Why McCain Must Lose

The hopelessly misnamed People For the American Way cited me as a notable holdout among "right-wing activists" tripping over themselves to fall in line with the Republican presidential candidate.

Despite the group's penchant for mislabeling others as much as it mislabels itself, a dispatch did quote me accurately as saying, "All things being equal, I'd rather watch the Democrats destroy America for the next four years, holding out hope that a new kind of Republican leadership might arise to fight back in 2012."

I said it, and I mean it.

There is no question in my mind that if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton sits in the White House for the next four years, especially with the backing of a Democratic Congress, policies will be put in place that will anger Americans.

They will set the stage for their own undoing. They will have nothing to complain about anymore. They will have all the levers of power at their disposal. They will have no excuses. They will be forced to create the panacea they have been promising for so long.

And of course, they will fail. Their ideas simply don't work. They create misery, not prosperity. They create strife, not unity. They make war, not peace.

If the Democrats have all the cards, as they did briefly in 1993 and 1994, they will overreach, and the American people will know whom to blame.

On the other hand, if John McCain wins, he will institute most of the same policy prescriptions. He will steal your money to fight phantom problems, such as "global warming." He will do away with tax cuts he opposed in the first place. He will approve federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. He will promote amnesty for illegal immigrants. He will sign legislation attacking constitutionally protected political speech. He will nominate judges who will get the easy approval of the Democrats in the Senate.

It's really difficult for me to see any substantive difference between McCain and Obama or McCain and Clinton.

Oh, he will continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he will ensure our troops are handcuffed by rules of engagement dictated by politicians who simply have no comprehension of the kind of enemy we face.

And McCain will be content to keep fighting, presumably without victory, for 100 years, as he suggested.

In other words, Americans lose no matter who wins in November. But there is more hope for positive change in the short term with a Democratic sweep.

Here's the difference: Democrats finally will get the chance to conduct their diabolical social experiment on America without restraint if they hold on to Congress and take the White House. It won't take long for Americans to see the error of their ways. We most recently saw it from 1977 until 1980. What followed was the most glorious political revolution of the 20th century, under the leadership of Ronald Reagan.

I say let's get it over with.

McCain will cause just as much pain as Obama or Hillary, but Americans will be confused about why. They won't know whom to blame. Democrats surely will blame him — the only Republican in their way. And a McCain presidency is more likely to lead to a Democrat in the White House in 2013.

Furthermore, if McCain wins, he will spend the next four years insisting it was his maverick brand of Republicanism — his willingness "to reach across the aisle" and find compromise and common ground — that led to victory for the GOP. Who will be able to argue effectively against that idea?

No, I won't be a part of that scenario. McCain could well beat Obama or Clinton. They are deeply flawed candidates. But he will get no help from me. I honestly believe America will be better off taking its medicine now — delivered by clearly identifiable "progressives," such as Obama and Clinton.

They will set the stage for the emergence of another grand revolution like the one we experienced in 1980. McCain, on the other hand, could lead us into 40 years in the political wilderness.

To find out more about Joseph Farah and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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