Posted by
JayPeriod on Friday, October 19, 2007 10:47:17 AM
Ever since Dr. James Dobson made his statements about starting a third party to carry conservative values into the election, many have been slamming Dobson and the religious right of the party. To be sure, such a candidate would most likely hand the election to Hillary, but let's not ignore the issue which is Rudy's values. Some may see this as an issue of not being happy with a Republican candidate's stand on issues, but there's actually more to it.
Consider Ron Paul. He has some issues that conservatives can agree with, i.e. the border, states rights, but there are other issues that scare the living daylights out of the base. It's these issues that keep him from being a serious candidate for the Republican Party's nomination. He is really a Libertarian trying to get the nomination because he realizes that he'd have absolutely no shot if he ran as a Libertarian.
This is just the issue some have with Rudy; he's not Republican, but Democrat-light. He is surely not a raving socialist, like the rest of the Democratic field, but on the important conservative issues, he has failed the test in the past and there is nothing more than his word that he's changed. He has been pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-big government, pro-gay movement. Those are how he governed and he has nothing other than his word to show change. We can look no further back than the last election to see that we need more than words. I've stated in the past that here in Tennessee, we had Harold Ford, Jr. telling us that he was the most conservative candidate for Senate, even though his record showed that he was just as liberal as Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.
As conservatives, we need to protect our conservative values. If we are just looking for someone who is "electable", we are selling our values and the American people short. We are falling into the same trap that cost us the last election. People want conservative values and candidates who they can trust to govern with those values. If the Republican Party walks away from those values, the very values they owe their existence to, they will loose the base and disenfranchise millions of voters.
In short, if we are forced to choose between Democrat and Democrat-light in the upcoming Presidential election, I fear many will stay home. The down side, though, is that if we are led to believe we must compromise our values to get someone "electable", we are lying to ourselves. The alternative is for conservatives to wake up, realize that we have the power, and make the right decision. We must produce a candidate that has the record to support our conservative values. An "Arnold Schwartzeneger" in the White House would be disastrous. We cannot allow this to happen.