That is way out of line, bgates. Sorry, but I think you have lost all reason.

I’m not saying that Reagan’s amnesty program was a bad thing. In fact, on a dispassionate and rational and moral level, I had no problem with his granting of amnesty, which is very different from how I felt on a emotional level. Though the naivety (if that what it trully was) that the Reagan administration had about the future is a little hard to swallow, requiring quite a bit of naivety on the part of the swallower, imo.

So, for the anti-McCain people, how does comparing McCain to Reagan support your villification of McCain’s illegal immigration stance? A stance that McCain has already amended to include securing the border first.

Regarding the flip flop charge, I’d like to see a show of hands of those who have not changed their views over time. Everyone has.

I believe McCain said that he had misread the views of the American public after the immigration debacle. For example, he could say he learned from that experience and supports the enforcement of existing laws and promotes legal immigration. That’s what the majority wants anyway. It’s a net gain in votes.

McCain could take a couple of key issues and reach out to conservatives. He has already talked a little bit about taxes. It’s a start and he needs to do it.

That’s our privilege, is it not? You are certainly free to care more about other issues. It’s a democracy.

When you come across a conservative trying to tell you NOT to vote your conscientious let me know. I am merely responding to another misguided attempt to gain my vote by heaping abuse.

Michelle Malkin stalwart hero to me on most matters political has never demanded that anyone vote anyway. She has merely explained McCains positions. Coulter herself has not demanded that anyone vote anyway…she has merely explained why she won’t vote for McCain. And she was making a point that bears mentioning…Republicans who try and pander to Democrats have done the most damage to the principles of the Republican party. Witness Bush.

And before anyone jumps up waving their hand to tell me how well he has done on the War on Terror…explain to me why we are at war with a tactic? Explain to me why Bush finds it wise to dine with our enemies? Are we at war with a principle or merely at war with a distasteful way of achieving that principle? Explain just exactly how we are winning the war when Europe will soon be following Sharia?

I will vote for McCain but no one I have heard this far into this election has given me confidence that the war will be waged against our enemy.

(BTW, I cannot think of any politician that smells like a rose. If I were that much of a purist, I would never have voted in my life.)

In fact, I have already heard this accusation. I have pointed out to a number of anti-McCain conservatives that in his speech at CPAC, McCain essentially admitted that the approach taken by the McCain-Kennedy bill was a mistake and that border security had to be achieved before any effort could be made to deal with the status of those here illegally. Their response was that this was merely pandering and did not represent McCains actual beliefs on the matter.

I think conservative hostility towards illegal immigrants is misplaced. Had you fought as hard against the creation of the welfare state as you have recently fought against granting ‘amnesty’ to illegals, chances are the welfare state would be a lot smaller and you would have less reason to worry about people coming across the border to take advantage of free healthcare, free education, free food ( food stamps), WIC, etc. etc.

In any event, it makes no sense to oppose McCain when, on every point where you disagree with him, his two opponents are far, far worse.

p.s. Can anyone tell me why the software at this site replaces quotation marks with question marks?

We shall see. But the hiring of Juan Hernandez does not make me think he is serious about “securing the damn border first”.

Principles matter. Issues matter. McCain will get my vote but I am tired of folks trying to tell me that the smell I smell is that of roses. Sure the others smell worse, no doubt. But none of those smells should be bottled and sold for anything other than what they are…big piles of crap.

Terryel your defense of the RINO wing of the Republican party has been amusing for the last 2 years. Voting for a candidate because he stinks less than the other candidate strikes me as a dangerous prescription for success for the Republicans. That was RINO policy before Reagan.

Reagan stood for ideas and principles that drew you to him. McCain stands for avoiding a bigger error with either Billary or Osama/Obama.

It seems to me that McCain has shown a lot more of an inclination to make changes in certain policies than many of his critics give him credit for.

Will he change enough to pacify people like Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity? I hope not, because if he does he will lose the election. They keep forgetting about that whole tedious winning elections thingee.

Who said you were the base? And btw, I am not sure it is politically possible to make some people happy. They prefer melodramatics and claims of betrayal. If the self anointed base is prepared to sit out an election and let someone like Obama win then I think it is time the Republcan party found a new base.