John Hawkins, a professional blogger who runs Conservative Grapevine and Right Wing News, is a fellow whose criticism of John McCain has been strong and frequent. Indeed, he has written articles with titles like "The Conservative Case Against John McCain In 2008" and " A Conservative Nightmare: Republican Nominee, John McCain."Therefore, when Hawkins suggests that conservatives get involved in John McCain's run for the presidency, it's certainly not a matter of preference but rather of inescapable pragmatics.
...That being said, there's another side to the story that has to be told. For all of his flaws, and there are many of them, John McCain is far to the right of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Those of us on the Right tend to downplay that, because a betrayal by someone on our own side stings much more sharply than one from a Democrat, but it is something conservatives should be willing to admit...
John Paul Stevens is 87 years old. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 74 and has had cancer. Does either of those two liberals make it through the next four years without retiring? That's no small issue, because the court is currently split with 4 conservatives, 4 liberals and a moderate. That means a number of important cases, including Roe v. Wade, will probably be decided once and for all by the Supreme Court appointments of the next President of the United States. May God forgive us if we condemn a million plus children a year to death by abortion because we're angry at John McCain...
...what's our alternative? President Hillary Rodham Clinton or President Barack Obama, socialized medicine, losing the war in Iraq, allowing Al-Qaeda to run wild for 4 years, exploding deficits, huge tax increases, and a liberal leaning Supreme Court for the next decade.
Of course, some people think there might be a conservative resurgence in opposition to a Democratic President, but don't kid yourself; it's just as likely that a GOP defeat could turn us into a squabbling minority party that is out of power for years while the Left remakes this country in the image of Belgium.
Does that mean you should, "vote for John McCain in November and like it?" No, but it does mean, that if John McCain is the nominee, you should think very hard about holding your nose and voting for the viable candidate who would do the most good for our country.
Here's the whole column.
