Jamie

Weinstein

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September 29, 2008

Some Conservative Purists Still Reject McCain . . . and Court Disaster

As the November election approaches, there remains a contingent of the conservative base who still refuses to get behind John McCain. While that number has slowly dwindled over time, some still steadfastly oppose the Arizona senator. Certain states will likely decide the election, and if the vote is close in these states, conservatives who either refuse to vote or choose to vote for a third-party candidate instead of McCain could help, in effect, elect Barack Obama.

One conservative who refuses to back John McCain is Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily.com. In a column in August, Farah elucidated his position. Writing that "rejecting McCain and Obama is the right thing to do, the moral thing to do, and even the most politically expedient thing to do," Farah argued that by allowing Barack Obama to be elected, the result would be such a calamity that in four years the country would long for what he considers a truly conservative candidate.

"I believe the best way to get another choice like we had in 1980 is for Americans to have the opportunity, if you want to call it that, of seeing someone very much like Carter back in the White House and working with a House and Senate dominated by his own party," he wrote. "Don't get me wrong; I believe four years of Barack Obama would be terrible for America in the short term. But the suffering we would experience as a result of his governance could be very positive in the long term."

This is a dangerous position to take. We live during perilous times. The next president will be faced with mounting challenges. Most conservatives, with some exceptions, generally agree with John McCain's foreign policy views. If you believe that McCain would handle our situation in the world better than Barack Obama would and be better able to protect America, then you almost have a duty to vote for McCain, even if you disagree with him on, well, "lesser" issues of concern.

But outside of foreign policy, all conservatives, even Ron Paul conservatives, understand the importance of appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court. For those conservatives who remain opposed to voting for John McCain, this issue alone should be enough to convince them to support the Arizona senator in November.

The next president of the United States will likely appoint at least two justices to the Supreme Court. By inauguration day 2008, John Paul Stevens will be 88, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be 75, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia will each be 72, Stephen Breyer will be 70, and David Souter will be approaching the 70s club at 69 years of age. This isn't to say that being 70 is too old to be a Supreme Court justice, but at some point it is reasonable to believe that some of these justices would want to retire after having labored in the judiciary for most of their working lives.

McCain's record of supporting conservative justices to the Supreme Court has been superb. McCain not only voted to confirm John Roberts and Sam Alito, but Clarence Thomas and even Robert Bork.

What is more, we know the kind of justices that Barack Obama will appoint. While some may be skeptical that McCain will remain true to his pledge and appoint strict constructionists in the line of Scalia and Roberts to the bench, we know Obama definitely will not. And since a Supreme Court justice can remain on the court for a generation or more, it should be obvious that those who care about the judiciary would go with the guy that has a likelihood of nominating a conservative justice rather than the guy who will absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt will not.

What is more striking is the possibility that if Obama is elected, the elderly liberal Supreme Court justices (especially Breyer, Ginsburg, and Stevens, but possibly Souter as well) will exit the bench so that they can be assured that a young liberal justice more in line with their judicial philosophy will be appointed by a Democratic president. With a Democrat in the White House and a staunchly Democratic Senate, the Supreme Court could be transformed for a generation if Obama wins in November. 

Right now, there are three young conservative justices on the high Court: John Roberts (53), Sam Alito (58), and Clarence Thomas (60). Add in Scalia and the judicial conservatives are one vote away from dominating the bench. If a President McCain is able to replace just one of the older liberal justices, he will have the possibility of ushering in a Supreme Court that is both quite young and a majority conservative, at least judicially speaking. This is hugely important and something McCain rejectionists should keep in mind when they weigh what they will do on Election Day.  

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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