US Conservatives Feel Betrayed
The Republican Party Abandoned its Base With John McCain
John McCain is a lock for the Republican nomination, but conservatives aren't enthused. Right-wingers need to focus on advancing conservatism in congressional races.
With the two most conservative contenders who had any chance, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney, dropping out of the race, John McCain has virtually wrapped up the Republican nomination and conservatives aren't happy.
Since the Iowa caucuses, conservatives have sat stupefied in front of their TV sets, marveling at the generally weak showing by their conservative flag bearers in subsequent races. The Republican party is ostensibly the conservative party, the antidote to what conservatives see as the Democrat party's thinly-veiled socialist agenda.
Election results in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire were written off as the result of "open elections" in which independents and Democrats could vote in a Republican primary. Super Tuesday deflated that balloon.
While McCain did struggle in Southern states, his domination of the over all delegate count demonstrated that any weakness in loyalty from conservatives in the party is shored up by its more moderate to liberal factions. Does this mean that conservatism is dead? Not likely.
Conservatives are Angry
The vitriol evidenced on conservative talk radio such as Rush Limbaugh's show, and comments on the right-wing blogosphere, demonstrate that while conservatives are quite alive, they feel their party has become watered down in an attempt to placate liberals. Couple that with an apathetic trust in the system of checks and balances to prevent a Democrat majority in congress from doing too much damage and you get the Democrat Congress of 2006.
The time has come for conservatives to worry less about party affiliation and more about advancing the conservative agenda, an agenda that McCain has often seemed to work against.
McCain Worked Against Conservatives
Some of McCain's anti-conservative measures include McCain/Feingold (campaign finance reform), his stance with the infamous "gang of fourteen" (which, essentially, allowed the filibuster of presidential nominees) and his most recent thumb in the eye of right-wingers everywhere, the McCain/Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill, which served to rile up an entire nation, demonstrated the power of a people tired of illegal immigration, and nearly cost him any chance of the nomination.
Conservatives Focus on Congress
Regardless of who the next president is, the best hope of conservatives is to focus on congressional races. A Republican majority (with a strong conservative foundation) can prevent nanny-state legislation such as HillaryCare from being passed into law.
In the unlikely event that McCain wins in November a conservative Republican congress with a backbone will keep him leaning right, which will be just fine. For McCain, (and Hillary, and Obama) being president isn't about the solemn duty to execute the laws of these United States, it's about sitting in the Oval Office and being called Mr. President. As long as he is checked and balanced, conservatives can live with that.
