The Sad Truth

It appears as though this incredibly long journey has finally reached its culmination by annointing Senator John McCain as the nominee for the GOP.

How did this man earn our party's top prize? There has been much debate recently as to whether the Senator fully embodies the principles that lie at the heart of conservatism. Maybe the pundits are correct when they say there was no perfect republican candidate this time around, but McCain certainly falls quite short.

Is the modernity of our platform being questioned? I for one, am not about to let John McCain ruin the principles and values that were instilled into this party under the Reagan Republicans nearly three decades ago. To accept John McCain as our leader is merely beyond comprehension.

This turn of events has been particularly baffling because the extreme right of our party, the most recognizable and influential: Rush, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter; all have railed against him on the party's last domain: talk radio. Thousands of callers would voice their opposition on these programs and vow to stop the Senator at any cost.

What happened? Does this signal the end of talk radio and its' effectiveness as conservatives' last outlet of free expression? Why did no one toe the party line and stand against John McCain? The situation has become so dire that in fact the aforementioned celebrities have all advised republican voters to stay home or vote for the opposition on that cold November day.

Why did John McCain fail to win our support and loyalty? Perhaps it was his excessive partnerships with liberals the likes of Lieberman, Feingold and Kennedy. Perhaps it was his staunch opposition to the Bush tax cuts that brought a stagnant economy out of recession and into periods of record growth. Perhaps it was the fact that in 2002 he approached members of the Democrat Party with an interest in joining them. Or maybe it was all of the above, coupled with the stigma of eight years under W's administration that has crushed the hearts and crippled the spirit of this Grand Ole Party.

Whatever the reason may be for this destined defeat in November, we conservatives need to take heed the lessons this election teaches. We need to clearly state what makes conservatism the most conventional political ideology in this country and then most importantly find the candidate who consummately personifies it.

And we had better hurry; we have less than four years to find him...