Hard Being Right

I originally had a plan to review the voting records of the major republican candidates. Starting with who had the most delegates at this point (McCain) I was going to cover the pros and cons of the records and past triumphs and failures. The plan was to get this all wrapped up by super Tuesday -I’m running behind as you may notice. Not due to lack of time or research. I’ve waited because I’ve been trying to figure out how best to reach the young republicans out there who have yet to vote in the primaries. I’m trying to reach out and make it clear that McCain should not be our candidate. While I have many reasons why I am not a fan of McCain. I’m going to try and break it down into three areas that I believe most effect the lives and future of young republicans in America.

The first is his party hoping. Many have said that McCain is no different then any Democrat. While I would never say that (his record proves otherwise). It is clear that McCain will often differ from the party on major issues and do it in a way that makes a spectacle of himself to the media. This gives him a maverick persona that frankly makes me wonder if we can ever trust that he will stick to important conservative values. For a few examples I’ll start at the 04′ election. McCain was in talks to change parties and run with Kerry as his VP. Other examples include his opposition to the Bush tax cuts in 01′ and 03′ and his legislation to fight “global warming“. Which would have increased taxes to “liberal” proportions.

My second issue with McCain is his stance on illegal immigration. The McCain Kennedy bill of 05′ set out to change many things regarding how the US handles undocumented workers and our border infrastructure. Mainly it opened a pathway to amnesty for people living here illegally. It also brought a overly high-tech solution for border security. Using a network of cameras and unmanned aircraft to patrol areas where there was no restriction in crossing (e.g. NO FENCE). High tech solutions always equal increased spending which also means higher taxes for all of us. The bill was wrought with horrible ideas and ultimately was voted down. However McCain stands by the ideas of this bill and as president McCain would do all in his power to open the doors to citizenship for undocumented workers and make it EASIER not harder to enter this country illegally.

My last and biggest gripe over McCain is his major role in the gang of fourteen. While many would argue it was the gang of fourteen provided a solution that kept the Democrats from shutting down the senate. Its just my opinion that it railroaded the whole process by letting a small minority dictate who the president selected to become a supreme court judge. Its important to understand that the presidents power to elect supreme court justices is one of this greatest powers bestowed to the office. The difference between getting a more conservative judge on the bench verses a moderate that appeals to both sides can mean the difference to many large and sweeping changes to our country, like Roe V. Wade. The gang of fourteen held one hand behind the presidents back only allowing him to offer up judges that appealed to both sides. While in the end we did get Samuel Alito. Whom I have no complaints. My problem is again, McCain’s desire to control the process. Considering the large majority republican senate and that we have a republican president in the office. The republican party should have had little problem getting in almost any justice the president elected.

All of these issues point to not only the beliefs of Senator McCain, but also his character. He is definitely someone that does not surprise me when he changes side, or swoons on about democratic representatives. Nor am I surprised to see him in the news for shenanigans in the Senate. Senator McCain has more interest in his personal agenda than he does for the Republican party of conservative values. That is scary my future and the future of this country is not something I want to roll the dice on.

I will be voting for Mitt Romney on Super Tuesday and I urge all you to at least learn about what he stands for and compare him to the other candidates.

UPDATE: McCain pulled out the win.

McCain and Romney are neck and neck in Florida. Live reporting is showing 12% of the votes accounted for and polls are showing 34% McCain followed by 31% Romney. Guiliani is an abysmal 13 points behind Romney it seems. At the start of all this I thought Guiliani’s plan was a solid one. Forgoing the mainstream attacks to focus on Florida seemed like a great way to bounce right into the middle of this very open primary season. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I’m going to call it for Romney since I believe the panhandle was the first reporting which is the most moderate and liberal section of the state. The rest of the candidates are pulling in at 12% Huckabee and 3% Paul, which should hopefully make both of them drop from the race.

The dems are reporting Hillary sweeping the primary. Which I think is good news. Keeping Obama in there will be the best thing we could hope for. All the negative press regarding president Clinton and Obama have showed what kind of political engine the Clinton’s run. Also, I think that once Hillary gets the nom she will have beaten more Obama into such a pulp that she will will like a bully to the public.