Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
In the wake of Mitt Romney’s resounding victory in Florida’s primary, the odds of anyone other than Romney capturing the Republican nomination seem to be as low as the odds Barack Obama will be offered a guest professorship at Hillsdale College. As one of the many conservatives who are less than enthused about the nomination of a self-described “Progressive whose views are moderate,” the time has come to decide whether or not to bite the bullet and vote for Romney in the general election. Traditional party orthodoxy suggests that I should support the lesser of two evils. However, Romney’s ideology is so antithetical to the principles of conservatism that I believe the best thing I can do for the conservative movement and the country in the upcoming election is refuse to give my support or vote to Mitt Romney.
The biggest blow to Romney’s conservative credentials is his support for the state-level version of Obamacare during his time in Massachusetts. Romney’s supporters have painted Romneycare as the best of many bad choices for Romney in Massachusetts (although why they would offer up “Three Cheers” for the best of bad alternatives is beyond me.) I would be OK with supporting Romney if he openly stated that Romneycare was a mistake that the legislature forced on him. Unfortunately, Romney has decided to defend his mini-Obamacare project. Romney himself said “I’m proud of what we’ve done” in reference to Romneycare and lauded it as a “Model for the nation.” When asked about what he thought of Obamacare in 2010, Romney said he wanted to “Keep the good parts,” and applauded the “Incentives to purchase private insurance” (in other words, the individual mandate.) These are hardly the words of someone who views Romneycare as the lesser of many evils. Instead, they point to a man who is proud of signing the precursor to Obamacare into law and is fine with an individual mandate on the federal level.
Furthermore, Romney’s defense of the individual mandate bears a surprising resemblance to the arguments used by Progressives such as Barack Obama and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to justify their expansions of government. Romney has argued that government-mandated health insurance is based on “Personal responsibility” and Romneycare protects individual rights by preventing “free riders” from gaming the system. It almost seems as if Romney believes we must abandon free market healthcare principles to save free market healthcare. Furthermore, Romney’s argument for Romneycare echoes Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s sentiments in the Commonwealth Club Address that “The exercise of the property rights might so interfere with the rights of the individual that the government, without whose assistance the property rights could not exist, must intervene, not to destroy individualism but to protect it.” FDR and Romney make identical arguments. Romney argues that the exercise of individual rights on healthcare infringes on the rights of other individuals, and thus the government must intervene to protect “individualism.”
Jonah Goldberg recently wrote a column arguing that dissatisfied conservatives should vote for Romney because he will owe the conservatives who elected him and govern like a conservative. Unfortunately, Romney and his supporters have shown no sign that they care what conservatives in the Republican Party think. Romney’s scorched-earth campaign tactics against Newt Gingrich and the dismissive, snide treatment Romney’s apologists have given anyone who dares question The Mitt Romney’s conservatism (I’m looking at you, Ann Coulter and David Frum) doesn’t bode well for conservatives who hope Romney will listen to them. Furthermore, voting for Romney will hardly make him want to listen to conservatives. If anything, it will show that Romney can take conservatives for granted and still earn their votes.
Mitt Romney’s approach towards government places him drastically outside the conservative camp. Instead of arguing that big government must be eliminated, Romney seems to believe that he can run big government well. Voting for Romney sends the message that conservative voices can be ignored with impunity. Conservatives are ignored by candidates like Romney because they believe conservatives will simply vote for whoever has an R next to their name, the only way to ensure the GOP understands that conservative voices cannot be ignored is to show that our votes are not guaranteed. Mitt “I’m a Progressive” Romney is the ideal candidate to use as proof that even the most loyal Republicans have their limits and will not vote for Liberalism Light.
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Comments:
Jul '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Insurrection pissed sounds good to me. Obama or Romney puts an anti gun person to replace one of the five who voted correctly and it's over for me. I do not care how much lipstick you put on the pig of sitting this out. I see it for what it is whether you are a Rick/Newt/Ron guy and what it is a form of technical idealism. Take your ball and go home then but I disagree with your choice and whatever your reasons are still will not be enough to change my mind.
Aug '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
What makes you think that Romney wouldn't be persuaded by an ideologically strong and passionately supported Conservative Congress?
Get the right people in Congress and then it doesn't matter if our President is a little wishy-washy. I would prefer a strong conservative, but that might not be an option. I'll take the guy who can be motivated by loyalty to those who elected him over a guy who seeks to reshape our country.
Mar '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
I'd write "James Madison and Alexander Hamilton" on my absentee ballot long before I refused to vote.
I am a citizen of the United States of America. I take my duties as a citizen seriously.
Oct '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
i'd be for this "don't vote" for the GOP nominee if the alternative dem candidate is a centrist like Bill Clinton or even Al Gore.
May '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
You're unhinged and so is Goldberg. Or dishonest. The establishment will not pay their debt to conservatives, as shown by the aftermath of us rescuing them in 2010. But as many have pointed out, your idiotic strategy of "win by losing" is what got us Obama in the first place. So just keep working to support the most conservative candidate still standing, and if that means Romney, then we do it after spitting and swearing a couple of times.
Meanwhile, work up an immunity to Iocaine powder, and poison both goblets. Duh.
May '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Too bad we can't vote posts back off the main feed.
Dec '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
I agree. Its time to engage in some creative destruction.
If my favorite local diner stopped serving good and tasty food, I would stop buying it.
Anyway the die is case, for all their craziness the libertarian party represents me better than the republicans do, so I am going to vote for paul in the virginia its-totally-a-primary-really-I promise and then change my party affiliation.
Like I said previously. I dont give my cat treats when he poop on the floor, and the lack of treats for him does not translate to treats for the other cat.
Edited on February 4, 2012 at 2:16pmAug '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Ian, your post perpetuates a caricature of Mitt Romney that bears little resemblance to the man; his experience or his principles. Furthermore, your post fatally distorts the brand of conservatism. You sound like a fraternity brother arguing against a certain pledge you do not like. You search for any confirmation of your bias to satisfy your gut-level delusions so you can drop the black-ball and keep the character out of your very small and very exclusive club. Unfortunately, this sort of thinking, or lack thereof, brought us Barack Obama, and will ultimately bring him back for more. Perhaps you should take some time to know the real Mitt Romney and the real meaning of conservatism.
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Simple game theory here...If the GOP keeps thinking all the attractive, gettable votes are in the center, and they calculate that no matter what, conservatives will vote for them, and meanwhile Democrats continue to march towards socialism, ever pushing the envelope, a dynamic is set up whereby the entire country always moves leftward. The parties are only left/right in relative terms. This has happened and continues to happen.
By continually voting GOP in this dynamic, conservative voters facilitate the march leftward, encouraging both parties leftward, with no end in sight.
Nowadays, if you are for capitalism, you are, generally speaking, a Republican. What happened? Both parties used to be pro capitalism. Ten years ago, if you were for civil unions for gays, you were a Democrat. Today that position is held exclusively by Republicans, and they are labeled bigots for it. DADT same. Now, if you want DADT you are a homophobe!
Meanwhile a plethora of policies are no longer even debatable!
Not only are conservatives reinforcing the idea that the GOP can get away with this, they are inadvertently setting up the next iteration for Democrats to move yet further leftward with no electoral consequence.
Aug '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
I have no more love for Romney than Gingrich apparently does. That being said he has my vote if he is the nominee. I do not see him as any more liberal than say Gerald Ford. At this point I would take just about anybody over Obama, certainly Romney.
Jun '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Franco! excellent synopsis. And if Romney isn't another lurch leftward who is?
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
#49 continued
Republicans have been able to take advantage of how utterly horrid these new Democrats are to bludgeon conservatives into voting for them - the less destructive party to freedom and property rights. The more socialist the Democrat, why, the more assured the GOP is that conservatives will be forced to vote for their guy, and so the GOP candidate is free to pursue more "lost sheep" in the middle. But the GOP can never keep up with the narrative that is put out by the left-leaning media, and so they can never really make an impact upon these mid-lings.
These people are poised "in the middle" for a reason. While they will tell you they are considering "both sides" and say they are not ideological, or that they like this policy but not that one and they are "torn". Or they will say they don't like either party, and politicians should just, "find a way to get along so as to get the job done."
But the real reason is because these mid-lings are unable to comprehend the big picture and they are confused. Most of them are confused by the media.
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
continued
They are easily led and this type of person will default to the easy arguments, the lazy argument, peer-pressure and bullying. This voter is mercurial and a real challenge for even a moderate Republican like Romney. This is the kind of voter who will say, "I think it's time we had a black President". This voter is working off a completely different set of values than those of us who have some kind of coherent ideology.
Republicans have a very poor track record of getting this type of voter to pull the lever for them. But for Dole and BushI and McCain, this is who they spend all their time courting thus muddying their message, dumbing it down into platitudes, so afraid they are to take a stand.
Meanwhile, Republicans look like idiots. Their guy never really says anything and when he does say something he flubs it because he's operating out of an abstract construct rather than conviction. People sense this and they lose trust. Especially the mid-lings.
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
So, this must be stopped. I don't really know the answer, but this election will be the last. The last election 2008 was the last time I'd allow the GOP to nominate one of these types like Romney. We got Obama and the county now finally has some sense of what the Democratic Party really wants to do, and our candidate should highlight that and articulate that. Saying "he's in over his head, and he doesn't know how to create jobs" is absolutely pathetic. Romney doesn't deserve my vote.
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Ian, I'm definitely in the "won't vote for Romney" camp. When he went nuclear against Newt with lies and slander and the Republican establishment not only didn't speak out against him, but aided him, I quit. Jonah Goldberg is a pipsqueak who thinks he's a lion if he really believes that Romney will "owe" people like him. Goldberg will be lucky if someone at his magazine gets an invitation to the inaugural and doesn't have to empty ashtrays when he gets there.
As for the Supreme Court, well, I'm not the one who kept quiet while this swine ran wild on the airwaves with absolute rubbish. Expecting me to act like a reasoning, moral adult in support of a pack of amoral children is a bit much. I've done that election after election and this one is too much.
No donations, no lobbying friends, no links on my blog, no nothing. I'm done succumbing to Republican Party guilt trips. I'll vote for the down ticket people I like, but not Romney.
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Franco, you are right on the money. I'm a Catholic and I'd rather go back to drawing fish in the sand with a stick while I hide from the HHS Gestapo than vote for Romney.
As for not voting, who said anything about that? I'm going to check out all the candidates and vote my conscience.
Related: Over on my blog, I've posted a couple of times about this. Yesterday I got a Freeperlanche as someone on Free Republic linked to something I wrote. I went back and checked out the source. Lots of anti-Romney anger.
Sep '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
After reading these posts, I'm amazed that some of you would rather see Obama re-elected than vote for anybody else. I would vote for Adolph Hitler if he could beat Obama! Our candidate may not be perfect, but he's a lot better than BHO! If we sit on our hands and demand perfection or purity, we will miss perhaps our last chance to stop this descent into Marxism! Fair warning!
May '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
K T Cat:
As for the Supreme Court, well, I'm not the one who kept quiet while this swine ran wild on the airwaves with absolute rubbish. Expecting me to act like a reasoning, moral adult in support of a pack of amoral children is a bit much. I've done that election after election and this one is too much.
No donations, no lobbying friends, no links on my blog, no nothing. I'm done succumbing to Republican Party guilt trips. I'll vote for the down ticket people I like, but not Romney. · 9 minutes ago
Agreed KT Cat! Franco, you rock! Every election, someone trots out the SCOTUS argument. But even when a good nominee is put forward (think Bork) the RINOS won't back them.
When a new 3rd party is mentioned, we hear, "No, just take over the Republican party." Why? The brand is fouled beyond repair. Thanks to Pat Caddell and others, EVERYONE calls it the Party of Stupid.
Let's finish this election and then let the Republican party become the inconsequential 3rd party.
Jul '11
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Haakon Dahl: You're unhinged and so is Goldberg. Or dishonest. The establishment will not pay their debt to conservatives, as shown by the aftermath of us rescuing them in 2010. But as many have pointed out, your idiotic strategy of "win by losing" is what got us Obama in the first place. So just keep working to support the most conservative candidate still standing, and if that means Romney, then we do it after spitting and swearing a couple of times.
Meanwhile, work up an immunity to Iocaine powder, and poison both goblets. Duh. · 2 hours ago
You dragged out the Iocaine, inconceivable.
I agree with your comments too. I have five kids to consider as well as all the mental energy I spend deprogramming them after school and from the news. If Obama is not worth voting against then who is?
Sep '10
Re: Don’t Vote!-It Just Encourages the RINOs
Hey, it's not worth getting angry about.