What The Other Side Is Thinking

Because other viewpoints are necessary on ZVTS, and I enjoy shooting things contained in barrels, we present a fun feature I like to call What The Other Side Is Thinking.

Today: What The Other Side Is Thinking about...Joe Lieberman as McSame's Veep.

Dear Senator McCain:

The buzz in recent days has been that some of your key aides were calling national and state GOP leaders to alert them to the possibility that you were seriously considering a pro-abortion running mate and to take their temperature on such a selection.

As Dan Henninger of the Wall Street Journal asked: Are you politically "stupid" or do you care little for conservative principles?

It also shows that you don't understand why the Republican brand has taken a massive beating in recent years. You clearly don't comprehend why millions of conservatives are off the Republican reservation and sitting on the political sidelines.

This highlights a basic difference between the two sides. One side wants to abolish all abortion period, with no exceptions made for any reason whatsoever. The other side does not believe in the total abolition of abortion. Only total abolition of abortion is acceptable to this side. People forget this, or overlook it on purpose.

The other thing is this notion that McSame is somehow too liberal for the modern Republican Party in 2008...a man that believes wholeheartedly in endless war, more tax cuts for an economy facing $10 trillion of debt, and more police state tactics is intolerable to this side because his Vice President does not believe in the absolute abolition of abortion.

Your indication that you're willing to put a person who has a clear, unequivocal pro-abortion record within a heartbeat of the presidency is alarming.

Pro-life conservatives understand that, to change the laws to protect innocent life, first and foremost, we need good, articulate leadership--from the president and vice president.

To put it as simply and clearly as I can, most Republican leaders at the national and state level have betrayed, abandoned, and sold out the principles that define conservatism. Talk of selecting a pro-abortion liberal Republican (Tom Ridge) or, even worse, a pro-abortion liberal Democrat (Joe Lieberman) drives the Republican brand lower and lower.

That's the other thing, these days a Conservative is someone who has an inviolate record on certain social issues without any compromise, and yet these issues conflict: no room for abortion and its inhuman barbarism, but on the subject of suspected terrorists any and all physical horrors must be allowed to be inflicted upon the subject in order to "save lives". Likewise there are all kinds of cries that American government spends too much money on programs that are wasteful, but the same conservatives have no problem going trillions into debt for our wars, in fact demanding more tax cuts to fuel an economy already on the brink of disaster.

What is causing the Republican brand to sink is not Joe Lieberman, but conservatives themselves, and the inability to recognize that fact. Here's the thing: I'm a social moderate and fiscal conservative common sense kind of guy. If a program works, great. If it doesn't do its stated goal, it needs to be scrapped and the problem needs to be readdressed. What passes for a conservative in 2008 and a liberal in 2008 is insanity, the meter has been pushed so far out of whack that we're talking about has no basis in reality...only perception.

But here is the real kicker:

Your apparent interest in selecting a running mate who is out of sync ideologically with the vast majority of conservatives reinforces the image of the Republican Party as a party without principle and dedicated to one proposition above all others – the seeking, acquiring, obtaining, and holding onto power.

Senator McCain, you are exceedingly proud of being a political maverick – you wear it as a badge of honor.

Well, poke the base of the Republican Party – the conservatives – in the eye one more time by choosing a pro-abortion vice presidential candidate and conservatives will show you that two can play the maverick game.

Conservatives are people with proudly held principles. We're now waiting to see if you share our principles.

Sincerely,

Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com

The prosecution rests, your honor.