thought process be both tortuous and cogent? Ryder, below, demonstrates that it can. His comment is on the long side so I’m posting it in its own entry.
I haven’t submitted a post in a fair amount of time, but I certainly have been reading your site. Let me say that it has been quite a read and extremely thought provoking. Your own considered attention and thoughtfulness to this issue (and others) has clearly attracted some great posters. The quality of the comments has been outstanding.
I also realize that the discussion threads on how to vote have been closed, but I thought I would send you this anyway.
Here are my thoughts: this is truly the election from hell. The worst Democratic candidate versus the worst Republican candidate. It is a damning indictment of what this country has become that we are faced with such choices. The chickens are certainly coming home to roost.
I have tended to believe, in accordance with some of the views that you have expressed, that an Obama presidency might offer the hope of a revitalization of true conservatism in this country—and that a McCain presidency would only undermine it. While it is terrible to think of an Obama presidency, it is also terrible to think of a McCain that would only neuter conservative opposition, while continuing to redefine genuine conservatism out of existence. To use a military analogy, it is bad enough to face a powerful enemy army. Yet it is downright disastrous to have your own army under the command of a traitor. McCain will be able to compromise and destroy conservatism in a way that Obama never could. [Emphasis added. LA.]
I don’t want to win every battle except the last one. I want to win the war. If we “win” this particular battle, and Obama is defeated, does that decrease or increase our chances of winning the war? To me, that is the fundamental question. The answers are obviously speculative, but it is the fundamental question that needs to be asked.
I tend to believe that a McCain victory decreases our chances of ultimately winning the war. Four to eight more years of Bush/McCain will only continue our demographic and cultural destruction. I say, bring it on. Now. Especially with a collapsing economy, this may well be the best time for an Obama presidency. With the current trends in this country, trends that McCain has expressed absolutely no interest in reversing (and in fact advocates accelerating), we are going to get an Obama type sooner or later. A big part of me says, “Let’s do it now.”
For too long, the white community in America has been like the frog being boiled slowly. If this continues, we will surely die. We need the heat turned up. Maybe it will end up killing us more quickly, but maybe—just maybe—it will cause us to jump. I’ll take a small chance over no chance. If present trends continue, we have no chance at all. In that sense, anything that shakes things up can only improve our odds, even if the new odds are stacked against us. Again, I’ll take a long shot over no shot.
And now for the exciting conclusion: despite all that I’ve said above, I’ll probably vote McCain (I’m still persuadable on this). If I were to be coldly calculating, and only considered the long term chances of winning the war and not just the immediate battle, I would vote for Obama. Yet there is no way that I could do that. I would rather put my hand in a burning flame than cast a vote for Obama.
This tells me something: cold calculation doesn’t apply to all situations. There are some things that one just cannot do, despite the dictates of detached reason. For me, a vote for Obama is one of them. In the past, I have just voted third party. In fact, I have always voted third party in presidential elections, starting with Ron Paul in 1988 (the first election in which I was of age). This will be my first vote for a major party presidential candidate, and ironically it will be for the Republican I despise the most—McCain. Ah, the irony of it all.
Why do it? Perhaps in solidarity with all of the whites who will vote for McCain. Many possess decent instincts, and have no real understanding of what McCain is truly about. Obviously, the typical McCain voter, despite his flaws, is more sympathetic to our cause than the Obama supporters—many of whom are vicious enemies. If the simple whites of middle America can turn out to vote against Obama, not because they really understand the complexities and nuances of what is happening to their country, but simply because their instincts remain decent, then I can’t sit this one out. I’ll vote with them, win or lose.
Despicable though McCain may be, in this election he symbolically represents traditional America. I hate that he is our standard bearer for this particular battle, but things are as they are. I can’t sit out such a defining moment. Essentially, I’m going to vote for the symbolism in this election. I think the symbolic value is that important. Like it or not, that means voting for McCain. And believe me, I don’t like it one bit. I’ll probably need a shower as soon as I leave the voting booth. But at this point, I plan to do it. I won’t be voting “for” McCain at all, and should he win, I will immediately move into opposition to him. I will be voting, symbolically, for the real America, the traditional America. And I will be symbolically voting against the leftist detritus of the Obama cult.
One last point: lest one think that I am rejecting cold calculation entirely, I’ll also say that I think it is important that, if Obama wins, it not be by a landslide. If Obama wins, I want to make this election as close as possible. The most disastrous situation would be Obama winning by enough to be able to claim a Reaganesque mandate. My stomach turns at the prospect. Let’s keep this thing close and bitter. But again, even here, symbolism also makes its appearance. As a Virginian from the cradle, the prospect of Virginia (Virginia!) going into the Obama column simply appalls me. The idea of its going to Obama by a significant margin is even worse. So McCain it will be.
Bob S. writes from San Diego: