I am really getting frustrated at the conservative movement within the Republican Party. The attacks on Senator John McCain are over the top. He is a true American hero. I agree that is he not the perfect conservative. He has tried to work with some of the liberals from the other party. The American voter is tired of all the partisan fighting. I know McCain does not support all the conservative issues.

All the conservative talk show hosts and the many of the conservative elected officials all claim they are strong on national security and the military. They are all strong on the military when they do not need to worry about serving in the military and their family members do not have to serve in the military. Look at the blow-hard Rush Limbough. Can you ever imagine Rush in any branch of our Armed Services? We all know about Senator McCain’s service to our country. The Senator also has 2 sons in the military, with one serving in Iraq. For you Romney supports, lets not forget what he said about his sons, they are serving their country by volunteering to work on his Presidential campaign. Give me a break. While I believe Romney is a good family man, his family does not come close to what the McCain family has done to serve out country.

Mark - being a veteran does not exempt one from scrutiny for their behavior.

Being a veteran does not excuse on for being wrong on the issues.

McCain is right on National defense, but he is...

Anti-Gun
Anti-Tax Cuts
Voted against defense of marriage
Voted in favor of Clone and Kill legislation
Sponsored legislation to sue HMO's out of existance
Authored the biggest rollback of free speech in American histroy - McCain / Feingold campaign finance "reform"
He is part of the MainStreet partnership - an organization dedicated to attacking Conservatives

Mark - we have a right to be upset at his candidacy because of his actions.

Thank him for serving and don't vote for him.

Mark & Aaron:

I think you are both off base a little on this.

Aaron - calling John McCain a "liberal" is just false. Surely, on many issues, he is not as conservative as you or me. Some, he is not good on at all. His record awhile ago was very conservative, and his recent record is moderate to slightly-center right. He is good on spending, good on strength of military issues. He has been pro-life longer than Mitt Romney.

Mark - Have served in the military and even being a hero does not mean that person is not subject to a rigorous debate of their positions. John Kerry, Charlie Brown, John Glenn, and a multitude of others come to mind.

And finally, yes, Aaron, electability is a factor. It should not me the primary factor, but is should be some factor.

Supporting embryonic stem cell research is not pro-life.

Supporting embryonic stem cell research is not pro-life.

Romney vetoed embryonic stem cell research while McCain advocated for it.

To piggy-back on what Karen wrote - McCain voting for clone and kill legislation is emblematic of his leftward drift since winning the NH primary in 2000.

McCain is not principled, because if he was... he'd have kept his NRA "A" rating and not co-authored gun control legislation with Lieberman...

Nor would he have abandoned his Pro-life principles.

Ose on the other hand - has never been good on either issue. McCain has drifted left and met Doug Ose at the Mainstreet Partnership.

Ask the Mainstreet folks what they think about the CRA or the CRI? I'll bet their vision of the GOP doesn't include either of us.

Aaron and Karen, I agree on the vote being bad...I just dispute this tactic conservatives often tend to use, which is to call anyone to their own left as being a "liberal."

For example, on the Flash Report blog the other day, my friend Adam Probolosky said that McCain's ACU rating showed he was a "liberal." (0 = perfect liberal, 100 = perfect conservative). McCain's rating was 63. 63 is, as I sadi before, moderate to center-right.

By the way, most of the Democrats that get labeled as "conservative Democrats" have ratings of about 30-40.

So somehow, a Democrat with a 35 ACU rating is a conservative and a Republican with a 63 is a liberal.

Crazy.

I am probably a 100 in spirit and a 90 when I apply some practicality. But I am not silly enough to say that anyone who is an 89 or worse is "a liberal."

Too many conservatives do that, however.

Aaron

You are correct that just because you a war hero does not give you a free pass on all the issues.

But to compare him to John Kerry and Charlie Brown is wrong.

McCain and Brown never threw their medals away. They never had anything bad to about our troops. Anyone has the right, which the Reps and Dems are doing when they say the war was not going well. The straight talk is the military won the war and Bush and Rumsfeld did not provide the necessary assets to finish the job. McCain was the only one that was right on the war from the start. He risked his candidacy on sticking to what he believed in. Romney's positions are based on what political office he is running for.

I still understand the issues with McCain, but to think Romney is the answer, then you are drining that kool-aid again.

Your hit on Charlie Brown is also wrong. He like others in the Republican Party have not agreed with the war. Charlie won the Distinguished Flying Cross in Vietnam by rescuing downed American pilots. His son is flying transports in Iraq. Tell me what conservative politician in Placer County has done for his country lately?, Doolitte, Gaines, Rico, the Reps on the Rocklin School Board, should I go on?

I believe McCain will be the nominee. If the conservatives decide to stay home, can you say President Hillary?

Mark,

If McCain is the nominee then the Republican Party becomes does not represent me. I can either fight to get my party back, or go with a third party. I won't give up on my party, so the most logical step would be a vote for Hillary Clinton. Conservatives won't stay home, a McCain presidency would be unacceptable.

Ben

Lets explore the part the the Republican Party that does not represent you. Today, I am not sure if the Republican Party represents me. Hear are a few of the issues. In fact, I think you and I would agree on most of these local and national issues.

1. Budget Deficit – You cannot blame the war on terrorism for the large deficits. What about the Republican Congress that never saw an earmark they did not like? What about the highway bill and the farm bill? These were both approved by the Rep Congress and signed by President Bush? Locally, Congressman John Doolittle was more concerned about approving the earmarks and working with a guy like Jack Abramoff instead of doing what was right for the country.

2. The Military – Our Armed Forces are in bad shape. We are overextended. The President and the Congress have not provided the right type of equipment for our men and women fighting in Iraq. Even after Iraq, the Air Force (which I know something about) are flying aircraft that are falling apart in flight. I speak about the F-15. Congress and the President have authorized only 183 F-22 aircraft to replace the F-15 fleet. I flew the B-52 from 1984 – 1986. These aircraft are still flying. The last aircraft was built in 1961. The aircraft are 47 years old.

3. Debt – The Chinese will never need to fire a shot to overtake the US. They will win the economic war. Congress has done nothing and the President has done nothing.

4. In Rocklin we have a majority of Republicans on the school board. They all oppose school choice. Your central committee knew they opposed school choice. They still endorsed them because they had a R by their name.

5. Rocklin City Council, all Reps. They want a park tax. They also wanted to raise the sales tax. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to move rocks around at Rocklin Road and I-80. It did nothing to help the flow of traffic. A waste of taxpayer money. Your central committee will endorse these guys again, just because there is an R by there name.

These are just a few of the issues that makes me think that the Rep party has lost its way. Lets not blame John McCain for all these problems. The issues I listed above are just a few of the core Rep values. They were lost way before McCain started his campaign.

McCain has only two strengths, the war (not to be confused with national security on which he is weaker than many Democrats), and spending. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what he has done to reign in spending besides swearing at those he disagrees with (for some reason this is always Republicans).

When it comes to economic policy McCain is absolutely clueless. He is for cap and trade which itself would further cripple our economy for decades. He opposed Bush's tax-cuts, and not because they didn't include spending restraint (he has since flip-flopped on his reason).

We've been stabbed in the back too many times to ever trust McCain.

Ben

What about the other issues that I mentioned that have nothing to do with McCain? Do you think the Republican Party has stabbed you in the back on those issues.

Mark - take a look at the stuff I am going to post over the weekend.

Let's start with McCain having an affair on the mother of his children - leaving her for a woman some 20 years his junior... Character.

Then - let's straight talk about amnesty, opposing Bush tax cuts, supporting higher gas prices, promoting tax increases... and there's more

These are some issues you are railing on the Rocklin City Council for? Why not McCain?