McCain’s Super Tuesday ad: Reagan Revolution!

Oh, and PS Rushbaby, since you posted McCain’s year-by-year ACU ratings (which do not put his conservatism in a favorable light), it obviously means you suffer MDS.

:))

thirteen28 on February 1, 2008 at 2:19 PM

But all he’s attributed to as an ultra-conservative he was not.

Entelechy on February 1, 2008 at 2:49 PM

Thanks for responding.

While you do raise some good points, there are still some counterpoints that can be raised as well.

On the issue of choice, fair enough. But by the time he ran in 1980, he had come around on the issue, and there’s no doubt in my mind that by then his conviction was firm. Some will call that a flip, but at least speaking for myself, I don’t mind a flip if it’s genuinely based on reflective thought and conviction. RR left little doubt that his was such.

On taxes, in the net, he still cut them drastically when you compare the effect of his original cuts and the subsequent increase that occured in 1982. The overwhelming majority of Americans paid less in taxes at the end of his term compared to the beginning. And the net effect of that spilled over into the economy, which gave us the first strong growth without inflation in over two decades after the “index misery” years of the 1970′s.

On amnesty, the deal he compromised for was to allow the then 3 million stay in exchange for real border security and enforcement, believing in the good faith of those he compromised with. His failure there wasn’t one of core beliefs, but rather, his misreading of those with whom he compromised. I bet if he was around today and could be asked if he’d do it all over again, he would have done things differently.

True, he wasn’t very religious, but he never, never showed contempt for those who were, and certainly never referred to them as “agents of intolerance”.

And while he was able to be gracious and pleasant with the other side of the aisle, he also stood very firmly on his conservative convictions, despite all the screeching and howling. Moreover, he never, ever showed contempt for those on whose support he relied.

I don’t agree he wouldn’t pass for a conservative today. He would be scrutinized more heavily, without a doubt – but then again, that’s a tribute to how successful he was as a champion of conservatism in the first place.

thirteen28 on February 1, 2008 at 3:11 PM

Dearest thirteen28, I’m not a McCain adherent at all. His time was in 2000, and he didn’t make it. If he had any grace, and believed in graceful ageing, he’d just retire and leave us alone.

Don’t worry E – I never thought you were a McCain adherent, and I apologize if I ever gave you the impression I did.

As for the rest of your post, I think a large amount of the bitterness is present here because of the contempt McCain has shown for conservatives in the last 8 years. While I’m sure there would still be a debate going on if McCain wasn’t in the race, I don’t think it would be as heated as it is now.

But either way, I’d much rather have this debate now, as heated as it it, rather than meekly acquiese to the direction the party is going. Too many people find it too easy to go along to get along, or to leave the kitchen when the heat is turned up. But that kind of mentality is exactly what led the Republican party into minority status for decades, as the party was nothing more than a lite version of the Dems during those times. And that’s exactly where things are heading now – right back to the point where we have an echo, not a choice. That’s not good for the Republican party, it’s not good for the conservative movement, and most importantly, it’s not good for the country. If we just go along to get along now, all we are doing is giving the country a choice between vanilla and lite vanilla. That’s the surest path to being in the wilderness to decades to come, and history bears me out on that one.

I’d rather have this fight, and have it now, regardless of how heated it gets. At least then we have a chance of reversing the direction of the party and going back to a place where we have a real choice in the matter.

thirteen28 on February 1, 2008 at 4:11 PM