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Released as a Statement Ingraham read over the air.
I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.
I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry’s running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.
But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country.
This could swing it for Mitt in the South.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Nice. Good point he makes. This may hurt McCain in the South. ??
if Romney survives super tuesday, and huckabee drops out, which i am sure he won’t, this anti mccain train may just keep growing and growing.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
This is strong.
Wake up Huckabee supporters!
You are in the process of helping McCain become the GOP Nominee — someone who surely does NOT represent conservative policies and values.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
My sentiments exactly. Sad, after 37 of voting.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
37 years.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Snarf! Yeah, this’ll do it for Romney in the south. Hope springs eternal and all that.
Or … maybe not:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1706650,00.html
February 5th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Dobson represents a huge part of the GOP who will either not vote at all in 2008, will hold their noses and vote for McCain, will vote down the ticket, but not for President, or will vote for the Democrats (for the first time in their life).
The Liberal Democrats must be thrilled to pieces.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
hence…the agent of intolerance…
February 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
This is good for Huckabee!
February 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Um, yeah, well, I think they’re wide awake, and they remember how Romney and the GOP establishment went nuclear on them in December. That negative advertising is still returning rich dividends for the hapless candidate from Bain Capital. Huckabee supporters when they break tend to break for McCain, just as Huckabee himself seems to be doing.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Little late?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Shawn T…how is it good for Huckabee??
February 5th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Truth hurts. Where were all these folks a month ago. Grrr.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
ROMNEY!!! ROMNEY!!! ROMNEY!!!
FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!!
February 5th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Dobson is probably regretting deeply right now his decision to not endorse Mitt months ago….think of the angst he could have saved himself! Had everybody who knew all along that Mitt should be our next president simply endorsed him when they figured it out, Mitt would be wrapping this thing up right now, and America would have a future.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Why not release this a week ago?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Wow – Huckabee is way up in the latest Alabama poll just released:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/docs/InsiderAdvantage_MajorityOpinionfinalALGOPpoll-feb05-2008.html
February 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Wake up Romney Supporters! You are about to help McCain secure the nomination. (Foxnews poll – McCain 69%, Romney 29%).
Vote for Huckabee and let him take McCain on with his charm and communications skills. When you have a more conservative and likable guy like Huckabee vs. a grumpy old liberal guy on stage, Huckabee will win hands down.
Don’t buy the media narrative, they have been wrong before. Democrats and Independents hate Romney and his candidacy will burn down in flames in the general election. The same cannot be said about Huckabee.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
“This could swing it for Mitt in the South.”
Can’t see how it could hurt, but I’m afraid this is too late. Dobson and some conservatives may not be coming around to Romney quick enough.
Liberal hacks are gerrymandering in our open primaries while they have no-delegate contests on their side. Conservative votes have been watered down as Independents and Liberals made McCain the frontrunner after NH & FL while conservatives split in SC. Huckabee still stays in the race, campaigning against Romney not McCain further splitting the South and other conservative vote. Those Southern delegates are needed to offset the liberal NorthEast. Huckabee is doing his part to help McCain win.
Romney needs to win in CA.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Why in the heck did he wait til today to day this???? If this had come on Sunday, it would have meant so much more!!!! Darn it!! As it is only 1/4 of the voters will even know about it when they vote. This could have been big, but I’m afraid its going to be much smaller coming this late in the game.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
A sad and plaintive refrain. I share your grief. If only. If only. I mean, it couldn’t be the candidate’s fault, that he’s simply a mediocre campaigner, or that he simply fails to connect with voters etc., etc. No, it’s everyone else’s fault that Romney failed. Romney is our suffering redeemer, unwanted, rejected, yet our only hope.
Well, on to other news, who do you think Romney will endorse?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Wake up Romney supporters … Huckabee supporters, MOST of us, will not vote for Romney ever. How can you guys be so arrogant to think that Mike should leave and Mitt can stay. This is a FREE country and I continue to support Mike, despite Dobson, or Rush, or Sean, or Glenn. I beleive he is the only honest man (or woman) left. Besides Mike has a better chance at winning more delegates today than Mitt does. 1st in Ga, 1st in Ar, tied for 1st in Mo, Tn, Al, Alaska. how ya like those apples?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Thanks a lot, Dobson, you idiot. Just like Hannity, Ingraham, Limbaugh and all the others who didn’t have the GUTS to do this earlier. You’ve all waited until it was too late to get behind Romney. You were embarrassed or afraid to offend your followers and now you are trying to lecture everyone about why they should vote for Romney and not McCain? YOU are the ones who will be responsible if McCain wins this nomination for not having the courage to say what you already believed until it was too late. Jerks.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
How can we trust Mitt Romney. He decieved the pro-choose in Mass. How do we know he won’t decieved the pro-life people. Why hasn’t any pro-life groups support Mitt Romney?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Dobson to the country: Evangelical values stop at the border.
Who hasn’t figured out why Dobson’s influence wanes?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Jason,
Your man Mitt supports embryonic stem cell research “to kill nascent human beings” as long it’s OK with the couple who donated excess embryos to an IVF clinic. His only objection is over the federal funding of such research.
Any Republican who abandons the principles of federalism, and pushes for a federal marriage amendment will have NO shot at winning a general election going forward.
Mitt would actually have been seen as more human (and electable) by the electorate if he had used “foul and obscene language” once in awhile.
McCain, for all his flaws, now supports making the tax cuts permanent and securing the border first (unfortunately, for Romney, he has zero credibility when it comes to levying the charge of flip-flop or convenient election-year changes of heart).
James Dobson, please promise to just go away, and take all your friends who support your ignorant, bigoted agenda along with you.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Of course he’s going to win CA. But CA is not winner-take-all. Romney will trumpet the victory as if it were the apocalypse but it probably won’t help much. In the winner-take-all-states, Sen. McCain is ahead.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
You are delusional Josh C.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
His only objection is over the federal funding of such research.
Aron,
you’re only partially right. we must caveat that statement to include Mitt’s audience and the day of the week. ESCR is without a doubt Romney’s most overlooked flip flop. It’s easily one of the most blatant.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Oh, the rage. Oh, the anger. And how quickly the mittwits turn on those who support them for not supporting them enough.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
#11 “Shawn T…how is it good for Huckabee??”
ilfigo, surely you are not really so dense. Nowhere in his slam does Dobson say anything good about Mitt. Many of the folks who are supporting McCain will NEVER vote for Mitt. Hence, it helps Huck.
Who will never vote for Mitt, but might switch from McCain?
1) Anti-Mormon folks (most of these folks presumably already support Huck…)
2) Military voters – veterans, active duty, their family
3) Political junkies who find Multiple Choice Mitt unacceptable
4) Life voters who find Mitt’s conversion a little too recent / convenient
February 5th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I’ve always heard your walk talks louder than your talk talks. I saw the voter’s guide that gave websites for where they got the information on where candidates stand listing websites from which they got their information
http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08vg.pdf I’ve seen the video put out by the people that want to get Roe V Wade overturned.
http://www.RoeGone.org
I want someone I KNOW will stand by the important family values that are vital to our country. Romney is data driven. He changes his views based on the data given. Huckabee is principle driven. That is why he has been consistently conservative. The improvements he made in Arkansas while leaving the “Tax Freedom Day” the same when he left office as it was when he took office 10 1/2 years before is proof of his fiscal responsibility regardless of what the camp for greed says. Romney cut funding of essential needs which forced local government to pick of the gap; which caused the “Tax Freedom Day” in Massachusetts to be apx 2 weeks later after only 4 years. His plan for fixing broken companies is to chop them up and sell them. Is that how he plans to fix “broken” Washington? Who’s he planning on selling it to? China? (Like Bain Capital is planning on selling our military weapons manufacturing company to) National security is the reason Duncan Hunter endorsed Huckabee. I VOTED for the only consistent conservative in the race, Mike Huckabee.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
“Why hasn’t any pro-life groups support Mitt Romney?”
Romney got a pro-life group endorsmente just recently, and I bet there were others as well. Just because Jason didn’t post it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
#9 Civ,
“they remember how Romney and the GOP establishment went nuclear on them in December.”???
If you think a few contrast adds are Nuclear, your candidate wouldn’t be able to endure what the democratic machine is going to do to him.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
BEWARe………………………….
The RETURN of the ROMNEY………………….
February 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
This is not my interpretation, dude. Exit polling in NH revealed that Romney’s viciously negative advertising was a factor in people’s decisions. Later Jay Cost discovered the data out of FL evidence that Huckabee and McCain supporters would never, never switch to Romney because of that same advertising. You can call them contrast ads if you want; the voters called them something different.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Just in…Romney wins WV!
February 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
McCain physically attacked a 92-year old congressman a few years ago because they guy did not agree with his position. McCain can and has gone very ballistic. He truly scares me. I do not want him representing our nation in any shape or form. He is not the image that I want our country to project. I am alos turned off by the way that he politicizes the military. Bob Dole didn’t do that, and I respect him for that.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
aron, the whole flip flop thing is media hype. mccain has ‘flip flopped’ just as much as romney. so has huck and every other candidate.
take a look at this and then tell me mccain is not a flip flopper. its all rhetoric and stupid. the media narrative that mccain is a ’straight talker’ is just plaina narrative that cherry picks. just the opposite narrative the media has latched on to romney. it is all media hype and disconnected with reality. luckily the media is driven largely by liberals. this is why they allow mccain to continue with narrative while nailing romney with as a flip flopper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5-DnNsoA5Y
February 5th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
#31 RoeGone is a Huckabee site. It’s run by somebody on his campaign. Everything you posted there is a lie.
“His plan for fixing broken companies is to chop them up and sell them.”
BS, the whole idea of Bain Capital was that they would convince companies to sell to them to get Bain Management for free. Instead of just giving advice, they bought companies and ran them better. They didn’t do hostile takovers, they convinced other companies to join them. That’s just a blatent lie.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hear Mitt Romney lie on his OWN youtube channel!
“I wont use our government funds for that”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQxBqSRQ3VQ
February 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
kdub…
1. huck has no sense of foreign policy
2. huck has flipped too
February 5th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
“Romney cut funding of essential needs which forced local government to pick of the gap†No he didn’t, he did stop some of the subsidies to local governments though.
Did Romney chop up the Olympics, did Romney chop up Dominoes, did Romney chop up Staples? Huck’s a liar, you made a bad choice, unless you voted in Arkansas, then that’s great.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
ESCR is without a doubt Romney’s most overlooked flip flop. It’s easily one of the most blatant.
Also note that Romney credits his change of heart on abortion to the “cheapening of human life” he saw during discussions about embryonic stem cell research. That he flip-flops on ESCR puts his whole abortion stance in question as well.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
#17, I might consider your option, only if Huckabee were a conservative and not a bigot.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Please notice Dobson did not endorse anyone. Evangelicals are much more likely to support Mike Huckabee than Mitt Romney. If you live in the evangelical community it has been known for some time that Dobson said he could never vote for Guiliani or McCain. This is hardly breaking news.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
The guys at Bain Capital saved and created tens of thousands of jobs for Americans. Staples would have gone oput of business if not for Romney. Now, they employ over 50,000.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
11 – Mccain is the main competition in the states where Huckabee is doing well in today. Make sense?
February 5th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I am a Huckabee supporter who will be voting for Romney in California because I definitely do not want McCain. Sure, I prefer Hickabee, but he has no chance. I am also turned off by the fact that Mike seems to be trying to position himself for a spot on McCain’s team. I certainly hope this is not the case. If the choice for me as an evangelcial is between Romney and McCain, the choice is easy – Romney. McCain has a completely different set of values. I hate the way he left his wife high and dry.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
“I’ve seen the video put out by the people that want to get Roe V Wade overturned.”
You got suckered. Roegone is run by a woman on Huckabee’s faith and family values coalition. She even narrates the video. She’s the one who set up that faith voters debate, and now brags about how she did it to promote Huckabee. Of course Huckabee “won” the votes at the debate, she fixed it. Only specific people were invited. Huckabee’s whole campaign is built on lies. It’s a sham.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Dobson’s an idiot. I am a supporter and a conservative, but honestly the fact that he’s STILL not actually endorsing Romney is just crap. If you really want to stop McCain, stop giving people venom toward the Senator and actually take a chance and endorse Romney. Seriously, we don’t just always want to hear why not to vote for people (so many reasons for McCain), we want to hear what we’re voting FOR. I am a conservative Christian and a staunch Romney supporter, but until Dobson actually grows some and steps up he should be ignored. Wuss.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
joshua, you must have been sad to learn that most of huckabee’s supporters have mccain as their 2nd choice.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I am also a Huck fan (and evangelical church goer), but I would gladly take Romney over McCain. Most of us evangelcials here in Texas feel the same. Mitt is not our favorite choice, but he is miles ahead of McCain.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
#46 Well, actually I believe they founded Staples, not fixed it. But there are lots of other companies they fixed, lots of other jobs they created. What’s not accounted for is the jobs they saved by keeping business from going out of business.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
sampo, I think that was just in Florida. I believe that Romney got more evangelicals thatn McCain in Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and Nevada. Evangelicals are conservatives, and that’s Romney’s strongest group.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
nope, off hand there was a poll that ask who people would support if it was between mccain and romney. mccain won 2 to 1
February 5th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
[...] Focus on the Family’s James Dobson will not cast a vote for President if John McCain is the Republican nomination: But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
February 5th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
[...] Laura Ingraham over the air, and posted to race42008.com by Jason Bonham in a contribution titled Breaking: Dobson Slams McCain on Ingraham […] But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. [...]
February 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Maybe Dobson should actually endorse somebody instead of just sitting on his hands in order to not disappoint any donors with an endorsement.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Too little, too late.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
If McCain ended been the nominee the conservatives are only to blame, why wait so long to rally for Romney when he was the only clear choice conservative had?.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Mary Matalin, a former Fred Thompson adviser, just stated on Fox News that she couldn’t see herself voting for John McCain.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
If we have to wait four more years for a decent president, I think I’ll blame it on some select evangelicals and that Brent Passmore. And a few others.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Dobson is a bankrupt, corrupt “Christian” leader.
He needs to realize the more he divides people politically, the less they listen to his message of faith. Go home, Dobson. Go home.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
#63 – get your facts straight before you start calling names.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
For the record, I’m sick of Dobson, and I’m especially sick of Laura Ingraham.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
“Mary Matalin, a former Fred Thompson adviser, just stated on Fox News that she couldn’t see herself voting for John McCain.”
Of course not. If McCain ascends to the presidency, Matalin is out of a job. That’s reason enough to vote for McCain.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Too late. And too bad. I have great respect for James Dobson, but I do not respect this. To the extent that our political passions become so feverish and narrow that we cannot see very obvious differences between two very different candidates, I don’t think it is healthy. To the extent that we are compelled to vote only on a few very narrow policy positions while ignoring every other issue of importance, that is not healthy either. Am I to conclude John McCain is the anti-conservative because he supports traditional marriage but doesn’t support a marriage amendment to the constitution? That he is anti-life because he voted to expand embryonic stem cell lines used for research (which I disagreed strongly with, btw), even though he is strongly pro-life in every other way? It’s a ridiculous argument, in my opinion. And I don’t think it bodes well for the future of our party.
In addition to that, some of these issues are not values issues at all. I understand that Dr. Dobson is speaking his own personal opinion, but it is almost as if he’s framing CFR and Gang of 14 are values issues. They aren’t. One is freedom of speech and one is political process. I don’t think your opinion on those issues has any bearing at all on whether you’re a values voter. And religious leaders frame non-values issues in this way all the time.
One more thing. The statement that John McCain approached John Kerry is blatently false. There is no evidence to suggest he did any such thing.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:48 am
How utterly conflicted. What will the Lord say to the GOP base if we vote for McCain or stay home? The difference between a liberal Democrat & a RINO may be small, but our chances of McCain nominating a “more conservative” option for SCOTUS will help his candidacy with me. My God is a big God. If He can use Baalam’s donkey for His purposes, He can manipulate John McCain. “God help us!”
February 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
If everyone takes the attitude of James Dobson, the Democrats would win by default and that would be a disaster. Let’s rally together for John McCain! Nobody is perfect. But he is now the best choice for Commander in Chief. I have a lot of respect for him.