Why McCain and the RNC lost!

By Dan Clements November 5, 2008

Last night the election took place and Barack Obama walked away with a convincing Electoral College vote. The popular vote was much closer, but when it comes to electing presidents, it’s the Electoral College that counts.
Barack Obama run a good campaign and out spent McCain 2 or 3 to 1. In this article we will not deal with the dishonesty of the Obama campaign, these have been enumerated throughout the presidential race. And winning at any cost, without regard to morals, honesty, and playing by the rules is no win at all, it’s a hollow victory in my opinion.
John McCain and the RNC lost this time around because they read the American people wrong and the conservatism of the American people. John McCain was no conservative, and I surmise politically he never has been. John McCain is a Washington insider, and to talk about change from his position on the inside didn’t ring true with most Americans. John McCain is a liberal leaning moderate, and a RINO (Republican in name only.)
John McCain tried to out socialize the socialist in this campaign and it didn’t work. And before you get mad at me, think about all the pandering John McCain did with your money, the bailout, healthcare, energy, government bureaucracy. In my mind it is evil to try and buy votes with promises of spending voter’s money through the manipulation of the different government bureaucracies you may control when you become president.
Another reason John McCain lost, was his lack of support of the U.S. Constitution. In John McCain’s political life it is clear to this talking head that the U.S. Constitution was low on his priorities when it came to doing what is right for America. If John McCain would not have supported three big pieces of liberal legislation, campaign finance reform, amnesty for illegal immigrants, carbon cap and trade, he would’ve had a better time convincing American he is a conservative. If John McCain would have went back to the U.S. Constitution, and campaigned on it, I’m convinced he would have won in a landslide. If John McCain would’ve stood against the bailouts and distinguished himself on this point, the election would have turned out different.
And let’s not forget about the RNC, they had left their conservative roots when they put G. W. Bush up for the presidency in 2000. They no longer showed that they had conservative criteria in which to allow people to run under the RNC banner. This last primary cycle showed just how moderate the RNC has become, by putting forth the most liberal group of men running under the RNC banner. Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee, McCain, are the most liberal so called conservatives I have ever seen allowed to run under a so called conservative party banner. The RNC has no stomach to discipline its own anymore.
And what about the talking heads on conservative talk radio who during the primaries had nothing good to say about McCain, but when he won the RNC nomination, men like Sean Hannity, Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, just to name a few, supported him just because they were putting party ahead of country. They tried to convince you to vote for John McCain, just to keep Barack Obama out of office. They pointed to John McCain’s military record as a rallying point to say he is a conservative, even though all other evidence pointed to the contrary! Why didn’t they look at the RNC and say “if you are not going to discipline the party and keep liberal Republicans from ruining the party, convince me why I should support you?” Why didn’t they, like me, look for a new party to put their political energy into, instead of rewarding the failure that is the RNC, by supporting it?
This is the first campaign in a long time that I was not emotionally committed to. I’m a member of the Constitution Party, and I had no elusions about winning the presidency, we did a good job just getting on the ballots in 38 states. I wrote Chuck Baldwin in, here in PA, as is my right and I feel good about my vote no matter what some RNC supporters may think.
In the end John McCain and the RNC failed because of their lack of conservatism.


Dan Clements is a member of the Constitution Party and the host of BACK TO BASIC a Christian/political internet talk show. You can listen to Dan live from 10am-12 noon EST. M-F at www.blogtalkradio.com/dan-clements and www.constitutionalwarrior.com