In a letter released on the evening of February 4, 2008, Monday, by Senator McCain’s campaign, Dole strongly defended the senator?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s conservative credentials, noting that his voting record is opposed to abortion and supportive of gun-owner rights.

Let’s hear what Senator Goldwater would likely say to some of the nonsense that Senator McCain has spouted.

“This is a party – this Republican Party is a party for free men. Not for blind followers and not for conformists.”

The most critical statement is that the Republican party is the party for free men. Goldwater was and is right. The Republican party is the party for a free people. The candidate for such a party must agree with that key principle. In fact, the candidate must havea guiding principle. When the President or candidate for President does not have guiding principles, you get things such as “read my lips, no new taxes” and then “new taxes.”

1. McCain-Feingold – Goldwater would say something like “I say further that for this great legislative body to ignore the Constitution and the fundamental concepts of our governmental system is to act in a manner which could ultimately destroy the freedom of all American citizens…”. The Constitution is the bulwark of our freedoms. When it becomes common (more so) to ignore it or reinterpret the Constitution as is convenient, the Constitution becomes meaningless and freedom will quickly die. This bill did huge damage to the concept of the freedom of speech.

2. Amnesty for Illegals: “The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.” Breaking the law by definition hurts people. Immigrants are welcome, sure, but either follow the rules or change them.

3. Government expansion via more programs (McCain-Lieberman on Global Warming, McCain on the reimportation of prescription drugs), including extending Social Security to illegal immigrants: “A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.”

?¢‚Ǩ¬®4. “Gang of 14” Now, my fellow Americans, the tide has been running against freedom. Our people have followed false prophets. We must, and we shall, return to proven ways – not because they are old, but because they are true.?¢‚Ǩ¬®?¢‚Ǩ¬®5. McCain attempting to extend the Constitution to terrorists or unlawful enemy-combatants. By definition the Constitution does not apply to those attacking the country and trying to destroy it. Guantanamo Bay closure.

Goldwater might respond: “Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny.

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No offense to the two Senators, but getting a letter from Bob Dole defending how “conservative” you are, is not much of an endorsement. The Nixon-Ford-Bush(41)-Dole wing of the party is the establishment-country-club wing. If McCain is truly as conservative as he says, he needs to clearly and quickly address the issues that relate to freedom and the rule of law.

Remember:Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

And one final quotation from President Reagan: “I don’t know about you,” said Reagan in 1975, “but I’m impatient with those Republicans who, after the last election, rushed into print saying we must broaden the base of our party, when what they meant was to fuzz up and blur even more the differences between ourselves and our opponents.”