John Thune, Is He Really a Conservative?
South Dakota’s Senator John Thune will soon be the senior senator from conservative red state South Dakota. But is he really a conservative? In 2004, he defeated an ultra-left wing liberal Democrat, Tom Daschle vowing to advance the conservative values of South Dakotans.
My how “the worm has turned.”
On the heels of voting for cloture in the US Senate so Harry Reid’s Democrats could send their messiah’s “clean’ continuing resolution to the US House thereby helping to undermine the true conservatives in the Senate, Thune has voted for complete surrender to the liberal left by voting for the Reid-McConnell “compromise.”
Thune’s reason for this capitulation: “Congress needs to end this impasse.” No conservative cojones evident in these two votes.
And what a grand “compromise” it is. The brief summary: Give the socialist liberals, led by Obama, an additional 1 trillion dollars to spend, set up another committee to agree on a “plan,” reopen the government to permit continuation of spending wantonly and give the Obamaites another shot at getting even more “compromise” in January 2014. Oops, I forgot that we will investigate whether ObamaCare subsidies recipients are legitimate…..no details here but I’m sure that the liberals will be diligent in excluding their voter base from subsidies, aren’t you?
So, let’s stipulate that John Thune started out a conservative. What has caused his departure from the “right?” One might speculate that he has more lofty political aspirations and has decided to take the path of his friends, Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney, and slide to the center of the political spectrum. In so doing, he would be ignoring the lessons of history. We all have vivid memories of the success of the last three GOP centrists, while noting that the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue didn’t concern himself with centrist voters. Or maybe Senator Thune has changed his mind about conservative values altogether.
Regardless, his most recent vote on the whole shutdown/debt ceiling/ObamaCare debacle are unacceptable and inexcusable.
But we still have the question: John Thune, Is He Really a Conservative?
***Ed Randazzo*** has been a conservative activist and consultant for over 30 years and is currently the Chief News Editor of Life and Liberty Media and Co-Producer of Liberty Today, a weekly television program seen in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota
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Nope – not conservative. Part of the ruling elite now. Here is how all the crucial votes go down for them especially since Boehner became speaker: 1. So-called conservative Repub senator vote “yes” on cloture KNOWING FULL WELL what the final vote will be on the bill. Then votes “no” on the final vote – gets to say I voted against it. (Wrong because he voted for cloture which was the actual vote.) 2. Goes over to the House where all the Dems vote for it along with enough squish Repubs to pass it. 3. Ergo, the progressive/special interest/ruling class passes law which is clearly contrary to the will of “We the people,” who are suppose to be actual rulers/authorities. 4. We actually have a group of “progressives” consisting of Senators & Reps from BOTH parties running (and ruining) the country against the will of the governed.
Sick of it!
Thanks for post the thoughtful post, Ed. As you point out, Thune appeared a lot more conservative back then than the man he defeated, Tom Daschle. It’s all relative. Is McCain more conservative than Romney? Or Thune more or less conservative than either? The answer seems to lie in the fact that Thune was more conservative than Daschle, at least back then. He will caucus with the GOP, at least up to a point.
The whole liberal-conservative polarity implies some ideological sympathies. As a career politician, Thune is more or less “ideological free.” In a world without absolutes, you go with flow. unfortunately, that’s where the votes are. Ask any yard sign.
I’m pretty sure the Obama regime will actually NOT exclude their voter base from being eligible for the subsidies. If they were to do that, they’d be punishing their own voter base.
It was a joke. The Dems always have clear vision on protecting and energizing their voter base.