Water Cooler Politics and the Infobahn

A liberal friend recently asked me a question, and the answer seemed appropriate for a blog.

Here's an excerpt from the discussion:

Q: "...When McCain did his first go-round with 'The Straight Talk Express' (or whatever he was calling that bus-thingy) I thought carefully about crossing the aisle for him. I'm frankly amazed that he is the GOP candidate. Is this a failing of the right-wing in allowing him to secure the nomination? Is this an indication that the GOP is moving center? An acknowledgement that he's more likely to win crossover votes than a more conservative choice? Or just a fluke?"

A: This is going to sound hard to believe coming from the US Conservatives Guide, but I honestly believe he’s more conservative than most people realize. Granted, he’s not as socially conservative as the radical right wing of the Republican Party would like, but that doesn’t mean he’s center. He’s pro life, pro gun, in favor of a strong national defense, smaller government and adherence to the constitution. Those are all the basic tenets (these days) to qualify as a conservative. The reason he’s considered a “maverick” by the radical right is because he’s repeatedly shown a willingness to compromise and reach across the aisle in an effort to move government along. If it were up to the radical right, there would be no compromising under any circumstances.

In many ways, that’s the problem with the far-left, too. Unfortunately what’s happened in America is that those who repeatedly run for and are elected to Congress are the exaggerated ends of the same political spectrum. The Democrats typically run on a far-left campaign, while the Republicans typically run a far-right campaign. Different factions vote for the candidate who is most unwilling to compromise. These candidates are then perceived as the ideal candidate because of their unwillingness to compromise. The end result when you have a bunch of politicians who are unwilling to compromise is political chaos, which is exactly what we have now. Bush is the worst example of this because not only did he become unwilling to compromise, by betraying his conservative supporters and abusing his office to circumvent the constitution he proved once and for all just how powerful the presidency is.

All that being said, think back to 2000 when the differences between Bush and McCain were far more apparent. These differences, in fact, cost him the election. I think many conservatives see now how important it is this time to elect a candidate with some proven consistency. McCain may not be the radical right’s first choice, but even they can now see what a mistake it was to nominate Bush in 2000. At the very least, McCain will prove more conservative than either of the other choices, at best he’ll make all their wishes come true.

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