November 7, 2008
PJB: Why Did John McCain Lose?
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Why did John McCain lose?
Let’s start with those “headwinds” into which he was flying.
The president of the United States, the leader of his party, was at Nixon-Carter levels of approval, 25 percent, going into Election Day.
Sixty-two percent of the nation thought the economy was the No. 1 issue, and 93 percent thought the economy was bad. Two-thirds of the nation thought the war McCain championed was a mistake, and 80 percent to 90 percent thought the country was on the wrong course.
As a political athlete, measured by charisma and communications skills, McCain is not even in the same league with Barack Obama. He was outspent by vast sums, and his political organization was far inferior.
It is a wonder McCain was even competitive, dealt such a hand.
Yet, by Sept. 10, McCain, thanks to Sarah Palin, whose selection had proven a sensation, had come from eight points behind to take the lead, and Joe Biden was wailing that maybe Hillary would have been a better choice for Obama.
Then came the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the bailout of AIG, McCain’s assertion that the economy was fundamentally sound, and his panicked return to Washington to assist Bush and Hank Paulson push through a wildly unpopular bank bailout — using 700 billion in tax dollars to buy up rubbish paper the idiot bankers had put on their books.
The Establishment’s Man had come to save the Establishment.
Suddenly, it was McCain who was down 10 points, as the feline and feral press went on a wilding attack on Sister Sarah. He never recovered, though the McCain-Palin final push left egg on the faces of pollsters who were predicting a double-digit triumph for Obama.
Perhaps no Republican, in these circumstances, could have won, especially with that month-long bloodletting on Wall Street that wiped out $4 trillion to $5 trillion in stock and bond value, ravaging IRAs and 401Ks, portfolios and pensions alike.
Yet, McCain might still have won had he not, like his three fellow establishment Republicans Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole, been inhibited by the Mainstream Media and his own Beltway beliefs.
Consider. In California, where a liberal judiciary had ordered the state to recognize homosexual marriages, voters, by 52 to 48, slapped the judges across the face and ordered the ban reimposed and placed in the California constitution. Arizona and Florida also voted to outlaw gay marriage, by landslides.
The New York Times deplored the “ugly outcome” of these three referenda and said voters were “enshrining bigotry,” thus calling the majority of Californians, Arizonans and Floridians bigots and their Bible-rooted Christian beliefs nothing but bigotry.
Good to know what they think of us. Yet, McCain, who might have been out front on these moral and cultural issues, paid only lip service — and lost Florida, and California by a landslide.
In Missouri, where McCain eked out a victory, a proposal to make English the official state language carried six to one. In Nebraska, a proposal to ban affirmative action carried 58 to 42, but lost in a 50-50 tie in Colorado.
Parental notification won 48 percent support in California, a far higher share of the vote than McCain got, while a measure to outlaw abortion except in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother got 45 percent in South Dakota. Had McCain made an issue of Obama’s support for a Freedom of Choice Act that would eliminate all state restrictions on abortion, he could have forced Obama to defend what yet remains a radical and extreme view in America.
While Barack was locking up black America, McCain failed to hold onto Bush’s share of the white working class, though Obama had the most liberal voting record in the Senate and long associations with the likes of Jeremiah Wright and ’60s bomber William Ayers.
Perhaps fearful his “good guy” reputation with his old buddies in his media “base” would be imperiled, McCain ruled Wright off limits and seemed hesitant even to go after the Ayers connections. Lee Atwater would not have been so ambivalent. Leo Durocher put it succinctly: “Nice guys finish last.”
Ultimately, however, the Beltway Republicans are losing Middle America because they are ideologically incapable of addressing two great concerns: economic insecurity and the perception that we are losing the America that we grew up in.
Economic insecurity is traceable to NAFTA-GATT globalization, under which it makes economic sense for U.S. companies to close factories here, build plants in China and export back to the United States. Manufacturing now accounts for less than 10 percent of all U.S. jobs.
Social insecurity is traceable to mass immigration, legal and illegal, which has brought in scores of millions who are altering the character of communities and competing with U.S. workers by offering their services for far less pay.
These are the twin causes of death of the Reagan coalition, and as long as the Republican Party is hooked on K Street cash, it will not address either, and thus pass, blissfully addicted, from this earth.
Tags: Bailouts, Economy, Illegal Immigration, John McCain, Sarah Palin
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John McCain’s support for a free-trade system that has cost so many American jobs must be a big factor. The Obama camp clearly saw this as a core issue and although they don’t come close to having a remedy, have been able to portray themselves as willing to protect jobs from being shipped overseas.
Pat Wrote:
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Ultimately, however, the Beltway Republicans are losing Middle America because they are ideologically incapable of addressing two great concerns: economic insecurity and the perception that we are losing the America that we grew up in.
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100% agree. That’s why for the 2010 Republican Party races we have to run as an anti-free Trade Party and an anti-1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act Party! We need to educate the American people on the disaster called Hart-Celler. We could then add anti-free trade stance and the anti-Hart-Celler stance to the 2012 Repbuclican Party platform and try to get it repealed in 2013 if possible. I think Palin would sign a repeal of Hart-Celler.
McCain was the best chance we had to win, he worked his butt off, he picked a great running mate, his strategy was excellent, and he followed through; but in the end, he was up against an opponent who was almost impossible to beat. Obama had everything going for him this year. McCain is a great American, and he’ll always be an inspiration to me. What a fighter!
I saw the jerk Dick Morris on Fox whining about Obama tax hikes on stock gains and dividends, as if Wall St will continue to drop the Dow averages until this threat is lifted. The thought that American business can blackmail a government and it’s peoples enrages me to the core. If I were Obama, I would counter this with income tax hikes on the wealthy. There’s certainly more than one way to skin a cat, a very selfish fat cat.
McCain disserved to lose, more importantly; he should never have been selected to run on the Republican ticket. When he gets back to the senate and goes across the isle to join hands with the democrats, he needs to stay there. The Communist, Socialist, Markists, Progressive, Liberal, RINO, & Democrat Party and their public relations group, the Drive-By Media will destroy us if we do not wake up.
What nobody is talking about is our federal debt. Neither the useless Drive-By Media nor presidential candidates are talking about our $57 trillion, 444 billion, 109 million dollars debt. Politicians from both parties have long used our tax dollars to buy our votes by “bringing home the bacon.” Here are a few websites to research: Pete G. Peterson Foundation, I.O.U.S.A., Ross Perot Charts, and Truth in 2008.
You also might want to Google an article by Bill Walker titled, “Our $100 Trillion National Debt.” at the LewRockwell.com website there is a link to a speech by the President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, Richard W. Fisher. In a May speech at the Commonwealth Club of California, he states that the US national debt is close to $100 trillion. You can read his whole speech at the Federal Reserve web site.
Spot on, per usual Pat. Thanks for the great analysis.
Jimmy Lewis
http://rougerevival.blogspot.com/
“CHANGE” is already underway at some Republican state parties. Check out the Republican state party platforms of Iowa, Texas and Oklahoma. NAFTA, GATT, “globaliisation”, the North American Union, illegal immigration, Sustainable Development, the repeal of the 16th amendment and Fair Tax and more are being addressed in these and other state platforms. The Florida Republicans don’t have a party platform, but there is an initiative to draft one by 2010. Go to http://www.platformyes.com to read about it and to read the Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa platforms. “Ride to the sound of the guns” the fight is already underway.
McCain lost because the GOP, NOT the people selected him. Conservatives would not vote for McCain because he betrayed many of our conservative values Amnesty for illegals, etc. Liberals were not going to vote for McCain because why vote for a pretend liberal when you have the real McCoy liberal in Obama. This leaves the only vote McCain could get which was those who feared Obama. After 8 years of Bush beating up on the working class they just saw McCain as four more years of the same thing. Who could survive that?
The end result is that two New World Order shills ran, one won, and America is still screwed. Until Americans break free of the two Party mentality America will continue to suffer. No one in either Party who isn’t an open border globalist is never allowed to ascend anywhere near the top of the Party or nomination. Has anyone ever noticed this? Yes the fix is in.
You can’t survive one income anymore and it’s getting close two not being able to survive on two incomes. Has anyone noticed how the working class in this country is getting pummeled?
This is corporate fascism
admhalsey, you have it generally correct about big business manipulating government. But to think that Obama could attack them with tax hikes is like a dog biting the hand that feeds it.
Pat, you make many excuses for his loss, but let’s call it like it TRULY is. Blacks and Hispanics teamed up to overrule whitey. This election was purely based on race. I hope the liberal whites are happy, they know not the change they have voted for. This is just a preview of the America to come as whites become the minority in a generation or two after Obama grants amnesty.
Massive Debt is not Rational. Endless War is not Conservative. Conservative forces dominated the 2008 Election:
1. California: voters, by 52 to 48, slapped the judges across the face
2. Florida:voted to outlaw gay marriage, by landslides.
3. Arizona:voted to outlaw gay marriage, by landslides.
4. Missouri: a proposal to make English the official state language carried six to one.
5. Nebraska, a proposal to ban affirmative action carried 58 to 42.
6. Endless War: Obama’s political base was built from Americans rejecting the meglomanical, NEOCON lie of militarized political conquest.
7. Limitless Debt: His election win was guaranteed by Americans rejecting horrendous economic mismanagement that included massive budget deficits, massive trade deficits, the export of the US industrial base, and the hijacking of the American financial system by a handful of New York City financial criminals.
Pat, with all due respect, McCain lost the election because he can’t use a computer… and has absolutely no understanding of the technological revolution taking place and the need to invest in our people so that we can compete in a global economy. Please look at the millions of jobs out there for people with highly specialized skills; that are going unfilled. Listen to Bill Gates. Companies are not outsourcing jobs because they are greedy. They are outsourcing primarily because there is no one here to fill those jobs. I supported NAFTA because I believe we will trounce the competition. But we can’t do it with outdated, obsolete skills, a crumbling infrastructure or political gridlock. If Republicans put up pragmatists instead of ideologues, you might win us back. In the past, Republicans knew better how to handle our money; Democrats knew better how to handle our vision. We need politicians who can do both.
Great analysis! To sum it all up we can say:
“Big Tent Republicanism doesn’t work.”
All excellent reasons why John McCain lost. Add about fifty more and I think we have a list. The GOP should be ashamed of itself. It completely sold itself out to free trade multinational corporate interests, a new world order, immigration madness, debt debt debt, and wars of empire. They acted like Balaam of old and the result was humiliating defeat.
Now is the time to repent GOP leadership. Like that old 60’s bumper sticker that found itself onto a fair share of VM bugs so many years ago declared “Turn or Burn”.
McCain lost because voters no longer had any confidence in the GOP. The GOP had the ball for 8 years, improved nothing, offered nothing, promised nothing.
Then the campaign, Obama kept looking better the more the GOP bashed Obama. Here was a GOP who had social-issue Guiliani as their front runner, Lieberman as the advisor to their VP and Wall Steet free traders fully embraced then finally trotting out a phony ‘Joe the Plumber’ posing as a pundit - the GOP brand was taken off the shelves.
Did you notice this yesterday on the front page of Haaretz in Israel ” ISRAELI Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff” ? Keep your eyes on the prize, a real American Democracy….Good luck and God speed….
My Dear Pat,
I could see the reason from my front porch…so read my lipstick…S-A-R-A-H P-A-L-I-N!
McCain mavericked himself out of an election, by building his house with straw and sticks.
Obama was vulnerable on so many issues: abortion, Ayers, Wright, etc. Yet, McCain campaigned as if he was at odds with those running his campaign. He really did not want to attack Obama and he was embarrassed by his own commercials. Unable to choose between a positive and negative campaigns, he charted a middle, half-assed course attacking Obama for his ties to the little known “washed up” Ayers, but not his ties to the inflammatory, anti-white Wright. So, McCain came across as “Mr. Nasty” without scoring any real points.
Sarah Barracuda rallied the base, but cost McCain a lot of independents and disaffected Democrats. I don’t blame her; she just wasn’t ready for prime time. While I disagree with her on many issues, I admire her for the way she weathered the daily beatings she took in the press. The Couric interview, as well as the ribbing by Saturday Night Live, destroyed much of her credibility as a potential president.
Now, we go from Bush, maybe the worst president in history, to Obama — perhaps the only candidate that could do worse.
I think Governor Palin is great but here is one caveat about her running for President:
Unlike men, Women are extremely jealous of other women - ESPECIALLY if they are attractive and successful. Just like it’s human nature that Blacks will vote for other Blacks it’s human nature that Women will try to tear down and scorn other Women. That’s why women are never good on all-women teams (or rarely).
Watch any reality TV show if you want to see it in action. Women always vote for the guy to win over the woman on Survivor, Big Brother, etc.
If Palin wants to be President she has to figure out a way for other women not to scorn her. Hillary figured it out by getting their sympathy and the US GALS ARE IN IT TOGETHER vote. Palin needs to use the scorn heaped upon her by the media to her own advantage and make herself look sympathetic.
I think a better question would be why did Obama win? There is only one answer to that question. And it was ALWAYS about race. Just like the great Disreali said, “everything is race…..”
One thing that has bothers my husband and myself about the GOP is the exhorbitant amount of energy it spends on gay marriage and abortion. It has already been documented that at least half of Americans feel these issues are States issues and that the governmemnt should not have any decision making authority there. Not to mention most people are divided on this and it just should not be such a focus. The stubborn adherence of the GOP in moralizing these very private social issues alienates a good deal of potential supporters who would readily ally themselves with the principles of a strong defense, limited government, low taxes and individual freedom minus the dogma. You cannot preach individual freedom while at the same time dictating peoples personal lives. Somewhere along the line the GOP became the Christian party dedicated to Christian principles over the principles of freedom and liberty. My husband and I are not Christian but we are conservative liberty lovers and registered Republicans. We don’t attend Republican functions or get involved personally with the Republican Party because that barrier is there. Until the GOP is able to separate religion from the principles of liberty I can only see the party continue to decline. The GOP might alienate part of it’s base in doing so initially, but that base didn’t help them get elected this time anyway, did it. And let’s face it, the face of religion is changing here. Buddhists, HIndus, Muslims, Atheists, Jews, etc. any of these religious followers can be conservative but not necessarily Christian. The GOP environment needs be more accepting of these religious differences and focus instead on binding with the principles of freedom and liberty. This is what Ron Paul attempted to do. His supporters erased the barriers of political lines because they had true liberty in common. This should serve as a reminder that the principles of liberty are what’s at stake here, not religion. Until the GOP understands that people want individual freedom in every sense of the word they will continue to deteriorate as a whole.
Obama victory should finally break the taboo on Jewish power.
http://www.rense.com/general60/stun.htm
http://www.rense.com/general44/sevenjewishamericans.htm
It’s true that 2008 was a bad year for Republicans, but if Obama had been given the kind of media scrutiny that McCain and Palin got, he would not have won. But, much of the media is owned/run by Jews, and Jews happen to be 90% liberal.
This has long been a fact, but we’ve been silent because any criticism of Jewish power is ‘anti-semitic’. This taboo must be broken. The liberal Jewish media gave us a stealth Marxist candidate!! Reagan must be turning his grave. Did we win the Cold War just to have US end up under the domination of a black nationalist Saul Alinskyite Marxist?
Obama belonged to a Hate Church for 20 yrs. He was close with Bill Ayers, a former terrorist, still a communist. Yet, the media made no big deal out of this. Recall how the liberal Jewish media made a Big Stink about Buchanans’s “Nazi sympathies”, his “anti-semitism”, etc. Even that stinkweed Bill Buckley joined in on this chorus.
But, the media made no big stink about Obama’s connections, his ideology, his associations.
Now, suppose McCain had belonged to a hateful White Church. Suppose he’d worked closely with a far right figure like Don Black or David Duke. He wouldn’t have even come near winning the nomination. But, Obama was not scrutinized. And, when people like Hannity and Palin brought up those issues, the liberal Jewish media said those two were being ‘negagtive’. McCain remained silent as he afraid of the liberal media. According to the media and academia, it was a bigger sin to have been an anti-communnist in the 40s, 50s, and 60s than a pro-communist or even a communist spy.
There is a reason for this bias. Jews own and run most of the media, and most Jews are liberal or leftist. With their high intelligence, business smarts, intellectualism, and ambitiousness, they’ve gained near total control of our means of information. They set the agenda, decide what is cool and what is not, what is hip and what is not, what is correct and what is not, what is extreme and what is not, what is hate and what is not, what is rage and what is not. Generally, the Right has to play nice whereas the Left can plays as hard as they want. So, it’s not acceptable if a Republican associates with the far right, but it’s cool if a Democrat associates with the far left. If a liberal attacks a republican’s far right associations, that’s fighting hate. But, if a conservative attacks a Democrat’s far left associations, that is red-baiting and witchhunting, etc.
Enough already. Jews are the most powerful people in the US. We must speak truth to power. We must oppose mindless anti-semitism, but we must criticize Jewish power at least as much as Jews criticize Cuban-American power, Mormon power, Christian Right power, America First power, white power, etc.
Obama could not have won with only black or Hispanic power. Obama won because many whites voted for him. Where and how did these whites get their information? From the mainstream media, from schools and colleges, etc. Who own or controls those institutions?
Also, 75% of Jews have voted for Obama despite his close ties with Khalidi. Jews have been telling Americans that we must be 100% pro-Israel and 100% anti-Palestian. If McCain had close ties with anti-Zionits Palestinian figures, you bet the media would have burned his ass. But, most Jews voted for Obama DESPITE Obama’s ties with the radical anti-Israeli Khalidi. Jews probably figure that Obama will be pro-Israeli since much of the money that funded his campaign came from Jews. Since Jews own at least 35% of the national wealth and since 50% of Democratic Party funds come from Jews, Jews know that Obama will be pro-Israel despite what his personal feelings may be. BUT, Jews still voted for someone who’s close with Khalidi. Yes, the same Jews who’ve been trashing Buchanan and Sobran for criticizing Israel. According to Jews, conservatives must be 100% pro-Israel while liberals can hang around with guys like Khalidi.
Okay, so conservatives have been supporting Israel all these years, and what have we to show for it? Most Jews are still liberal. Most Jews support gay marriage. Most Jews support open borders. Most Jews support anti-white multiculturalism.
Enough already. Dinesh D’souza was right. Muslims are not our enemies. Radical Muslims did far less damage to the West than radical Jews. Communism was not cooked up by radical Muslims. Rosenbergs were not radical Muslims. The anti-war commie radicals that made US lose in Vietnam were not Muslims. Fans of Che Guevara and Castro were not Muslism. People promoting gay marriage are not Muslims. People who ruined our immigration laws are not Muslims. The scum who run ACLU are not Muslims. No, they are liberal and leftwing Jews.
There are good conservative Jews, and if they want our support of Israel, we want something in return. Conservative Jews must attack liberal Jews as liberal JEWS. It was not the power of gentile liberals that gave Obama the clear edge. It was the power of liberal Jews. Most liberal Asian-Americans don’t have much power. Liberal Hispanics have no control of the media and academia. Blacks are numerous, but again, they don’t have much economic, media, and institutional might as their numbers would indicate.
Let’s not fool ourselves. Let’s stop being afraid. Liberal Jews did this!! Leftwing Jews did this!! They control and own our media. If Obama and McCain got the same treatment in the media, Obama would not have won. Indeed, he wouldn’t even have gotten the nomination. The media, which sent an army of reporters to Wassila, didn’t probe to found out about the Real Obama. And, whatever they did know, they didn’t share with us.
Yes, there are many other factors. McCain fumbled the ball during the financial crisis. But, keep in mind that the media took up the Obama storyline that the fault for the crisis was mostly Republican when, in fact, Fannie/Freddie were essentially liberal affairs.
The liberal Jewish dominated media was pro-Obama. Also, vast Jewish contributions to Obama’s campaign allowed Obama to outspend McCain 4 to 1 in some states. Who can win against this?
Jews are powerful. Very powerful. We must speak truth to power. But, even the mighty Buchanan, who goes on and on about Mexicans, Asians, Muslism, and etc, will almost never talk about Jewish power. If even pitbull Buchanan is afraid of the Jewish lion, it’s no wonder that everyone else is so silent also.
But, the Obama victory is unforgivable. The Liberal and Leftwing Jews in this country put a stealth Marxist in power. They did this after all the undying love and support they’ve gotten from the conservative community. This is what we get after supporting Israel for many many decades.
If Jews want US to be overrun by illegal aliens, I say we should side with Muslims and allow Israel to be overrun by Arabs. No more favors for the Jews… unless decent conservative Jews attack liberal Jews as bad JEWS.
Why did John McCain lose? Two words: Sarah Palin.
When Barbara Boxer asked her PAC membership why Kay Bailey Hutchison was overlooked, the GOP should have known it was in trouble! Because really, folks, why was Kay Bailey Hutchison and a dozen other worthy, time-tested candidates overlooked for Governor Palin? Because McCain lost total focus - he sacrificed his own beliefs and vision in a shoddy, desperate attempt to out-glamorize Obama - and lost!!! In hindsight, why didn’t the GOP demand that he change VP’s, knowing that Palin just didn’t have the chops for the job. Never mind her being a quick study, as Laura Bush observed - this nation is in crisis. And crisis demands experience…
We can only hope and pray that the GOP has the humility to realize its mistakes and re-group…they can start by begging Christopher Buckley to come home….
“In California, … voters, by 52 to 48, slapped the judges across the face and ordered the ban reimposed and placed in the California constitution.”
“Parental notification won 48 percent support in California…”
Surely you must realize the irony here. The same-sex marriage ban only passed thanks to the large black and latino turn-out Obama brought to the table. Whites roughly split, while blacks and latinos went at least 60-40, if not higher, in favor of banning gay marriage. On the flip side, these same minority groups account for a disproportionately higher abortion rate, ensuring Prop. 4’s failure.
I would contend that the electoral make-up in California in this election may have made Props. 4 and 8 mutually exclusive. Thus I see no way a more socially conservative McCain could have used these to issues to this advantage…certainly not to the point of carrying the state.
McCain lost any hope of winning the election when he suspended his campaign to “solve” the financial crisis in Washington. He was ineffectual, made a fool of by House Republicans, and adopted the same policy stance as Obama. Had he pounded a populist drum against the bail-out he might have had a shot, but even then the last-minute pre-debate theatrics hurt him.
Palin was a wash in the end. No VP pick was going to be a magic bullet. Romney may have helped in MA, MI and CO; Ridge in PA and VA; Lieberman in the northeast and FL; but none would have turned the election in any substantial way.
This was a campaign where McCain needed to do everything perfectly just to hope for a nailbiter. The odds were simply too long and his margin for error too small.
Bleeding Heart, you’re right about Palin. Ultimately, she was a minus. But, we must ask… was it because of what she is or the way she was portrayed by the media? She got far more scrutiny and negative press than Obama. And, recall that one of Hillary’s problems was that the media favored Obama over her. Hillary, like Palin, was treated shabbily.
Not only the media but late night talk shows trashed Palin while never cracking jokes about The One. Obama was treated with reverence while Palin was treated with revulsion. Most media people are urban liberals with fancy college degrees. Obama belonged to their club, Palin did not. Also, most female journalists are feminists, and they believe that only Liberal Feminism is the Only True Voice of and for women. So, the idea of a popular conservative woman made the media–which now has a lot of women–very hostile. They were out to get Sarah.
People say Palin has little experience, but so does Obama. Some said Palin was not mainstream enough, but Obama had close ties to guys like Wright and Ayers. Obama got his education from Rules of Radicals by communist Alinsky.
So, it wasn’t so much Palin as the media trashing of her.
But, it must be said that Palin was a poor choice. Had she served as governor for at least two terms, okay. But, only 2 yrs?
Another area where she was deficient was in Knowledge. Obama has little experience but he has much knowledge–even if of the wrong kind. We now live in the post-industrial age. We are in the Information and Knowledge age. Much of global business and wealth are about Information and Knowledge. It’s the age of Google and Facebook–which will mean Jewish power will only grow larger since they are the incontestable geniuses in this area. Obama seemed the candidate of Information and Knowledge. Palin seemed pre-Industrial in comparison. She may have impressed NRA with stories of shooting a moose, but most Americans are urban dwellers with laptops and ipods, not shotguns and mooseheads hanging on the wall. Palin seemed like a 19th century personality. I liked her immensely, but we must admit she was deficient in knowledge, and this showed when she was interviewed by Gibson and Kouric. Yes, Gibson and Kouric were less friendly to her, but she seemed lost at times.
Had there been no financial panic, this may not have mattered much. But, when the complex modern economy hit the iceberg like the Titanic, Americans wanted a knowledgable expert who came across as authoritative, knowledgable, and in command of the situation to be captain of the ship. Obamanomics is stupid, but he put on a good show. Also, even if he has the wrong ideas, he seemd knowledgable of what he wanted to do. We never got this sense from Palin. We got the passion but not the program. As for McCain… I blame his economic advisers for filling him with mixed messages. Deficient in economic ideas, McCain just muttered whatever his handlers told him to say. Bad idea, as there was a powerful case to be made against the Democratic origins of the financial mess.
John McCain probably could have won if he had simply come out strongly against the $700 billion rip-off. It would have shown Obama for what he really is: a toady of big business.
But McCain would rather lose an election than lose his friends in the finance industry.
Jews? Yes, they have done a lot of damage and will continue to dominate the airwaves in favor of the liberals. It’s up to us to diffuse that. Plans are on the books for just that. A new media empire must emerge that is owned by Conservatives. Only then can we begin to give the public the truth and sway politics in our direction.
Sandra, ‘gay marriage’ is not just a Christian issue. I’m not a Christian, yet I find the notion of ‘gay marriage’ utterly ludicrous.
And, it’s not just a private or persona matter, because the gay agenda is trying to force all of us to publicly accept that gay union is the legitimate basis for marriage. If conservatives are trying to batter down doors and prevent gays from being gay, I would agree with you. But, it’s the gay agenda which is trying to batter down the doors of normality and impose ‘gay marriage’ on all of us. I don’t care what gays do, and I wouldn’t call them ‘fags’ to their face. But, I don’t like NORMOPHOBIC gays and their allies telling us that we must accept homosexuality as normal or rational behavior. I understand that gays are born gay, but that still doesn’t make it rational or healthy or normal.
Also, there is a reason why over 50% of young Americans are for ‘gay marriage’. It’s because most of our media–news and entertainment–and academia are dominated by liberals and leftists. Some on the Left promote ‘gay marriage’ because they are decadent while other support it simply to undermine ‘normative’ values that are central to our society. Some really believe in ‘gay marriage’ while others want to use it as a weapon to undermine the West.
I don’t care if 100% of Americans think ‘gay marriage’ is okay. It’s still wrong. At one time, Bush had 90% approval rating, but that didn’t mean he was a good president. At one time, nearly 100% of Chinese thought Mao was a God. That didn’t make him so. The guy was a lunatic. Over 50% of Americans voted for Obama. So, should we accept Obama as the messiah?
“Gay marriage” is not okay. It undermines and trashes the very concept of marriage. It reduces marriage to just another silly lifestyle. Marriage is the most fundamental and crucial institution in society. If our government were to fall apart but our families stayed together, we would still have civilization. But, if our families fell apart, civilization would be lost even if our government was doubled in size.
Marriage is serious business. It is sacred even to a secularist such as myself. Marriage is about a man and a woman committing to one another to raise and take care of the children that they brought into this world together. It’s not a game for vain urban dweebs who have this funny idea of sticking their reproductive organs into holes designed by nature for excretion.
I will not interfere with gays doing whatever they want to do, BUT gays have no right force us to ACCEPT and VALIDATE their behavior as normal, rational, and healthy and worthy of being the basis for marriage.
In a way, the Homo-Jewish aliance is very important. In some ways, Jews–significant for their wealth, power, and influence–feel closer to the gay community than to any other. Both make up 2% of the US population. Both tend to be affluent, well-educated, artistic, intellectual, cultural, cosmopolitan, and urban. Both were persecuted by the traditional western society. Both were seen as sinners or outcasts. Both were targeted and killed by Nazis–though many early Nazis were gay. (”Hidden Hitler” persuasively argues that Hitler was a closet gay).
Also, anti-gayness in the US is associated with the Right. Since most Jews are of the Left, Jews have this kneejerk pro-gay position.
But, I suspect it also has something to do with the Jewish desire to cast off their old prejudices and redeem their cultural identity. In the ancient world, pagans were far more tolerant of homosexuality than the Jews were. Indeed, Jews were downright murderous toward gays. This hatred was spread through Christianity and Islam. Many pagan folks who had tolerated gays suddenly became archly anti-gay once converted into Christians or Muslims.
Strangely, Christianity and Islam, though both offshoots of Judaism, also came to be anti-Jewish.
The very ideas and values originated by Jews came to hurt the Jews–and gays. Christians and Muslims persecuted both Jews and gays on an unprecedented scale. So, in a odd kind of irony, Jews, who had originated virulent hatred of gays, shared the same persecution with the gays under Christians and Muslims, and came to sympathize with gays. Jews and gays both came to the conclusion that what undermined the normal values of mainstream society served their minority interests.
In other words, Jewish support of the gay agenda isn’t necessarily rational or sensible. It’s historical and socio-contextual.
Anyway, we must oppose ‘gay marriage’ rationally, not religiously. Because of the separation of church and state, any religious argument to ban ‘gay marriage’ isn’t constitutional. What we need is a common sense argument. Bodily organs serve certain functions. Sexual organs were meant to be used for reproductive acts. The anus was designed for taking a dump. Inserting a reproductive organ into a rectum/colon isn’t rational or normal behavior. Since gays are sexually dysfuctional, we must tolerate what they do. But, we don’t have to recognize and validate what they do as normal, healthy, or rational and worthy of legitimization by mainstream society.
In other words, fecal penetration is no basis for marriage.
settembrini:
There are not very many U.S. government officials in every branch of the government and agencies that are not “toady’s of big business.” And it has been that way for too damn long.
Hans Lucas:
It is disgusting that so many in the Christian communities put the geopolitical nation state of Israel on a pedestal, when its Zionist Jew leaders are straight from the pits of hell.
Couple of points. It was socially conservative Obama voters that put Prop 8 over the top. What now?
Republicans no longer have a lock on social conservatives.
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The soak the rich idea has been tried. The Dems put a 10% luxury tax on yachts and other goods. What happened? It killed the yacht industry in America.A lot of ordinary Joes lost their jobs. But by golly it forced the rich to go to Europe to buy their yachts. Taught them a lesson it did.
You can’t punish the rich without punishing yourselves. How much of a beating do you want to take to stroke your envy?
I have a better idea. Why not make America attractive to the rich so they buy their stuff here, start businesses, etc.
There is a reason envy is a deadly sin.
==
BTW I’m one of those Zionists straight from the pits of hell. Nice to meet you geo. Glad to see you doing your best to make your point of view attractive. Should I quote you as a typical Pat follower next time he runs for President? That should help him get votes. I take it you are a little tent Republican.
Perhaps if “conservatives” and the Buchanan Brigade can “come out” or just ‘cook up’ tales of suffering, and about the pathology that being “minority” actually causes and they share their tales of “survival,” perhaps then, they will be granted special status with the electorate.
I personally have been cursed to an eternity in hell fire and demeaned as a looser just for posting here…..The self mutilating McCain fans were actually on the right track!
“Last March, the Chicago Tribune reported this little-noticed nugget about a fake autobiographical detail in Obama’s Dreams from My Father: “Then, there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.”
MSimon:
You have my condolences for being a Zionist.
I could not be a “tent” Republican because I renounce the clanishness of both the Republican AND Democrat parties. I am simply an honest citizen who wishes to have honest representation in my government.
Hey Larson, long time no hear!
Hans Lucas and geo, good posts. The power of the international Cabal is almost omnipotent. Even PJB shudders at its power.
In the immortal words of Russell Crowe’s Maximus, ‘..STAY WITH ME’
The power of this evil cabal must be broken.
..and in a nut shell, McCain lost because he was an unbalanced septuagenarian and swallowed all the NEOCON bilge. Even though most of the masses are ignorant of the facts there is just so much even they can take.
Unfortunately it apears that Obama is controlled by the same cabal.
..beware the protocols of Zio..
The soak the rich idea has been tried-M Simon
The UNFAIR breaks the rich have been getting, over the last twenty years, is over the top. First with Reagan-omics, then with the Clinton/Republican excesses of the late 90’s and then with Bush ‘the lesser’ its been a feeding frenzy by the rich. Even Warren ‘the Oracle of Omaha’ Buffett say this has been welfare for the rich. Its time they pay their fair share.
…its nice to argue with the devil, lol!
Our blind support for the State of Israel is our greatest liability on the world stage.
Period!
McCain didn’t lose, the republican party lost. It has been infiltrated by democrats (neo-cons,RINO’s). That is what lost the election. The Republican party needs to get back to it’s roots. They should not have shunned or ridiculed the supporters and message of Ron Paul,Pat Buchanan, Goldwater, etc.. type supporters. That is what the youth and majority of Americans want to here and see.
As other commentators here have said, there are many reasons why McCain lost. One of them is the fact that his campaign was 100% negative. Being awash in fear, anger and hatred day in and day out is, frankly, a major drag and most people just want the folks inducing all that negativity to go away.
And I think that Pat inadvertantly hit upon another with his comment that “beltway Republicans” are “incapable of addressing…the perception that we are losing the America we grew up in.” You mean the America YOU grew up in, Pat. To the 18-34 year olds who flocked to Obama, the 1950s are, for good or ill, ancient history. And that is the point. Obama represents the future. John McCain and the Republicans represent the dead past. The future and hope will trump ruefully mourning the long gone past every time.
Hans, I exactly my point that the GOP should veer away from the issue of gay marriage and abortion. Whatever we feel about it, it needs to handled on the local level where it belongs. The Feds should not go near those issues. They will resolve themselves per the State governments.
MSimon, Just once I would like to see a Jewish person condem the actions of his own on Israel, the liberal media, in any way. I never see that which tells me that Jews defend themselves first no matter what their political affiliations. If you are truly conservative you would be denouncing the ACLU, liberal media, special interests groups, most of which were formed by Jews. Your inability to look beyond your heritage tells me that you are exactly what Hans was saying. On top of that you threaten to smear all Pat Buchanan followers because of those who are not fond of Jews. It seems you need to re-evaluate your priorities and get some perspective on just where you belong. There is no need to take what some say so personally if you know it does not apply to you but be fair enough to at least recognize that there are those who deserve this harsh description.
why is the republican leadership obssesed with this woman.. because she embodies their cultural attributes. Young, pretty and KNOWS HER PLACE. Even though she was picked only for her cultural attributes with no ideas of her own… atleast as displayed dureing her and sen. mccains “run”. What i find here is a party so drunk with power, and so far outside “the mainstram of America”, they would attempt to sell us a dim - wit, in the name of winning.
Sen. Mccain is QUALIFIED to be president, some, especially on the far left just disagreed with him… Do you think all of the republicans that went to the other side this election are “in - the - tank” for OBAMA? People just looked at the situation, (people like Greta don’t have to worry about college, taxes, etc., let’s face it). She can vote on “cultural” issues, alone. I however cannot!
This is all the republicans had this year… and Sara Palin. Her pick told me what they really think about me. Yes, i believe in working hard, earning a living.. but with 1.5M jobs gone this year, others are worried. Of all the republicans out there, you want Sarah Palin?
This country I love, and have bled for.. like SEN MC, should re-examine itself. As for OBAMA, we built him and provided for his story.. now you want to tear him apart, literally, because he has affection for those, many of you with no family connections or inherited wealth? I don’t agree with all of Obama’s philosophy, but i respect the fact that he respected us .. as VOTERS, as AMERICANS. We told him, convinced his parents that we’d judge him on his abilities, not anything else. He believed that.. and he ran. Otherwise how else could he have convinced so many AMERICANS, that he was the better candidate?
Sarah Palin was a ploy to win, not to GOVERN, and where is your affection for Sen Mccain who’s campaign was horribly attacked by this conservative ideology? After all HE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT ACTUALLY FOUGHT FOR YOU. All i’m hearing is S.P.
oH AND ONE MORE THING, WE ALL WANT TO SEND OUR KIDS TO THE BEST SCHOOL, BECAUSE THE TIMES DEMAND IT. WHO DO YOU THINK OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE NEGOTIATING WITH… SARAH PALIN?
“Why did John McCain lose?” is PJB at his best and most succinct. Yes, let the blissfully addicted Beltway Republicans, hooked on K street cash, pass from this earth!
But will they? We’d like to think these deeply entrenched “R”s will leave their posts and let Buchanan conservatives take them over. I wish! I see no evidence of this happening, though.
Until conservative republicans find the guts to stand up for their principles to a hostile media and democrat majority, I’m afraid the congress will just keep drifting left.
What we need are patriots willing to go down fighting. Let the media and the Pelosi-Reid congress blast the first of them away, but eventually some will get through, and then the country will rally, like it did when a core coalition of 10 conservatives headed by Newt took the congress over by storm in the early 1990s.
Hi Pat:
I’m African-American and I do not agree with everything you say, however you were so goddamn right about the war in Iraq and its consequences - I respect your right to say what you believe.
Just an alert - was listening this morning to WBAI Radio in New York - some moron named Playthell Benjamin wants to debate you - called you everything but a child of God on the radio - if he calls to debate you, please ignore his calls. He is an insulting bastard who has no credentials. His name is Playthell Benjamin -when and if he calls, IGNORE HIM!!
All the best to you and Happy Birthday!!
Sandra, Hans is right. We must treat Gay Marriage as a national issue because if we let localities handle it, we’ll have gay states and localities all over the US. Then, the virus will spread.
We could not let localities define political equality because it led to such ludicrous notions such as ’separate but equal’. Forced segregation was never equal. Similarly, ‘gay marriage’ simply isn’t marriage. It’s not a federal vs local issue but an issue of sense and sanity. The concept is just downright crazy, and we must not allow local communities bend laws to serve their lifestyle choices. If gay people want to be gay, act gay, do gay things, fine. But, we mustn’t let the gay agenda to violate the laws and values of this society on a fundamental legal basis in any of the 50 states.
Border control is also a national issue too important to leave up to individual states. If SW states have lax border controls, the illegals expand into other states. These are not containable problems–especially since the nation-wide liberals in the media, academia, and government are out to ram down their gay agenda/open borders on all of us. If California chooses gay marriage, the gay agenda people will push it on the next state, and then the other. We must fight the liberals and gay agenda on the national scale.
This election was John McCain’s to lose.
He never articulated conservative principals, and concerns of the middle class. I am not convinced that he really understood Sarah Palin’s appeal to Americans of all colors. McCain only saw (and to his credit) appreciated her fight against corruption in her own party.
A rich boy, like Bush, son and grandson of two USN Admirals, and married to a beer heiress, McCain never got that people are disgusted with Republican “me too” policies which have destroyed jobs and ruined our culture.
The US Chamber of Commerce writes our policies; the Republican alliance between cultural conservatives and business no longer exists. Our jobs disappear, go overseas, or are taken by immigrants, legal and illegal.
My cousins in small town Illinois complain that their children’s schools are overcrowded with the children of illegals. Scarce education dollars are used for bilingual education, while their children do without the attention of their teachers.
At the same time, the illegal parents take American jobs at reduced wages, our culture remains under attack, and cities and suburbs become third world cesspools with a new Mafia controlling drugs.
I have enjoyed your website and books for many years. You are a great proponent of real conservative values.
But please stop defending Sarah Palin. I understand your loyalty to a former supporter but this womans presence on a Presidential ticket was a grave danger to America and to the world. She is the living embodiment of the type of dumbed down ‘conservatism’ that has hijacked your movement.
I think that George W. Bush has proved (if proof was needed) that the job of President is one which needs one of the smartest people in your country. An ability to use some folksy buzzwords which excite a small fringe is no substitute for knowing that Africa is not a country.
The Hero
Out of the midsts of history
He’ll come again
Sailing on ships across the sea
To a wounded nation
Signs of a savior, fire on the water
It’s what we prayed for
One of our own!
Just wait, though wide he may roam
Always a hero comes home
He goes where no one has gone
But always a hero comes home.
Deep in the heart of darkness sparks
A dream of Light
Surrounded by hopelessness
He finds the will to fight.
There’s no surrender, always remember
It doesn’t end here, We’re not alone.
And he will come back on a crimson tide
Dead or alive.
And even though we know the bridge has burned
He will return, he will return.
Just wait, though wide he may roam
Always a hero comes home
He knows of places unknown
But always a hero comes home.
Some day his name carved in stone
A hero comes home.
(Theme from movie, Beowulf)