Monday, August 25, 2008

Let's Look at the Big Picture

If you're like me, you've been watching this presidential race very closely, terrified at the prospect of Barack Obama as president, but less than enthusiastic about John Mccain. As the party conventions begin, it's very easy to get emotional about these things.

Because I despise most Democrats and the drive-by media, and because I believe that Barack Obama is an arrogant, socialist jerk, I have a strong desire to see his campaign fail. I also believe that Obama with an all-Democratic Congress would spell disaster for this country. For these reasons, I'm naturally inclined to support John Mccain, no matter who he chooses for VP.

The challenge with this kind of thinking is that it tends to cloud us from seeing the big picture. What I mean is, one of two scenarios is going to occur in November: Barack Obama or John Mccain will be elected president. Let's examine both possible scenarios.

If Mccain is elected, us Republicans will be delighted in the short term. We will have defeated another near-socialist and avoided disaster for America for another 4 years. We will have the drive-bys seething and screaming racism after Obama's defeat. It will be especially satisfying after being told all year how much the political tide was against us.

The long-term effect, however, is not so certain. Though we win a short-term battle, what kind of president do we really get with Mccain? His record indicates that, above most everything else, he's a Democrat appeaser. He will be constantly compromising with a Democrat-controlled legislature and not fighting real heard for conservative principles. Republicans will have to go along cause he will be the leader of our party.

We are likely to get a horrible immigration amnesty bill, mediocre supreme court justices, and very questionable economic policies. I'm confident Mccain will be strong on foreign policy, but that's the only thing I believe he has any real convictions about.

The end result could be worsening economic times being blamed on conservatism when in reality the Democrats' policies will be truly to blame. We could end of in a deep recession along with a mess of other problems, all being blamed on Republicans.

On top of that, conservatives will be on the outs in the Republican party. Mccain and his moderate allies like Lindsay Graham will do their best to marginalize conservatives and cause more and more rank and file Republicans to bolt the party. All this would be long-term disaster for the Republican Party and the country.

If Barack Obama is elected, it will make me sick to my stomach. The liberals and drive-bys will gloat for months and it will be a stinging defeat for the Republican Party. Also, the damage inflicted by total Democratic rule can't be understated; activist federal and supreme court justices, out of control social spending, cuts to the military, much higher taxes, higher gas prices, a crippled economy. We will definitely be in for some short-term pain.

On the flip-side, this could be the best thing to happen to the conservative movement since Bill Clinton. In 2010, with all blame for America's failures going to the Democrats, we have a chance to totally reshuffle the deck in the mid-term elections. It would also wake America up to exactly how far to the left the Democratic Party really is. This could do more than anything else to bring Reagan Democrats permanently over to the Republican Party.

I know it's a risky proposition. You never want to give up the presidency to these lunatic Democrats without a strong fight. For this reason, I would still prefer a Mccain victory, but it's nice to know that, in the case of defeat, we have a consolation prize of a long-term victory.