2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Obama Campus Fervor Losing to Apathy as Students Sour on 2012 [View all]GOPrefugee
(18 posts)I voted for Bush 41 in '00 and '04. I sat out '08 because I had been told for my entire politically active life that McCain was a RINO.
I'm voting for Obama in '12 because it's the conservative thing to do. Allow me to differentiate between "conservative" and "right-wing."
CONSERVATIVE: Our duty is to prevent shit from flying apart at the seams. Same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization, and other issues that we can compromise on while still keeping Camp Paul where it needs to be are up for negotiation (and in this conservative's opinion, should have been horse-traded a long time ago) and should be compromised as quickly and publicly as possible.
Or else we are doomed.
RIGHT-WING: This is where shit gets stupid. This is where same-sex marriage becomes an existential question, in spite of the right not being able to come up with a convincing argument against it in the nine years since Lawrence v. Texas.
All of the Republican candidates are on the "doomed" side of the ideological divide. It's obvious to me that the Republicans want Romney as the nominee because he will bring about an honorable defeat in which the Republicans are still in the game, and not the full-blown ideological smackdown that would result from a Santorum nomination.
Left wing, I am the wall against which all your frustrations are thrown. I am the Nixon which can go to China or declare war on it. I have a bias against bodies dropping, and I recognize the necessity of listening to you guys, if on nothing other than the principle of keeping the back channels open.
My name on Free Republic was Gordongekko909. There, I fought for ground that we are now trying to map out as the middle. May this not turn into a Verdun.