Meet the conservatives who voted for Obama in 2008 — and might do so again
“Well [audible sigh], I always tell people I’m a Goldwater conservative, and we are a pitifully small remnant,” says Kevin Gutzman, co-author with Thomas E. Woods of Who Killed the Constitution? “I would like to have Governor Romney give me a reason to think he is substantially different from Obama.” Another sigh. Gutzman eventually answers that he’ll vote for Romney, unhappily.
Same question for Bruce Bartlett: “[Sigh] I think if I were inclined to vote this year—which I’m not—I’d make the same decision that Obama is better. But there is a case for Romney.”…
Although most Obamacons have mixed feelings about Obama now, not one of those I interviewed expressed the regret about choosing the Illinois senator over John McCain in 2008, given what they knew at the time. Foreign policy was the issue they cited over and over again: “Four years ago, I disliked McCain intensely; it seemed like the choice between Obama and someone with policies very like Obama’s except that he would also invade Iran,” says Megan McArdle of the Daily Beast…
Exploring the reasoning of the thinkers most satisfied and most dissatisfied with Obama can be instructive. Jeffrey Hart is the Obamacon most pleased with his choice, and he is anxious to see the president rewarded with a second term. He did not simply swallow his vote as if it were bad medicine; he argues positively that a true conservative has no choice but to help elect Obama again. “One definition of conservatism would be to conserve what is good and to devise solutions to problems as they arise,” he says. For Hart, Republicans like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan secured and extended the achievements of the New Deal and Great Society. But now, he says, “I fear we’ll lose Medicare through the Ryan budget.” Asked how he feels about most self-described conservatives sticking with the GOP, he replies serenely: “They’re wrong.”
Blowback
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Maybe you’re willing to define conservatism down (apologies to Daniel Patrick Moynihan), but I’m not. Opposition to abortion coupled with a willingness to raise taxes and to “consider” public sector unions “on a case-by-case basis” (what does that even mean? I suspect a real weakness here) does not make you a conservative. It makes you Bart Stupak.
Funny, except I didn’t say that you did. I said that you’re as much of a statist as one who does. You’re just as happy with the government confiscating taxpayer money as the leftist is, you just prefer it be allocated by government to different priorities.
fitzfong on July 23, 2012 at 11:21 PM
No, I’m going to be voting for Virgil Goode, the Constitution Party’s candidate. It allows me to register my resentment of both candidates, as well as the nature of my objections by affiliating my vote with a particular party platform.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:21 PM
notice that the author tended to lump McCardle in with those that will vote again for barry…i didn’t see her say that anywhere in the article (maybe she’s said that elsewhere)
Andrew Sullivan…please
the rest of them are old, and seek relevance…wanting to be hip. Conservatism was hip, and these guys rode the wave. Now it is unhip..so they move on and ride the next wave…and call it good.
No conservative can watch barry demagogue the rich and business and be happy. Some people think they profit by barry..maybe, but is it worth the country?
i’ve come to agree that we should be less interventionist. I agree that we lack a conservative icon. But…if you want to form a truly conservative faction to compete and reform the R party…then do it. Don’t vote for barry.
but again, most of these guys are too old and irrelevant…hart et al. So please, just put a cork in it…and leave the change to the tea party
r keller on July 23, 2012 at 11:23 PM
Except that Bart Stupak wasn’t honest about his positions (if he had meant what he said, I would’ve thought much better of him), and favored the individual mandate in healthcare. As for considering public unions on a case-by-case basis, it means look at the size of the benefits, their salary, and whether or not you believe such compensation to be justified or not. For a case of unjustified compensation (although not a union issue), consider Bell, CA.
So I care about how the money is spent and what it’s spent on? Guilty as charged!
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:26 PM
oh and btw, the plutocrats are generally big fans of barry…after all that’s where the money hose is.
but, plutocracy is a big problem…the left is not the place to fix it
r keller on July 23, 2012 at 11:28 PM
..then you are a bigger fool that anyone could possibly imagine. You’re the type of patriot who’d show up at Lexington and be asked by your fellow patriots, “Where’s your musket, powder, and shot?” to which you would reply, “Well I do not believe in that sort of thing. Instead, I’ll just shout really nasty things at the Red Coats to show them how I feel.”
You ARE no better than those ObamaCons. If fact you are far, far worse. In fact, I would say wa-a-a-a-a-y off the scale with the delusional Libertarians. Shitt! Even some of them are better than you are! Hell, at least Gary Johnson’s on the ballot in a lot of states.
Monumental waste of skin, you are!
The War Planner on July 23, 2012 at 11:29 PM
Yep, the Frumster publicly blasted — on TV and in op-eds — McCain throughout the campaign but ended up saying he would vote for him. He became a US citizen on 9-11-07…
Gohawgs on July 23, 2012 at 11:31 PM
On the ballot in a lot of states? Maybe more than you think.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:34 PM
May I be so bold as to ask in which state you reside?
Gohawgs on July 23, 2012 at 11:35 PM
Virginia.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:36 PM
..excuse me for not giving a flying crap what you think of me, you a bloviating gas bag.
The War Planner on July 23, 2012 at 11:37 PM
..Jeeeee-zus! There’s five minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
The War Planner on July 23, 2012 at 11:39 PM
So, moreorless, you are voting FOR the obamanation come November…
Gohawgs on July 23, 2012 at 11:39 PM
LOL! Now that’s an insult!
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:39 PM
..f**k off.
The War Planner on July 23, 2012 at 11:40 PM
No, I’m more or less voting for Virgil Goode and the Constitution Party.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:41 PM
In other words: “I don’t care how much the federal government confiscates other people’s money just as long as it funds my personal sacred cows to my satisfaction.”
How about considering that they shouldn’t exist at all?
fitzfong on July 23, 2012 at 11:41 PM
Actually, I believe the quote you were looking for is “Go f*ck yourself.” And remember to give kudos to Cheney.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:42 PM
..O.K., GO F**K YOURSELF!
The War Planner on July 23, 2012 at 11:44 PM
That would be undoubtedly true if you didn’t live in a “battle ground state“.
Gohawgs on July 23, 2012 at 11:45 PM
Uh, yeah. Because national defense and the national highway system are such personal sacred cows. As are the U.S. Marshals, Coast Guard, ICE, FDA, and other organizations. /sarc
Considered and rejected. If a man has worked, pay him for it. Parades and statements of appreciation don’t keep food on the table for public employees.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:46 PM
Better. Thank you.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:47 PM
And is still true, despite whatever doubts you may harbor!
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:48 PM
..good point. Do me a favor, will you? Ask crapsack how he can “more or less” vote for someone.
Thanks.
The War Planner on July 23, 2012 at 11:48 PM
WP,
Some like walking around minus nostrils…
Gohawgs on July 23, 2012 at 11:50 PM
Oh, I’ll happily explain without the need to ask! It comes from having both reasons to actively support Goode, as well as reasons to actively detest both Obama and Romney. Operationally, it makes little difference, but citing that there are both motives positively in Goode’s favor as well as motives against both Romney and Obama gives a clearer rationale behind what I’m planning to do in November.
Stoic Patriot on July 23, 2012 at 11:51 PM
Yep. Screw the taxpayer who provides the means by which the public sector parasite can live well beyond his worth.
fitzfong on July 23, 2012 at 11:57 PM
Sure, because a paycheck greater than zero, any paycheck, is surely overpayment. /sarc
You have quite a talent for hyperbole.
Stoic Patriot on July 24, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Oh, where are my manners? I forgot it was “my civic duty” or “patriotic” or some other self-righteous bromide to work my a** off to keep incompetent public sector slobs in a life to which they’ve become accustomed. My first duty is not to myself or my family, it’s to maintain the disproportionately wealthy lifestyles all the passengers in AFSCME, SEIU and NEA enjoy without the first concern as to whether or not they’ve earned it. Consider me chastened. I shall awaken in the morning refreshed and with renewed purpose knowing that my focus was all wrong. I’m freed from working for the benefit of myself and my family knowing that working for your benefit is much more important. Thank you.
fitzfong on July 24, 2012 at 12:17 AM
G’night, collectivist. I look forward to the campaign of your anti-alcohol, pro-tax candidate. Sounds like a winning combination.
MadisonConservative on July 24, 2012 at 12:32 AM
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