Tim and Alan's razor-shap ripostes are appreciated. I agree up to a point, Lord Copper.
An alternative to what Tim says might be to say that:
- For patriotic conservatives, McCain says that "Americans should welcome the rise of a strong, confident European Union". Hummm .... It seems McCain's excellent take on the UN means he is making the right noises about one supranational quango. But he is way out about the one that is destroying my constituents future prosperity and democratic self-government. (Didn't McCain even suggest that British Conservatives remain part of the pro-Euro EPP?)
- For social conservatives, Tim says that McCain offers to appoint the right sort of judges. Yeeesss .... Surely the problem is not merely what kind of judges preside over social issues, but the fact that judges are deciding social issues? Judicial activism is on the rise in all Western nations, and it means that no matter how many elections the centre right wins, and no matter how many
goodless bad judges we appoint, long term we lose.
- For economic conservatives, McCain opposed tax cuts. (I know he said it's because America couldn't afford them, but isn't that what Conservatives who refuse to cut taxes always say?)
Ryan Sager's (who is he backing incidentally?) excellent book "The Elephant in the Room" posed the question that if the Republican Party is no longer the party of Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, small government, or fiscal restraint, then what is it? Suspicious of the Bush / Rove version of Big Government Conservatism, I fear that a McCain victory would put off the long overdue day of reckoning when the Republicans will have to re-think first principles. If Hillary wins, that process can begin in ernest. If not, it’s a holding position at best.
Recent Comments