Monday, March 9, 2009

Memo to Meghan McCain: Conservatives Aren't the Problem

Meghan McCain seems like a very sweet girl, but aside from the fact that her latest article on The Daily Beast chiding Ann Coulter and "the most extreme side" of the Republican Party is poorly written (it reads like a fresh out of the house co-ed rebelling against her parents and everything they stand for), it misses the point. Ms. McCain lived in New York for a number of years, she attended Columbia University (not extactly a hotbed of conservatism) she voted for John Kerry a year ago, and only became a Republican less than a year ago. She acknowleges all of this and says, 'I am not suggesting I be any kind of voice for the party.' (>chuckles<) Good Meghan, very good, because we're not suggesting you be any kind of voice for the party either.

I am also assuming Ms. McCain lumps Gov. Palin in with the "extreme side" as she has said that Sarah Palin is the only thing that she "will not comment on."

What Ms. McCain and other Manhattanite and Washington Republicans don't realize is that their environment does not reflect the rest of America and the way that most Americans live. New York City accounts for less than 3% of out total population, there is a "rest of America" out there, believe it or not and the rest of America does not think the way New Yorkers, Chicagoians, Angelinos, and Washingtonians think. That rest of America feels unrepresented.

Rush Limbaugh, whom I am also guessing is apart of the "extreme side," put it best at CPAC. The key for us to winning elections is to stand on principle, because every one lives their lives as a conservative in one way or another. We're never going to win moderate democratic leaning independents, but we might be able to pick up a large chunk of conservative Democrats. This is how we win. If Ms. McCain is really a "progressive Republican" and believes in the basic tennents of conservatism--limited government, free market economics, and national security (and she has indicated she does) people like her will tag along because the alternative is much worse.

I'm not going to label Meghan McCain a RINO (Republican In Name Only--a term I despise, actually.) and she is welcome to be a Republican. I think there's also an argument to be made about the Republican Party's position on gay marriage, and whether that position truely aligns with our beliefs, but the point is, we need to have a conversation not a scolding by moderates. I would suggest she familiarize herself with the way conservatives think by reading the following works:

The Constitution of the United States of America
The Decleration of Independence
The Federalist Papers by James Madison
The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
.....and.....
Treason by Ann Coulter

Yes, Treason should give Ms. McCain a good history on how the left has betrayed this country time and time again when it really mattered.

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