Here's another thoughtful piece by a respected conservative.

A Conservative for Obama
My party has slipped its moorings. It’s time for a true pragmatist to lead the country.
Leading Off By Wick Allison, Editor In Chief

THE MORE I LISTEN TO AND READ ABOUT “the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate,” the more I like him. Barack Obama strikes a chord with me like no political figure since Ronald Reagan. To explain why, I need to explain why I am a conservative and what it means to me.

In 1964, at the age of 16, I organized the Dallas County Youth for Goldwater. My senior thesis at the University of Texas was on the conservative intellectual revival in America. Twenty years later, I was invited by William F. Buckley Jr. to join the board of National Review. I later became its publisher.

Conservatism to me is less a political philosophy than a stance, a recognition of the fallibility of man and of man’s institutions. Conservatives respect the past not for its antiquity but because it represents, as G.K. Chesterton said, the democracy of the dead; it gives the benefit of the doubt to customs and laws tried and tested in the crucible of time. Conservatives are skeptical of abstract theories and utopian schemes, doubtful that government is wiser than its citizens, and always ready to test any political program against actual results.

Liberalism always seemed to me to be a system of “oughts.” We ought to do this or that because it’s the right thing to do, regardless of whether it works or not. It is a doctrine based on intentions, not results, on feeling good rather than doing good.

But today it is so-called conservatives who are cemented to political programs when they clearly don’t work. The Bush tax cuts—a solution for which there was no real problem and which he refused to end even when the nation went to war—led to huge deficit spending and a $3 trillion growth in the federal debt. Facing this, John McCain pumps his “conservative” credentials by proposing even bigger tax cuts. Meanwhile, a movement that once fought for limited government has presided over the greatest growth of government in our history. That is not conservatism; it is profligacy using conservatism as a mask.

Today it is conservatives, not liberals, who talk with alarming bellicosity about making the world “safe for democracy.” It is John McCain who says America’s job is to “defeat evil,” a theological expansion of the nation’s mission that would make George Washington cough out his wooden teeth.

This kind of conservatism, which is not conservative at all, has produced financial mismanagement, the waste of human lives, the loss of moral authority, and the wreckage of our economy that McCain now threatens to make worse.

Barack Obama is not my ideal candidate for president. (In fact, I made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries, when there was still hope he might come to his senses.) But I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history. I disagree with him on many issues. But those don’t matter as much as what Obama offers, which is a deeply conservative view of the world. Nobody can read Obama’s books (which, it is worth noting, he wrote himself) or listen to him speak without realizing that this is a thoughtful, pragmatic, and prudent man. It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.

Most important, Obama will be a realist. I doubt he will taunt Russia, as McCain has, at the very moment when our national interest requires it as an ally. The crucial distinction in my mind is that, unlike John McCain, I am convinced he will not impulsively take us into another war unless American national interests are directly threatened.

“Every great cause,” Eric Hoffer wrote, “begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” As a cause, conservatism may be dead. But as a stance, as a way of making judgments in a complex and difficult world, I believe it is very much alive in the instincts and predispositions of a liberal named Barack Obama.

Verrry interesting.

Lynann,

Haven't you gotten the point yet!!!

This thread has no chance!

It is much too 'nuanced', objective and enlightening.

It demonstrates the ability to think freely and critically, regardless of partisan ties.

It shows the refreshing example of someone addressing the facts, as opposed to party line propaganda.

But more importantly, it sheds a tiny light, tiny because very few will pay attention, on the fact that modern elections are decided by the very few whom are capable of critical thinking:
the 'moderates' from the two official camps, and the independents.

But HEY!
Enough with all this critical and independent thinking around the actual issues 'rubbish'.

It only seems to disrupt and get in the way of the propagandish brainwashing circus act!

pops open a brewsky, grabs a bag of chips and sits back and waits....

haha

Some days I read these forums shaking my head as the stunning idiocy, repetitive name calling and fear mongering roll by. I fear for my country and for the world.

Then, out of the blue comes an encouraging word and I grow hopeful again.

Now it's my turn to thank folks.

Thank you to all,no matter what side of an issue you may support, who chose to post facts, points to ponder and real arguments instead of fear, hate and name calling.

I hate taxes, glad I don't have to pay them anymore except at the grocery store and gas pumps

I said this before. Taxes keep our country going. Taxes pay for police officers, firefighters, teachers, highways, parks, and more.

and

A liberal for McCain

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/a-democratic-baroness-endorses-mccain-palin-ticket/

Both are bad choices.
Which is worse?

No one knows.

Sorry 'sharpshooter',

But what does that non-sequitor comment above have to do with the topic of this thread?

taxes were mentioned, can't you read, and since they were mentioned, i made a comment, get over it

if you don't like it, go cry to your moddy, i could care less really

whats the blue face for?

RINO REPS are not true conservatives. They are the ones who only care about lining their pockets & the ones you keep complaining about. DUH!

You can't even tell the difference, can you??? LOL

I don't know it.

what's up Marine?

Name calling isn't nice.

But....there are rules on this site pertaining to name calling.

There is censorshsip on this site pertaining to name calling because there are those who get their feelings hurt very easily, the open internet and public forums are really not for those kind of people to me. I would love to say exactly what I felt many times.

I am sure that we have all felt the same way at one time or another.

But...being civil is one of the things that separates us from other animal species.

soldiers are not trained to be nice, but to kill and destroy. Thats what we do and do it very well, no one comes close to being as good at it as our soldiers.