An open letter to fellow conservatives
By J.B. Williams
web posted April 14, 2008
My Fellow Conservatives,
The conservative movement in American politics has never been more fractured by in-fighting than it is today and we must find a way to fix it, fast.
In the good ole days, all of my hate mail came from sniveling liberals angry with my ultra-conservative message about the founding principles and values that made America the greatest nation in earth's history.
But today, most of my hate mail comes from self-styled conservatives and angry Republicans who can't seem to agree on what it means to be Republican, much less conservative.
I believe that we are headed for a disastrous loss this November and that such a loss can forever change the direction of this nation in an irreversible leap into pure Democratic Socialism that will soon after, be the ruin of my beloved country.
If I'm right, it will be "conservatives" who cause it, not liberals.
As a result of the "compassionate" policies of too many Republicans over the last ten years or so, social spending at a pace that should make even a drunken Kennedy blush, appeasing leftist notions from open borders to immoral social behaviors, and failing to finish the battles we accept in a decisive manner, Republican voters have lost focus and faith in their own party or their ability to affect positive change via the election process.
While there is valid cause for concern in all of these areas, the answer is not to shrink from the challenges, but to rise to these occasions.
Working directly with conservative congressional candidates to take back conservative control of at least the senate is a must do no matter who becomes the next President. But today, I want to address the importance of who becomes the next President.
As you all know, John McCain is almost the last Republican I expected to be the RNC nominee and just about the last individual I thought I would ever vote for in November. We all know how he became the nominee. We lost control of our nominating process long ago and in the future, we must work to regain control here too.
But this November, each of us will find ourselves with the same set of
limited options.
1) Vote against Clinton-Obama by voting for the only candidate left
who can defeat Clinton-Obama
2) Sit it out and let Clinton-Obama win
unopposed
3) Cast a 3rd party protest vote and let Clinton-Obama win by
default
Only one of these options keeps Hillary Clinton or Barrack Hussein Obama out of the Oval Office for the next four years.
Now, some "conservatives" are claiming that either there is no identifiable difference between McCain and the other two candidates, or in some cases, that McCain is even worse than either Clinton or Obama for the future of America. There is no factual basis for either claim and to keep my fellow conservatives from buying into either of these anger driven lies, I have researched and prepared the following diagram of official positions on the top twenty issues facing our nation today. Read my closing comments after reviewing the chart on the candidates official positions.
| Issue | Obama | Clinton | McCain | Aligned |
| Abortion on Demand | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | Opposes | |
| Affirmative Action | Strongly Favors | Favors | Opposes | |
| Homosexual Rights | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | Favors | X |
| School Prayer | Opposes | Opposes | Favors | |
| Death Penalty | Opposes | Favors | Strongly Favors | |
| 3 Strike Sentencing Laws | Opposes | Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| Private Gun Ownership | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| Socialized Medicine | Favors | Strongly Favors | Opposes | |
| Privatize Social Security | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| School Choice | Opposes | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| Restrictive Energy Policy | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | Favors | X |
| Enforce Drug Laws | Strongly Opposes | Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| Church Based Welfare | Favors | Favors | Strongly Favors | X |
| Increased Punitive Taxation | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | Opposes | |
| Illegal Immigration | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | Favors | X |
| Free Trade | Opposes | Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| Expand Armed Forces | Opposes | Opposes | Favors | |
| Restrict Campaign Funding | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | Strongly Favors | X |
| Patriot Act | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| War on Terror | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Opposes | Strongly Favors | |
| Liberal Positions in RED | ||||
| Conservative Positions in BLUE |
These positions are not based upon the current campaign rhetoric. All three candidates are US Senators and as such, they all have a clear record of official votes and formal position statements on all of the top twenty issues. This chart of official positions is based upon their votes and their official position statements as US Senators. In some cases, their official positions are different from their current rhetorical campaign positions aimed at buying votes. It is their official past track record on the issues that tells us what they really believe in and stand for.
If you doubt the facts presented in this chart, I challenge you to research it all for yourselves at www.OnTheIssues.org or the congressional records themselves.
Can any conservative look at this chart and honestly make the claim that there is no significant difference between these three candidates? Is the heated claim that McCain is just as evil as his opponents true? Is McCain "worse" than Clinton or Obama for America on the basis of what the three have worked to advance in the past?
As you can see, Barrack Obama holds only one semi-conservative position out of 20 issues, and he shares that position with both Clinton and McCain. As an inexperienced freshman senator, he has had neither the time or power to advance the other nineteen liberal ideas represented on this chart and that is why he is running for President, where he would have the power to advance these positions.
Hillary Clinton holds only two semi-conservative positions out of the twenty, one of them shared with both Obama and McCain. She too seeks the power of the Oval Office where she can advance the other eighteen liberal ideas visible in her record.
John McCain shares common ground with Clinton and Obama on only five of the twenty issues, one of them a "conservative" position. McCain has chosen common ground with Democrats on only four of the twenty issues, and here are those four issues.
1) Gay Rights - All three candidates support same-sex unions. None of the three support re-defining "marriage" to include homosexual relationships.
2) Restrictive Energy Policy - All three believe in the global warming hoax and all three support dealing with it by reducing American consumption of oil. But only McCain reaches beyond this answer to supporting further oil exploration and refining capacity as well. So, there is a difference even here.
3) Illegal Immigration - McCain and Bush are responsible for much of today's division within the Republican Party due to their "anti-enforcement" positions of the past and their quest to legalize illegal aliens already living in America. But both Clinton and Obama oppose the idea of U.S. national sovereignty and borders altogether. So again, we can find significant differences between them if we care to deal in reality. Yet no matter who is elected, at some point in the near future, some form of Amnesty for those already here is going to pass into law. Count on it... The debate is over what happens next?
4) Restricted Campaign Funding - This one is a funny topic. Few Americans including conservatives, believe that their campaign process is clean and fair. Few believe that their vote means as much as George Soros' billions or the money from China and other enemy states that seems to find its way into American campaign coffers. Yet many conservatives feel that any effort to curb these harmful practices is some kind of infringement upon First Amendment rights of free political speech. I opposed McCain-Feingold and we have already seen why, as a result of how poorly that legislation was conceived. But is there really any doubt that we must find a way to get funny money out of our political system? Some form of campaign finance reform is required to accomplish that. What kind of reform do you think Clinton and Obama have in mind? That only labor unions can donate to political campaigns maybe?
On the other sixteen issues, John McCain has a conservative record as solid as almost any conservative in modern political history.
So, is there really no discernable difference between these three candidates? Are conservatives really prepared to "sit it out" or jump to a third party protest vote because they disagree with McCain on four of twenty issues, and help elect Clinton or Obama who they disagree with on nineteen of twenty?
I am not a fan of John McCain. I'm no fan of any career politician. I worked hard to advance a more conservative candidate, just as most if not all of you did.
I'm angry too, and on some days, I'd like to take my football and go home as well. But that's called a "forfeit." If I pull my team from the field in protest, convinced that I can't win the game no matter what, then I am forfeiting the game and conceding the win to my opponent without even making any effort to defeat them. I will not forfeit my country or my conservative agenda for anyone, no matter how angry I get.
This is not the losing thought pattern of any true conservative I have ever known. I have never known a true conservative unwilling to fight, nor have I ever known a true conservative that believed intentionally losing was some brave new form of winning.
I do not want to cast a vote for John McCain in November for my own reasons. But I have no hesitation whatsoever, stepping into the voting booth and casting a vote against the two red agendas diagrammed above. Show me how to do that without having to vote for McCain and I'll be there. But if McCain is the only means of keeping the Clinton-Obama red agenda out of the Oval Office come November, you can bet your last dollar I will cast that vote.
If conservatives don't lay their temper tantrums aside and think clearly, they can lose this election as well as this nation. They already lost control of their party and unless they have the guts to cut their losses until they can take it back, they will never regain control of anything.
Any doubts about any of this?
Thanks for listening! If you agree, spread it far and wide!
JB Williams 
© 2008 J.B. Williams