The Man the Conservative Elites Love to Hate

And it’s not Barack Obama or Bill Clinton, it’s John McCain. While it’s starting to appear that McCain has wrapped up the Republican nomination, there has been a noticeable revolt among sectors of the conservative elite against his pending nomination. From the Evangelical right to the anti-Immigrant right, members in and outside of the party have pledged not to vote or support McCain, and Ann Coulter went as far to say she would campaign for Hillary Clinton if she faced John McCain in the general election.

James Dobson: “I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.

I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry’s running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.

But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country.”

Ann Coulter: “If he’s our candidate, then Hillary’s going to be our girl, Sean [Hannity], because she’s more conservative than he is. I think she would be stronger on the war of terrorism… I absolutely believe that…… I will campaign for her if it’s McCain.”

Rush Limbaugh: “He is going to reach out to Democrats and he is going to enjoy doing it. This is how he will get even at Republicans for South Carolina in 2000.”

Michelle Malkin: “Peddling open-border extremism… he is somebody who does not believe in borders, does not believe the United States is a sovereign country.”

Pat Buchanan: “Here’s a guy who basically says the jobs are never coming back, the illegals are never going home, but we’re going to have a lot more wars.”

Citizen United Political Victory Fund: “John McCain — Surprisingly Liberal”

Tom Delay: “McCain has done more to hurt the Republican party than any elected official I know”

Laura Ingraham: “The pieces of legislation that John McCain became most famous for are all pieces of legislation that he co-authored with liberals.”

Justin Raimondo in the American Conservative: It is impossible to know what is in McCain’s heart. There may be a purely ideological explanation for his changing viewpoint. But what seems to account for his evolution from realism to hopped-up interventionism is nothing more than sheer ambition. This was the case in 1983, when he defied the Reagan administration over sending U.S. soldiers to die at the hands of a Beirut suicide bomber, and in 1999, when the cry went up to take on Slobodan Milosevic. He was positioning himself against his own party, while staking out a distinctive stance independent of the Democrats. It was, in short, an instance of a presidential candidate maneuvering himself to increase his appeal to the electorate—and, most importantly, the media.

And it’s not only the elites picking at McCain’s conservative credentials, it’s the base as well. A Michigan crowd boos and hisses at John McCain on his immigration position:

And it appears others aren’t happy as well:

Also see: John McCain, the Maverick That Never Was by PBH
Dobson And McCain by Andrew Sullivan
Dobson Blasts McCain on Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic
Is The GOP Self-Destructing? by Andrew Sullivan
Not McCain’s Night? at Riehl World View
Whither Limbaugh and Coulter Goest… at Crooks and Liars
Talk Radio Rallies to Romney to Thwart McCain by NewsBlaze