The Crunchy Cons are staying home October 29, 2008
Posted by Zack in Texas , trackbackThis is pretty amazing: Rod Dreher, conservative blogger and author of Crunchy Cons, is not going to vote this year.
If he’s representative of many other evangelicals, which I think he is, then this is really good news for Obama.
Here’s what he says:
This will be the first year since I was old enough to vote that I will not cast a ballot in a presidential election. I quote a character from Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” in my defense: “Withdrawing in disgust is not the same thing as apathy.”
I can’t vote for Barack Obama. He is a pro-abortion zealot and wrong on all the issues that matter most to social conservatives. Mind you, one should not be under any illusion that things will markedly improve under another Republican administration. But there is no question that on issues related to the sanctity of life and traditional marriage, an Obama administration, with a Democratic Congress at its back, would be far worse.
The best case that can be made for John McCain is that he would serve as something of a brake on runaway liberalism. But the country would be at significantly greater risk of war with the intemperate and bellicose McCain in the White House. That was clear months ago, but his conduct during the fall campaign–especially contrasted with Obama’s steadiness–has made me even more uneasy. His selection of Sarah Palin, while initially heartening to populist-minded social conservatives, has proved disastrous. Though plainly a politician of real talent, the parochial Palin is stunningly ill-suited for high office, and that’s a terrible mark against McCain’s judgment.
As both a conservative and a Republican, I confess that we deserve to lose this year. We have governed badly and have earned the wrath of voters, who will learn in due course how inadequate the nostrums of liberal Democrats are to the crisis of our times. If I cannot in good faith cast a vote against the Bush years by voting for Obama, I can at least do so by withholding my vote from McCain.
Comments»
Yeah, I read that one Dreher’s blog this morning. I left a comment asking him what he thought about Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr, who are on the Constitution and Libertarian tickets.
Personally, I’d like to see more coverage of the other candidates, because I know many people who don’t like either Obama or McCain.
I’m a Crunchy Con, and I voted with much excitement for Bob Barr. I wonder why Dreher isn’t considering other third-party candidates? Better to cast a vote and send a message in my opinion. Although staying home does send a message, it doesn’t accomplish anything productive in the democratic process.
Did you see Ron Paul and Ralph Nader on Wolf Blitzer, Zack? You’re going to have to start imagining yourself in their shoes, you know.
Just to make a tiny distinction, Rod Dreher is a crunchy conservative and a serious Christian, but he’s not in any way an evangelical. He was Roman Catholic and is now Orthodox.
I agree with Travis and Hilary; I don’t think anybody should be “staying home” on Election Day. My father, a Marine Corp veteran, would always tell me “Voting is a civil responsibility. If you don’t vote, you forfeit the right to complain about the government for the next four years.” I think there’s some truth in that. Waiting for the Kingdom of God to be on the ballot? It isn’t going to be, ever. We’ll always have imperfect choices, and if you don’t like the two major party candidates then vote for somebody who better resembles your values, whether they are Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Socialist Workers, independent, or even write-in. At least that way you are telling both major parties you disagree with them.
I believe that more important than the national election is the local elections, bonds, and referendums on the ballots. I know the President and Congress have a huge impact on the world, but on a day to day basis I think local elections can have a larger impact on our neighborhoods in which we live.
Local elections didn’t ever mean much to me when I lived in rural North Carolina. I didn’t keep up with it, and why should I, as I didn’t see it having much of an effect on my community of 300 or so people. My problem at the time was that I didn’t know any poor people in my community, or really any people who were different than me.
For me, what it meant to be political would change dramatically when I move to Charlotte in early 2006. Fresh out of college I took a job working at a call center until something better came along, and it was a horrible company to work for. The workers were treated like little children and constantly walked on by management. These people became my people, and as we worked together to make it through the day I began to see life from a different point of view. In fall of 2006 there was a referendum on the ballot to repeal a ½ cent sales tax that went to fund transit. The conservatives railed against it. “I don’t use transit, why should I pay for it?” I saw every day why we should fund transit; there were single mothers trying to pay their way through college, and guys trying to make a living and support their family on ten dollars an hour. Without transit, many would have no way to get to their jobs, the elderly who couldn’t shop for groceries, not to mention the need to reduce the number of polluting cars on the road. I saw their need and became very active in raising support for keeping the half cent sales tax. The transit supporters ended up winning by a two to one margin, and ever since that day I’ve had a new view of what it mean to be political. It was perhaps the first time I’ve supported anything political for the greater good of somebody other than myself. I had stopped voting for me and started voting for us; for what’s best for the people of my community, and eventually the world. “What would Jesus do?” went from bumper sticker slogan to political platform.
It was at this time that I began to see how Christians should be political. I felt the need to vote for the candidates, bonds, and referendums that would do the most good for the people in my community. If I can help a poor person get to work by punching a ballot, why would I not use that tool? Some Christians say we people of faith shouldn’t vote at all, but why shouldn’t we use that tool to bring about social justice for our communities? The 2008 election isn’t just about McCain and Obama. Get involved in your neighborhood, your community, your state. See how your vote can help the “least of these” and let’s show Christian love and compassion to the poor and broken by making their need our needs when we go into the voting booth.