On Super Tuesday, 21 states cast their ballots in favor of their preferred Republican nominee in a contest that eliminated Mitt Romney from the battle for the nomination. We Republicans are now left with one front-runner – John McCain. Yet as Sen. McCain (R – Ariz.) gains victory after victory, conservative party members increasingly complain about his “liberal” agenda and have even gone as far as to draft “Romney 2012” plans or to say that they just won’t vote in November. Though you may not be satisfied with the emerging Republican nominee, it is time to rally together to support our candidate.
McCain may appear to be liberal in comparison to fundamentalist conservatives, but rest assured that he is indeed a true Republican. Yes, he voted against Bush’s tax cuts, pushed an amnesty bill for immigration and pioneered campaign-finance reform. But he was not the only conservative to support the amnesty bill; President Bush did as well. And aside from these well-publicized issues, McCain has received a well-deserved 82 percent rating from the American Conservative Union.
In his policies and votes, he has fought against increased entitlement, proposes using the market to reform health care instead of incurring huge governmental costs, and has pledged to slash useless and wasteful government programs. His voting record is consistently anti-abortion. He is a foreign policy hawk who supported the troop surge and promises to continue fighting our enemies in Iraq. And in his belief in states’ rights over federal powers, McCain is as Republican as they come.
Conservatives who are upset over Mitt Romney’s loss threaten to protest McCain’s candidacy straight into November and boycott the election. While they may think that they are noble ideologues fighting for a greater cause, in reality these individuals are hindering the progress and collective goal of the Republican party. If the conservative movement hopes to continue growing throughout the upcoming decades, it is crucial not to lose control of both the executive and legislative branches of government. The GOP is the vehicle that carries our conservative candidates into office, and that requires not only the support of conservatives, but moderates who vote the party line as well. Mitt Romney may be out of the race, but we all know very well that we will achieve more conservative goals through a President McCain than a President Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama. And looking forward, it will be much easier to sell a Romney candidacy after four years of a successful conservative president than a successful liberal one.
McCain will also be able to provide a desperately needed energy shot for the Republican Party by bringing in independent voters impressed by his moderate environmental positions and bipartisan rhetoric. McCain’s military experience and pro-war stance will further invigorate the patriotic, pro-war movement that has been fearfully silent since 2006. He may not be a militant conservative revolutionary (keep in mind, in fact, that no Republican president, not even Ronald Reagan, has been), but he will be a reliable standard-bearer for the GOP, and may save it from fatal disaster in 2008.
McCain also offers the most viable conservative solution to the most pressing issue of our time – the war in Iraq. Both Obama and Clinton adamantly support withdrawing from Iraq, a move that will open us up to fresh attacks and empower our enemies. On this issue, McCain is the strongest candidate we have. Taxes can be raised and lowered, spending increased and cut, and the borders sealed and reopened – but the damage that would be done by the Democrats to Iraq would be irreparable. McCain is our most electable Republican, and he would not allow Iraq to be lost under his watch.
Conservatives everywhere have everything to gain from a McCain presidency – and everything to lose from a Democratic one. We cannot let the nation see four years of liberal policies. We cannot write off McCain’s hard-line fiscal discipline. And we certainly cannot allow the Democrats to destroy our efforts in Iraq. The choice in the primary may have been murky, but in the general election it will be clear: conservatives can and must support John McCain.
The writer, a freshman majoring in political science, is a Hatchet columnist.
