Posted by
Andrews on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 2:36:36 AM
Those on the right have taken to saying that a McCain victory will mean the end of the Republican party. In their minds, since McCain is a RINO, a moderate, his victory will mean the death of the conservative wing of the party and the Republican party turning into nothing but another Democrat party.
I would argue that they are misguided. I understand the sentiment, I too find McCain too left for my taste, but they are looking at the election through conservative eyes, and not seeing the race from the view point of the left, or even mainstream America.
To the left, and thus to the media, McCain is a conservative. They do not distinguish well between far right and middle. Think of how often they call Bush an "ultraconservative" or try to portray him as a "right wing extremist". In the minds of the media and the left, anything right of the Democrats is conservative.
So, let us look at what a McCain victory will mean to the left, the media, and to mainstream America.
It will mean the third straight Republican presidential victory, and a win when the Democrats had all the advantages. More than that, it will mean that the last real liberal to hold the White House was elected in 1976, as Clinton had to run right to win*. An Obama defeat would be the death knell for liberalism in presidential politics, regardless of what happens in congress.
In the eyes of the left, and the independents and those not die hard political junkies, it would be the victory of a conservative when the liberals were certain to win.
And what will that mean?
Far from the death of the Republican party, it will mean the end of liberal presidential candidates. After Gore, Kerry and Obama all went down in defeat, the left will no longer be able to whine about stolen elections**. They will decide finally to run to the right again, to restore the winning Clinton policy. It will be the only alternative to continuing defeats.
Now, yes, inside the Republican party McCain will, in the short run, mean the victory of the RINOs. But nor for long. If in 2012, maybe 2016, the Democrats run right-leaning candidates, then what will the RINOs be able to offer? Nothing. They will find themselves saying "me too" to the Democrats. They may hold on through 2016, but, more likely, after the Democrats run a centrist in 2012, the conservative wing will experience a resurgence, as they are the only real alternative to putting up candidates who sound just like the Democrats.
Which means, strange as it sounds, a McCain win, even though it may look like a RINO victory, could, in the long run, help push the country to the right.
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* It is interesting that liberals call Bush far right and Clinton centrist, while conservatives call Bush centrist and Clinton ultra liberal. Both are completely wrong, as each of the presidents mentioned basically gave up most of their ideology to rule from the center, with a few exceptions. While Clinton wanted a lot of left-wing programs, very few passed. Similarly, except one tax cut, Bush got very little of his conservative agenda through congress, even when it was Republican. (I discount the war, as I hope defense is not a partisan issue. Also, at the time of the vote military action in both both Afghanistan and Iraq was enjoying bipartisan support, whatever Democrats may claim now.)
I wrote about this a long time ago, and, amusingly, the comments matched exactly the viewpoints I predicted.
** It is possible, though it seems unlikely, the Democrats are delusional enough they will claim Obama lost due to racism alone and still refuse to abandon left wing policies. If they insist on claiming the Republicans stole 2000 and 2004 and racism won in 2008, then we may see one final liberal in 2012, followed by a move right in 2016. But I would like to think the Democrats are not that out of touch with reality.