Conservatives For Obama?

[Terri]

By Thomas Sowell
July 8, 2008

A number of friends of mine have commented on an odd phenomenon that they have observed-- conservative Republicans they know who are saying that they are going to vote for Barack Obama. It seemed at first to be an isolated fluke, perhaps signifying only that my friends know some strange conservatives. But apparently columnist Robert Novak has encountered the same phenomenon and has coined the term "Obamacons" to describe the conservatives for Senator Obama.

Now the San Francisco Chronicle has run a feature article, titled "Some Influential Conservatives Spurn GOP and Endorse Obama." In it they quote various conservatives on why they are ready to take a chance on Barack Obama, rather than on John McCain.

What is going on?

More

[Colonel_Flagg]

" Voting is a right but it is also a duty-- a duty not just to show up on election day, but a duty to give serious thought to the alternatives on the table and what those alternatives mean for the future of the nation. "

Too true. This is why I'm seriously considering a write-in vote for President for the first time in my voting life. Neither major candidate is suitable.

And don't give me the tired old "a write in is a vote for Obama" nonsense. It's a vote for the candidate of my choice.

[Amawalk John]

-- elections were not set up by the Constitution of the United States in order to enable party politicians to get jobs.

Nor were elections set up in order to enable voters to vent their emotions or indulge their fantasies.

Thomas Sowell never disappoints.

[Terri]

And don't give me the tired old "a write in is a vote for Obama" nonsense. It's a vote for the candidate of my choice.

No doubt a lot of truth seems old to those who wish it were not true. But it is.

Nor were elections set up in order to enable voters to vent their emotions or indulge their fantasies.

Gotta agree, John, Sowell really hit it on that one.

[Jamble]

No matter how peeved conservatives voters (of whom I am one) are at John McCain, he is still far preferable to Barack Obama.

Dr. Sowell gave many good reasons for voting for McCain but to me the overriding one is the fact that our next president will have the opportunity to appoint at least 2 justices to the Supreme Court plus make many lower court appointments.

The errors a President makes can usually be undone by his successors but his court appointees stay on and on, answerable to no one.

A President Obama, backed by what will likley be a democrat Congress, will appoint far-left justices who will re-interpret the Constitution to fit their philosophy. I fear we will end up with a country that is far from what our Founders established. It will be the end of the greatest nation in the world. We will drown in a sea of political correctness and be taxed to death with the government supervising all aspects of our lives.

Conservatives who don't vote or vote for a 3rd party are contributing to the decline of the US, imo.

[Suomi]

This is one of Thomas Sowell's classic columns. It is so accurate that it defies comment and deserves only praise. I wish the column would impart common sense to those conservatives who are grasping at straws and who would sink the republican standard bearer but I fear it will not.

[Ohiowoman]

To Thomas Sowell:

And don't give me the tired old "a write in is a vote for Obama" nonsense. It's a vote for the candidate of my choice.

I don't doubt that. However, this isn't "nonsense". Not voting or voting for a write-in or third party has the net effect of a vote lost for McCain. It's the result that matters in an election, not the intent.

[phyll]

I can't for the life of me understand why any thinking person (and I'm sure there are many on our Republican side of the aisle) would vote for the empty suit--BHO! He can say what he wants, any way he wants, and the people just buy it! There is no way this man is middle of the road--he just wants to portray this in order to get more votes. Wake up people, this man is dangerous!

[Dingbat36]

I can think of no good reason that a "true" conservative would vote for the likes of BO! Either these people are merely posturing, or they were never really conservatives at all.

Obama equals..........less than 200 days experience in the Senate, extreme poor judgement in his choice of friends and associates and an astounding ability to mesmerize the idiots among us (and there are many) with his speaking ability while saying nearly nothing!

God save us from the fools who intend to vote for this "hollow man".

[Gumbi]

Excellent analysis by Sowell.

I have been amazed by the masses who take Obama's campaign rethoric at face value and that McCain lets him get away without challenging it. This election seems more like a duel between dumb & dumber...