Update: Republicans for Choice President, Ann Stone pays Life of the Party a visit in the comments. Gotta love this gem from Ann, "It is following the advice of folks like you that has taken the GOP to the brink of anihilation." Does anyone have anything to say to her? Since the "Republicans for Choice" website is not open for comments, here is your chance.
While the McCain scandals are just now breaking out in the mainstream media, and as Michelle Malkin points out, "if you lie down with MSM dogs, you wake up with stories like these," conservative Republicans still have their own beefs with McCain. The MSM scandals and the conservative beefs are sure to keep coming from many directions.
For instance, from Republican National Coalition for Life (RNC for Life):
Some prominent pro-life Republicans have endorsed John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination. Visit the McCain for President web site — you will see some names that may surprise you http://www.johnmccain.com/supporters/. They will surprise you because, while John McCain claims a pro-life record, he supports research that involves the killing of human embryos and he justifies abortion for babies conceived through rape or incest. Those are not pro-life positions. He voted to expand taxpayer funding of embryo-killing research, and he joined other Senators in signing a letter to President Bush asking him to expand the number of embryonic stem cell lines to be used for research.
The pro-life Republicans who endorsed John McCain should be embarrassed to find themselves on the same side as Republicans for Choice, the organization created in 1990 by Washington, D.C. fundraiser Ann Stone with the stated purpose of removing the pro-life plank from the Republican National Platform. They support Roe v. Wade and oppose a human life amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ann Stone and her supporters also understand that abortion will remain legal in this country as long as the human embryo is denied respect and protection under the law. Many pro-lifers don't "get it," but you can be sure that Republicans for Choice supporters do.
While their "first choice" Rudy Giuliani did not win, their second choice is John McCain. In asking their supporters to consider McCain in a message posted on the Republicans for Choice web site (http://www.republicansforchoice.com/) they say: "We know we can work with him to create common ground that will allow moderates and conservatives to come together to rebuild the GOP." That is code-language meaning that they think John McCain will work with them to rewrite the Republican National Platform to remove the principles that we have worked so hard to maintain since 1980.
The Republican National Coalition for Life came into existence in order to defeat the efforts of Republicans for Choice. We have done so successfully at every Republican National Convention since 1992 and we plan to do it again. If John McCain becomes the Republican nominee, he will exert tremendous pressure on the Platform Committee to bend to his will on many issues. John McCain has poked his finger in the collective eye of conservatives throughout his career. His campaign for the presidency has not been supported by social conservatives but rather, it has been buoyed by the entrance of Independents and Democrats in open primaries. If he gets the nomination, to whom will he listen? Will it be the smattering of pro-lifers who endorsed him, whatever their reasons? Or will it be to Republicans for Choice and Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lew Eisenberg, and the rest of the Eastern seaboard establishment who are bankrolling his campaign?
Life of the Party came into existance, largely inspired by RNC for Life, to do what they do on a state level, but as a private citizen and blogger. While there is no "out" Republicans for Choice in the State of Washington, the pro-abortion-choice forces are alive and well within the state GOP, and are constantly pressuring the party to weaken the platform on life, and even to pressure pro-life candidates to not campaign on the life issues. This way, they figure, the argument can never be made that it's a "winning issue". Instead, pro-life Republican candidates constantly get killed on the life issues when the Democrats attack their "anti-choice" position, and the candidate is handicapped to respond for fear of losing the support of party leadershp. For these and other similiar reasons, the Washington State Republican Party is in the tiny minority with almost no end in sight. The candidates do not defend Republican Principles.
As the campaigns get rolling here for local offices, I will try to report to you where the candidates stand, but meanwhile, the focus is still on the presidential race.
As the media and the GOP Establishment are closing in, and calling the nomination "sewn up" for McCain, grassroots Republicans, need to give a close look, and determine whether or not we have it in us to defeat the "inevitable". Remember that it was a "done deal" when President Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Remember that it was "inevitable" that Rudy Giulianin would be our nominee. But the determination of the grassroots defeated those two "inevitables".
Can we do it again? Yes, if we unite the coalition.
Huckabee is not the answer. While he says all the right stuff on the life issues, he cannot win the nomination or the presidency by being pro-life alone. Grassroots conservatives who come to the GOP because they are activists for other good causes like fiscal conservatism or fighting illegal immigration, will not rally behind Mike Huckabee (much like they won't rally behind McCain), because they know his record. Further, Huckabee has publicly stated that he could support McCain and that anyone who says they can't "is not a conservative". That's an insult.
I call on my fellow pro-lifers and conservative Republicans to resist a McCain nomination, which will be a disaster for the Republican Party, not to mention, a loss to Barack Obama. There is still time, and there is still a Republican alternative: Ron Paul, the ultimate non-McCain candidate.
Ron Paul is solidly pro-life. As a congressman, he has introduced legislation that would define life as beginning at conception and turn Roe vs. Wade on its ear. His proposed bill has largely been ignored by the "cosmetically pro-life" politicians in D.C. As president, this proposed legislation would be given much more publicity and suppport from the grassroots to pressure Congress to pass it. To learn more, visit his Life and Liberty page.
Ron Paul opposes amnesty for illegal immigration. Further, he wants to restore the original intent of the 14th Amdendment and remove birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, and remove the welfare incentives that drive illegal immigration here. It should also be noted, that Ron Paul is not interested in punishing churches or private charities who give aid to illegal immigrants. Visit his Border Security and Immigration Reform page to learn more.
Ron Paul has never voted for a tax increase or for an unbalanced budget. He has much to say about inflation, run away spending and our fraudulant and unconstitutional monatary system. No other current or previous candidate in this presidential race has addressed these issues the way Ron Paul has. Visit his Debt and Taxes and Inflation Tax to find out more.
Ron Paul supports our right to keep and bear arms. He has offered legislation that would guard our second amendment rights, including repealing the Brady Bill and the "assault weapons" ban before its sunset in 2004. You can read more on his Second Amendment page.
Yes, Ron Paul voted against the war in Iraq. Is this a deal breaker for you? Perhaps you should have a look at his perspective, in his own words, on Iraq. Despite his detractors calling him a pacifist, he is strong on defense, and his biggest contributors are active duty military from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. If after reading his position on Iraq, you are still not won over, are you willing to give up all of the other Republican Principles (and give up restoring constitutional principles) to stay in Iraq?
On just about every issue conservatives care about, Ron Paul is a champion. (You can learn more on his issues page.) It's a wonder the conservative movement as a whole, hasn't caught on yet. Though he does already have a movement of supporters ready to carry on the fight, whether he gets the nomination or not, and mostly within the GOP.
McCain is leading now for a few reasons: 1) The MSM media has given him help, 2) Democrats have been able to vote in our primaries, working to give us the weakest nominee, and 3) conservative opposition has been divided among the other candidates.
I urge my fellow conservatives to join me in doing everything we can to defeat McCain with the real non-McCain candidate: Ron Paul.
