Why Conservatives Must Support McCain

The action and passion of our time involves the ongoing struggle against Islamo-Nazi terror, the defense of core American ideals, and an election this November that will determine the direction of the nation for years, perhaps decades, to come.
At the moment, some activists and commentators who call themselves “conservative” say they won’t participate in this choice because they’re unhappy with the choices. These same people claim to honor the memory of Ronald Reagan, while ignoring the fact that he never followed or recommended such a childish or self-destructive course. Even when he felt dispirited over the Republican nominee, even when he lost a bitter nomination struggle to Gerald Ford, Reagan never sat out an election or considered backing the Democrats. He campaigned for his rival Ford, and helped make that election breathlessly close – with Jimmy Carter winning it by only 2% of the popular vote, and a few thousand votes in Ohio. It’s odd that some who claim to revere Reagan in all things but choose to ignore his oft-repeated declaration that “Somebody who agrees with me 70% of the time, isn’t my enemy. He’s my ally.”
Of course, some of the same thinking that currently leads angry conservatives to threaten to “sit it out” in November, or even to support Hillary, also animated the “Buchanan Brigades” who claimed to see no meaningful difference between Bush and Gore in 2000. They left the Republican Party, earned a paltry 0.4% of the popular vote (one-sixth the total of Ralph Nader), and discredited themselves more than they hurt the Republicans.
With nine months to go before the election, it’s safe to assume that most of the decent and patriotic people now threatening not to participate in the action and passion of our time will consider the crucial issues and come alive, backing the nation’s more conservative party headed (as always) by an imperfect conservative candidate. If you are a conservative, whether economic, moral, or on national defense, you must support McCain.