H 66°, L 41° | Tomorrow: 
H 59°, L 45°The Wisconsin primary is in five days.
To some, mainly Republicans, it might seem pointless to go out to the polls on Tuesday because Sen. John McCain has such a large lead over the other GOP candidates for president. Well, Wisconsin, nothing is decided yet. Sure, it might seem like there�s no question that Mr. McCain will get the nomination, but judging by the audience reactions I saw in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, he�s sure got to prove that he deserves it. No offense, but not voting because you think that the nomination is already locked up would be stupid.
November�s election is going to be one of the closest elections this country has ever seen, and it�s vitally important that every single American who has an opinion be heard. Equally as important is understanding what is at stake for the Republican Party. There are a great number of conservatives, Ann Coulter included, who have vowed not to vote for Sen. John McCain and will vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton instead. As much as I�m sure Ms. Clinton appreciates Ms. Coulter�s endorsement (Coulter now refers to Clinton as �my girl Hillary�), I don�t think people with this mentality really comprehend how essential it is to have a quality, electable candidate on the Republican ticket. Just think about some of the upcoming issues for a second.
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Health care
This is turning into an even bigger issue than many of us thought it would be. If Ms. Clinton is elected to the White House come November, we move to a single-payer health care system, and that means we�re one step closer to socialism. Republicans want to cut health care costs for the individual by giving choices, not mandating insanely priced care packages for everyone. On the other hand, if you want to be forced to pull your own teeth because you�ve got a cavity and can�t get in to see an overworked, underpaid dentist under the Democrats� plan, by all means, vote for Ms. Clinton. �
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Iraq
The Democrats want to cut our nation�s losses and leave ASAP. Now, I want our loved ones to come home safe just as much as the next person, but I don�t want our loved ones lost to have died for nothing, either. If we pull out now, like Sen. Barack Obama wants us to, we leave an already weak region of the Middle East open to chaos and anarchy. Then, the same Americans who said we should get out are going to be the ones telling us we should go back and fix the problem, and we�ll go back to an even more dangerous place where it will take even longer to repair the region. So if you want to see your loved ones drafted to go finish a war that you demanded we pull out of, by all means, vote for Mr. Obama. �
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The Supreme Court
In the term of the next president, we are going to lose three justices on the Supreme Court. If for no other reason, this should be the one thing that Republicans focus on when choosing a candidate. Two of the three justices that are going to be leaving are very liberal ones. Some would argue that even Sen. McCain wouldn�t elect the most conservative justices. Let me tell you, I�d be happy to have another John Roberts over a Ruth Bader Ginsberg any day.
If I had to speculate, I�d say that in the next few years there are going to be some highly valuable opinions coming down from the Supreme Court � hopefully, including an overturn of Roe v. Wade. I�d like to have a president who appoints justices to make this possible. If you disagree and want the U.S. to continue to legislate from the bench and ignore the 10th Amendment, then, by all means, vote for a Democrat. (For all those Democrats who don�t know or seem to conveniently forget, the 10th Amendment says, �The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.�)
Republicans voting for Democrats in the primaries to make a point doesn�t work either. A few years back, there was this crazy liberal candidate that was running for local office who was so radical not even Dane County would elect him. Republicans voted for him in an effort to try to screw things up for the Democrats. We can thank ourselves for the man who later turned out to be Gov. Jim Doyle. Primaries are no joke.
When it comes down to it, there are multiple sides to every issue. When you vote, think about the issues that really matter. Do not vote for a candidate just because you don�t agree with him or her on one issue. Think of what is best in the long run � for the people, for the country, for the world. Then go out and cast your vote in the primary on Tuesday. �
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Sara Mikolajczak (WisconsinCRs@gmail.com) is chair of the College Republicans.
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Sara, I think you’re missing the point. Republicans are going to vote for Hillary, because 1) the nomination is locked-up for John McCain and 2) Republicans would rather have McCain face Hillary than Obama in November.
It seems like you think voting for Hillary in the primary is a “protest vote,” but it’s more of a strategic vote. I think if you check your favorite AM radio station, they’ll confirm what I’ve just stated.
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Uh, bad title, guys.
This is not an endorsement of McCain by any stretch of the imagination. It’s an endorsement of a GOP candidate in general. I personally am not, nor was I ever, a McCain fan. I simply used McCain as an example because it looks like he will be the Republican nominee. Despite what people say, this is not set in stone. Vote for whomever you choose - for whomever you think will be the best fit for America.
-Sara
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So - no real argument, just “Whoever is not a Democrat!”
Great! Your party has no ideas, no solutions, and no arguments. Bye, bye, McCain!
If anyone ever thought you tried to “reach across the aisle”, they were dead wrong. You are pretty darn vicious and it’s insulting to anyone who knows the facts.
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For all the strict constructionism that Republicans place in the 2nd and 10th amendments, they sure seem to ignore a lot of what the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 14th, 16th, and 24th amendments say. If you’d support those amendments (plus the 4th and 6th articles of the Constitution) with as much passion as you do the 2nd and 10th amendments, only then would you be able to claim in good conscience that you’re consistently constitutional while the Democrats are not.
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“McCain needs your vote on Tuesday”
Hey, let’s not be stingy! Tell you what, I’ll divide my vote in half and give half to Johnny and half to Hillary. There, now everybody’s happy. pfuff, it’s so hard to run a daycare these days.
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Why vote for McCain instead of voting for the Democrat you think McCain will most easily beat?
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There is one true conservative still in the race…one that believes we should follow the whole Constitution, not just the parts that fit a certain agenda. Ron Paul is the only conservative in the race that is endorsing real fiscal solutions and is the only candidate supporting a net spending DECREASE. So support a true conservative, support Ron Paul.
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I am a liberal democrat and I used to view McCain as a very electable candidate who would stand up for what he believes in and stand firm for them. I also believe someone is allowed to change their stances if they’ve actually evaluated their views on their own merit. I didn’t get an ounce of that from McCain. What I saw was his ears perking up for election season and him being fully aware that he needed to appeal more to the base of the party to even get the nomination. Thus the pandering and position switching started. If “flip-flopping” is to be abhorred, let it be done so equally across party lines.
In terms of health care, I don’t necessarily like either the Democrats nor the Republican plan. I lean towards Obama in that department because I am a large advocate of personal choice. However, all of the plans fall short in that it is too treatment focused. Health care costs would drop so fast if our system was prevention based.
On to the court. Even the chief justice views Roe v Wade as settled law. Or at least he said he did…if that was a lie, well then I guess f* us for putting him on the bench. If you look at the issue from that perspective, then you’re looking for activist judges. How very conservative of you. Don’t criticize an institution for doing one thing then praise it for doing the very same thing later on. Whether it’s two dudes getting married or posting the Ten Commandments in public schools, you’ve got a “legislating” court. Let hypocrisy sing!
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“Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 12:03pm): Why vote for McCain instead of voting for the Democrat you think McCain will most easily beat?”
We should probably vote for Obama then. He has had zero general election level scrutiny.
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Sara, it’s awfully unproductive to lament that Democrats are either unaware of, purposefully dismissive of the tenth amendment in the judicial context. The amendment hardly has any sort of legitimate power, especially in this modern era. The means to restore the federalism of old exist only in the willingness of the federal government to restrain itself and advocate for further state/local action on policy issues. For six years, the people of this nation gave you virtual carte blanche to pursue such an idea.
Look what happened.
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So you’re begging us to vote for McCain? Have all you Republicans become that desperate?