Good-bye Fred (Sniff, Sniff, Whimper, Whimper)

The withdrawal of Fred Thompson from the campaign to receive the Republican nomination puts The Hand in a position he has never found himself in before. It is The Hand's position that Thompson was the most reliable conservative in the race and could be trusted to appoint judicial conservatives to the bench who would protect the life of the unborn. With Anthony Kennedy acting as the swing vote on the Court, there is a need for two more justices on the bench who follow the original intent of the framers of the Constitution. McCain and Guiliani cannot be trusted and may try to marginalize the evangelical-conservative wing of the party. Huckabee is not a true conservative and seems to possess a political spine of as much elasticity as silly-putty. Since Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo have also withdrawn, there is no reliable conservative to vote for to protest the moderate leanings of the front runners. (In 1996, I voted for Alan Keyes over Bob Dole in the primary.) What do you say? There is still Ron Paul. I am wanting to vote conservative, not libertarian. So, in the Illinois primary on February 5th, what is my choice? Since there is no conservative alternative, my only choice is to vote for the candidate most likely to beat Hillary or Obama in November. That candidate is Mitt Romney. He is a good campaigner, a sharp candidate, has no personal baggage, and as far as I can tell, has no bad blood with conservatives as McCain and Guiliani do. He also makes fewer idiotic remarks than Huckabee. I can not be overly enthusiastic about him. He will probably want to push programs increasing the size of government, like George W. Bush did. I was not enthusiastic about Bush in 2000, yet his overall record on the war and his steadfastness on the issue of judges has earned my gratitude and I do not regret supporting him over McCain. I hope on these issues Romney will be just as steadfast, although his past history makes me wary of him. Hopefully, this opportunistic politician will think it in his best interest to side with the evangelical wing of his party rather than pander to the media and the Washington establishment. My voting for him is not an acknowledgement that Mormonism is a legitimate branch of the body of Christ. A third party candidate is not an option. That would only assure that either Hillary or Obama would win. Voting for a third party candidate may ease the conscience of some, yet would guarantee the victory of those who support the murder of the unborn. That is an unacceptable outcome.

Do I sin because I am a supporter of Republicans over Democrats? Some of my more politically liberal brethren would say so? Are my favorite Democrats, Harry Truman, Grover Cleveland, or Henry Scoop Jackson running this year? I could vote for them. I could vote for the Democratic party of JFK, not Teddy Kennedy, Bill and Hillary. I like Obama personally at this point, but he does not stand for life.