomination process is over I expect to see the media and the Republicans try and position Senator McCain as another center-right unifier, you know like that one from the 2000 election. What was that guy’s name?

McCain may seem moderate on domestic policy, but make no mistake about it he will continue to try and expand the empire and press for the continued war on terror. My hope is that we as a nation are ready to wake up from the nightmare of 9/11 and are ready to release the world that we have been holding hostage. It is time to let all the hostages go. Senator McCain is not ready to do that. Mr. McCain will continue to expand the gap between wealthy and poor by continuing the voodoo economic policies of George W. Bush. The Republicans feel they can afford McCain in the White House for now since they have been able to stack the Supreme Court under Bush. I would not be surprised if John McCain did not pick Mike Huckabee as his Vice-Presidential nominee to placate the social conservatives and keep them from staying home in November.

Despite the groaning from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and the other talking heads the social conservatives will fall into line like they always do, especially if Hillary Clinton is the nominee. The social conservatives may not like McCain, but they hate Hillary and Bill Clinton and the thought of them being back in the White House is enough to bring them out in droves. They will not be voting for McCain they will be voting against Hillary. They will hold their noses and vote for McCain.

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/us/01conservatives.html?hp
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/us/01conservatives.html?hp