With the political field narrowing every day the same question still remains that was there a year ago, what is a good conservative to do? With an obvious lack of truly likeable well rounded candidates it has been extremely difficult for me to pick a candidate to support, and consequently have been bouncing back and forth. Let’s start with the field when it first went to the Iowa caucuses. There was John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Paul, and Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson became a non-entity early on so we will ignore him for simplicity’s sake. Ron Paul, however fun he may be to listen too, was never really a viable contender, though you still have to love the guy. In debates it was like all the other candidates were doing the waltz in topcoats and tail, the Ron Paul runs in wearing a Woody-Woodpecker costume and starts jumping around and yelling and pecking the other candidates in the head; sure its amusing, but at the end of the day we want someone who knows how to waltz and can keep the dance going.

Now to the candidates that actually stood a chance. Each one has his strengths or weaknesses, but it was apparent from the beginning that this was not going to be an election that conservatives would like. Just from watching the debates and reading the articles, Giuliani seemed to have some fairly good immigration and war stances, but abortion, gay marriage, and gun control were bad…very bad. Add to that a personal life that makes Bill Clinton look like a choir boy, and that makes him a very hard pill to swallow. This is all academic though, as he is no longer in the race.

Romney tried to place himself as the only true conservative in the running, the “conservative alternative to John McCain”. Romney touted his business experience and healthcare work in Massachusetts as credentials, which are not entirely without merit. Romney’s change of heart, authentic or not, was just a little too convenient though; anyone who claimed at one time that they could be a better advocate for gay rights than Ted Kennedy is going to have a very tough road to hoe to become the conservative alternative to anything. Add to that his Mormon faith, a religion at odds with a greater part of the conservative base and Romney is once again far from appealing.

None of these really matter though as Giuliani is no longer in the race and Romney has suspended his campaign. That leaves us with McCain and Huckabee, which is still almost an academic question as McCain possesses an almost insurmountable lead in delegates. Just for the sake of argument though let’s say Huckabee is a viable contender for the Republican nomination, and we’ll compare him to John McCain. Now without going into too much depth or detail Huckabee is a good social conservative. Abortion and gay marriage are particularly good spots for him. Speaking as a social conservative (and consequently one whose hot buttons are abortion and gay marriage) I like Huckabee. I like his stance on social issues, I like that he is a pastor and guided by Christian ideals, and I just kinda like the guy in general. The fact is though, he is somewhat scary on most larger issues. Economy, defense, all those bigger problems, he just seems, well, inadequate. McCain on the other hand seems very strong on bigger issues. National defense and global issues seem to be his strong suite, along with a widespread appeal to independents and right leaning democrats, but he’s very sketchy conservatively on almost everything. Reaching across the isle is all well and good, but reaching across and walking across and hanging out for awhile are two entirely different things.

Now we have the million dollar question, what is a good conservative to do? Sadly the only answer I can come up with is…I don’t know. I don’t know what to do, and judging by how the votes have been falling in the different primaries, I think other conservatives feel the same way. I like Huckabee on social issues, but I don’t like him on most others. If you’ve read any of Chris’ past articles, you’ll notice him referring to conservative friends supporting McCain; one of those friends would be me. I have several friends in the military whose opinions I trust greatly and they are adamant that McCain is their man; that counts for a lot in my books. Once again though, McCain is very sketchy as a conservative. With the scales in essence balanced, I’ve decided that the only thing a good conservative can do is vote against Hilary/Obama. Whether McCain or Huckabee wins the nomination, conservatives need to support the republican candidate. There never has, nor will there be a perfect candidate (yes even Reagan wasn’t perfect) and about the only thing that can be done is to vote for the lesser of two evils. I think McCain’s ability to draw in independents and right leaning Democrats will be key in the upcoming election. As much as I like Huckabee I don’t think he can win against a Democrat, and regardless of what Ann Coulter may say, Hilary is NOT better than McCain. Whichever Democrat wins their nomination, rest assured they will be much farther away from conservative ideals than anyone that wins our nomination. It is absolutely imperative that a republican win the Presidency to counteract the Democratic momentum, to appoint the next couple of Supreme Court judges, and to offset the now Democratic congress. So my fellow conservatives, I say don’t worry to much about the primaries, if you have a particular affinity for a candidate by all means support him, if not then don’t. Come November, though, we need to be behind whoever our Nominee is, whether we totally agree with him or not.

Labels: General Politics