Pete Abel, a former co-blogging friend, today made an unusual appeal via The Moderate Voice…
“…to non-BDS Democrats, whom I believe are still grounded in reality and who, at the end of the day, are not that much different than their moderate GOP counterparts like me.
Those Democrats should support McCain – if not in votes, then in dialogue – for two key reasons.
1. McCain raises the ire of the contemporary Republican establishment because he rejects their meaner instincts. As I’ve written before, McCain decries torture while the Establishment excuses it. He fights pork-barrel spending while they enable it. He calls for policies to combat global warming while they deny it. He seeks reasonable compromises on immigration policy while they stoke fear and prejudice.
2. McCain represents for Republicans what Obama represents for Democrats: a meaningful step away from the last 15-plus years. I’m not saying either man will revolutionize partisan politics as we know it, but both promise (at a minimum) evolutionary progress toward a different America. And if we truly believe country is more important than party, then we owe it to ourselves to boost the two candidates who (among all their peers) represent the best hope for moving us in a post-partisan direction, regardless of our individual party loyalties.
So okay… Pete’s not talking directly to me. I’m not a Democrat, but an Independent who has voted both parties (and thirds), variously. But I do see his point.
I agree with the McCain positions Pete outlines in #1 above, and I have great admiration for John McCain’s courage in the face of his party’s “meaner instincts”. Furthermore, I wholeheartedly agree that for the Republicans, John McCain has the best hope of moving the country away from the poisonous partisan abyss.
But while I don’t suffer from BDS (or CDS, or any other PDS variety), I am supremely unhappy with the Republicans. From where I sit, in fact, that’s the biggest minus in McCain’s column at the moment. The fact that he has to fight against his party on such issues tells us a lot about the GOP today.
They’ve run right off the rails, and they’re due — past due — for some soul-searching and rearranging. America needs to allow them a bit of time to do that… if only for their own sakes.
There are two conditions, though, under which I would throw my support to John McCain:
1. If Mike Huckabee continues to draw support
2. If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination from Barack Obama by continuing the nasty tactics she and Bill are currently using.*
In the meanwhile, this is probably as good a time as any to say that I’ve come down off my own personal fence, and have decided to support Barack Obama — because while I can agree the John McCain represents the Republican’s best hope for moving beyond two decades of animosity, I believe Obama represents America’s best hope.
Any Independents care to join me?
:>
*I’m thinkin’ I’m not alone with this thought…