Thursday, March 06, 2008

Memo to McCain: Don't Hold Your Breath for My Vote

If I had stayed in Missouri, I would have got to vote for Mike Huckabee while his campaign was still very much alive. Now I’ll vote for him in Indiana’s primary when his campaign is very much dead.

I joined an Indiana Huckabee Meetup group—late in the game—but soon enough to enjoy common fellowship of undaunted crusaders who believed in a great man and a great cause.

That was 48 hours ago. Since then, our man bowed out and we are very much divided on whether John McCain will receive our vote in November’s general election.

For me, voting for McCain presents several problems.

First, he is not pro-life. Anti-abortion, yes (mostly), but pro-life, no. John McCain wants to destroy human life when it's in an embryonic, frozen stage.

Second, he favors homosexuality. Homosexual marriage, no; but homosexual unions, yes.

Third, he is weak on national defense. Strong on the war against terrorism abroad, yes; but on protecting America's borders (very much a national defense issue) he is very, very weak.

Fourth, he has a woeful position on taxes. He has said little--other than he is not opposed to raising them. I could continue, but this will suffice for the moment (or go here and start reading about one third of the way down).

If I were to vote for him, I'd have to say if/when he were to sign a federal bill into law protecting homosexual unions that I had a part in making that happen. I could console myself and say, at least it's not a homosexual marriage law, but I'd have to own up to getting John McCain in that spot. The same when he signs an executive order allowing scientists to experiment on human life; when he thwarts efforts to secure the border and deport illegal aliens; and when he continues rampant federal spending and raises taxes. For now, I will do nothing of the sort. My conscience will not allow it.

When we speak of conscience, what we are saying is that when evil presents itself, of whatever degree, we can say to ourselves, to our families, to our countrymen and to our God--we had no part in that.

We know well the threat from an Obama or Hillary presidency. The threat looms as strong in our minds and hearts as it does yours. Perhaps we are being naive or counter-productive. And perhaps, by that fateful November Tuesday later this year, we'll be convinced that we must vote for McCain for the good of our country. But I doubt it.

People like me haven't voted for a politician yet who isn't pro-life and pro-marriage and we don't intend to start.
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P.S. For all the talk of Republicans 'closing ranks' and 'supporting our own' read this post from the Irritable Elephant on how McCain treats his fellow Republicans. Does "you reap what you sow" sound familiar?

2 comments:

Prof Mark said...

Thanks for the track back and for reading!

The Irritable Elephant

Jim Shaver said...

You're in Indiana now? Permanently? What are you doing?

Email me privately if you still have my address.