Conservatives have finally begun to rally around the Republican Party's presumptive nominee John McCain. In light of this, McCain can still lose the votes of many conservatives with the decisions that he makes in the coming weeks, most importantly his pick for Vice President. However, the obstacle course that McCain must navigate in the days to come can either shore up this conservative suport or sink the hopes that he can continue to rally the conservative base.
McCain will lose my vote if he does any of the following things:
If McCain chooses a moderate as his running mate, he will lose my vote. Moderates such as Rudy Guilliani, , Tom Ridge, Michael Bloomberg, Chuck Hagel, etc will not be tolerated by the majority of the conservative base. As a matter of fact, some of the conservative base are saying that they will not vote for McCain if he chooses former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. I for one, would love to see McCain pick Romney, but it is appearing that McCain will forgo Romney for another Pick. I would love to McCain pick Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, but Jindal has already declined the position publicly. Jindal possesses all of the conservative creditials that McCain needs to secure the conservative base. The one drawback: Jindal is short on experience. McCain would legitimately have problems claiming that Barack Obama is short on experience while the man that would be second in line to the Presidency has no experience on the national scene. A pick of either Rudy Guilliani or Tom Ridge (both of whom have expressed their pro-choice views), would cost McCain my vote as well as thousands, if not millions, of true conservatives.
If McCain insists on immigration reform in the mold of McCain-Kennedy, he will lose my vote. Immigration, behind the challenges facing the economy, is a mainstay issue for many conservative Americans. As was demonstrated by the overwhelming response by conservatives after the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill was proposed, conservatives will not stand for amnesty in any form. The border MUST be enforced and we MUST build a physical barrier between America. In addition to these two items, we must increase the number of QUALIFIED immigration officers to enforce the imigration laws that are currently on the books. We cannot afford to lower the standards by which we hire our immigration officers (a move that the government is currently engaging in, according to a friend who is an immigration officer).
Conservatives are not asking a whole lot from McCain. We simply want him to abide by the principles that the Republican Party was founded upon: Reagan principles of economics, a committment to pro-life causes and the protection of our borders, language and culture (thank you, Michael Savage!) For the most part, true conservatives are not that excited about John McCain. For us, this election is more of a referendum on Barack Obama. McCain has much more to lose by making the decisions that many moderate Republicans would like to see him make. He does not need to fundamentally change the Republican party in the way that many moderates would like to see it changed. If McCain stays on the path of ruffling the fewest feathers possible in the Republican party, he will keep my vote, and I suspect the votes of many of America's true conservatives.
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