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EE-BO,
You made a lot of reasonable points, and I agree with many of them.
Regarding your question concerning conservative pundits, several of my friends (grad school-mostly liberal) have asked the same. I have a feeling you know the general answer and are asking for opinions, but I'll throw down my thoughts anyhow.
I can see the dispute from both sides, though I'm tempted to side with getting a conservative in office, moderate/lukewarm or not. However, I have the same fears as the pundits do, which is that while a liberal/Democratic president would be bad for us in the near term, John McCain as the face of the GOP could be a nearly irreversible gaff.
Most conservatives think that the left is only moving further left, and they see that the trending of our society is following somewhat. Therefore, the party is split between those who think we need to play to society, and those who think we need to stand firm and attempt to pull it back. Thus, I think a lot of people, me included, are resistant to John McCain because we don't want him to become the standard for conservatives within the GOP, which would place the "right" in the "middle" and allow the left to go even further left. Also, there is no quid pro quo here. While John McCain is willing to work with the liberals, they're rarely seen coming to the middle. Sure, we could probably name a few, but some of the people he has gone to (Feingold, Kennedy) aren't among them. Thus, when people talk about compromise, the only compromise conservatives see is that which is watering down our values, as the other side isn't willing to come to the table and deal.
As I said, I'm going to vote for John McCain and hope for the best. I do think there is a major identity crisis, however, which may have long lasting ramifications. Perhaps societal denigration (as conservatives might assert) is too far gone, and thus we'll never win a major election again unless we change our stances. If that turns out to be the case, I expect the GOP to be in tow, but a lot of us won't be there for the ride.
As much as he may draw the ire of people on here, I have a Hannity approach to personal politics. The independents or moderates may rise up and take over, but I certainly won't make an effort to cater to them. Obviously if they do so, they'd keep people like me out of office. Societal consensus will not dictate how I feel, or vote on various issues.
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