Apparently, Trey Gowdy is not a "real conservative." He needs to turn in his Ronald Reagan fanclub membership card and hang his head in liberal, amnesty-loving, shame. That's the word from a large swath of conservatives who've decided that Gowdy's impending endorsement of Marco Rubio means he's suddenly a monstrous turncoat.
Guy Benson over at Townhall.com broke the news that Gowdy would be heading to Iowa to announce his horrific decision.
More: Source says Gowdy will urge Iowans to caucus for Rubio. An endorsement.
It took mere seconds for Conservatives to pull out their already-sharpened knives and declare Gowdy a traitorous failure. Suddenly, the guy who - just the day before - was a beloved symbol of right-wing might is persona non grata to the faithful. I'm not going to link it all here, but head over to Twitter or scroll through the major news sites' comment sections, and you'll witness the rage. ...It's one of the most ridiculous displays of "butthurt" I've ever seen.
I get that Rubio's not the first choice for most people who claim "real conservative" status. He's not my first choice either. His gang of 8 debacle was truly cringe-worthy. We can debate whether he should be President, the merits of his policies, and his qualifications all day. Some people like him, some don't. However, to suggest that endorsing him means you're somehow "not a real conservative" is ridiculous. Here's why:
1. Rubio agrees with conservatives most of the time. I'm not going to argue that he's perfect - not by any stretch of the imagination - but for the most part, he's toeing the conservative line. By the estimations of most conservative watchdog groups, he's in the top tier of congressional Republicans. His record isn't as good as Cruz's, but it's solid. ...And it's certainly better than Hillary's.
2. If you believe the polls, Rubio has the best chance to defeat Clinton. Virtually every poll shows Rubio beating Hillary in a head-to-head matchup. That's not the case for any other candidate. In fact, for every other candidate, the polling shows the exact opposite. I don't know if the polls are correct any more than anyone else does, but I do know that they tend to be right. I suspect that Gowdy is taking this into consideration.
3. An awful lot of the people screaming about Rubio are thrilled to vote for Trump. Lest we forget, Trump was (until recently) largely left-wing in his opinions. He enjoys the benefit of having no voting record to examine but he's been vocal about his support for eminent domain, abortion, single-payer healthcare, Democrat economics, and was also once a big fan of Bill and Hillary. That Trump supporters are suggesting Gowdy has to turn in his "conservative card" because he likes Rubio, while they give their preferred candidate a pass, is ...interesting.
Look, the bottom line here is that you don't have to like Gowdy's endorsement. You don't have to vote for Rubio and you don't have to give up on Trump, Cruz, or Paul. But if conservatives are going to start chucking their own under the some kind of political steamroller every time they make an unpopular 2016 choice, they're going to be facing even longer odds in November.
...Particularly when those choices, though perhaps partially unpalatable, are the ones who could end up dealing the death blow to Hillary's crooked career.
Apparently, Trey Gowdy is not a "real conservative." He needs to turn in his Ronald Reagan fanclub membership card and hang his head in liberal, amnesty-loving, shame. That's the word from a large swath of conservatives who've decided that Gowdy's impending endorsement of Marco Rubio means he's suddenly a monstrous turncoat.
Guy Benson over at Townhall.com broke the news that Gowdy would be heading to Iowa to announce his horrific decision.
