EckerNet.Com

Yesterday, SeeDubya of JunkYardBlog wrote a very excellent post about whether or not conservatives can and/or should get behind Juan McCain. I\’m still in my anti-McCain bitterness funk, but even so it broke through a little as he basically applied the Rules of Logic* to the situation. End result is that we should, and for several reasons.

Today he wrote a follow up, in which he generally agreed with what I said regarding this new attempt at amnesty. However, he took it a step further and did what I am perpetually unable to do……looked at it from an optimistic viewpoint.

However, more importantly he points out that yes conservatives should be open to accepting and supporting McCain but for the love of God DO NOT DO IT NOW!!! Resist the temptation to unite….for now.

If we play it cool and string him along, he won\’t be able to take us for granted. But whatever you do, I\’ll say again, don\’t say you\’ve made up your mind. Make sure he hears there\’s a chance he can win conservatives over with some conservative personnel and policy. Otherwise he won\’t bother trying to please us, if he thinks he can\’t please us, or if he thinks we\’re in his back pocket and he doesn\’t need to try.

So please don\’t endorse McCain, or declare your unquenchable enmity for him, or demand everybody support him right away NOW NOW NOW FALL IN LINE NOW!, at least until he picks a running mate. I know it\’s fun to go on the blogs and declare that I could never vote for the man. Whatever. Stop saying that. What you need to say is: if McCain wants my vote, he needs to do X and Y, with those being realistic conservative things. Whether you actually give him your vote or not is your business.

In my opinion there is a whole lot of wisdom in that. And he did it without the preachiness and/or condescension so common amongst our ranks lately. I would say yes, if McCain can speak with enough \”truthiness\” towards four different issues, I think the bulk of conservatives would be willing to stand by him. I list them here in priority

1. VP – Let\’s face it Juan, you\’re old as hell and the Presidency isn\’t exactly known for aging people gracefully. A second term is unlikely and dying while in office** wouldn\’t be entirely surprising. So your VP choice takes on more importance than just augmenting your ticket. Not only would a VP be important in the case of your death, he/she is also very likely our next candidate. Pick wisely.
2. Judges – The Trump Card of Trump Cards. Conservatives are still nervous. Offering up a few examples of likely appointees probably would not be an unwise move.
3. Immigration – Despite what you say, you still haven\’t heard us. Or if you have, you are completely misunderstanding us. Get this through your comb-over. We don\’t want amnesty. We want more than just border enforcement. We want it yesterday. We don\’t want excuses. Get. It. Done.
4. Taxes/Fiscal Conservatism – Only reason this isn\’t number 3 is because you have started some progress in this area. The earmarks statement was good….ah hell, I\’ll give ya credit, it was excellent. You say you want to make the tax cuts permanant but we\’re still smarting from that vote against them. You still have some work in this field.

Address those and I think we might be able to be one big happy family again come September. If not, you\’re looking at a Manson family reunion of biblical proportions. It\’s your choice.

* By the way I\’m also bitter I actually had to learn the Rules of Logic….twice as it turned out, as apparently professors don\’t check to see if their curriculum overlap.

** Yeah Yeah Yeah, it\’s a terrible thing to say. It\’s also realistic, so get bent.