Do you consider yourself politically conservative? Do you believe that policies can make the difference between lives being lost or saved, between a depression and a functioning economy, between liberties being protected or squandered on feel-good but harmful measures? Then please, get involved in the primaries, don't wait until a candidate you hate wins the nomination, and then sit out the final election.

That does more harm than good.

I'm in a bit of a precarious situation myself here, since it seems (I am told) registration for the primaries here in Colorado closes on February 5th, but that still gives me one or two days to see if I can make things right. I suppose I will also have to switch my party affiliation from "Independent" to (ugh!) "Republican" which, frankly, I will admit, still gives me a sense of loathing. I *do not* believe in the Republican party, and don't consider myself one, but I also can't be irresponsible enough to let a party which is far worse take over without some kind of opposition.

Now a specific plea, which might not please some of my readers.

Does McCain scare you? Does he scare you more than, say Mitt Romney? He scares me. Any conservative who needs evidence to this effect needs to consider the warnings of longtime, stalwart conservatives like Thomas Sowell, David Limbaugh, and many others. (And here's an interesting little gem from history, as well, showing McCain's devotion to the cause. I heard the rumors back then -- guess there was some substance.)

In short, though I honor McCain as a war hero, and agree he's got a no-nonsense stance on defense, he's also got ZERO understanding of most other conservative principles. No, worse: he clearly has left-leaning reflexes, and, as one critic points out, is fond of viciously attacking conservatives with whom he disagrees.

He clearly was anti-anti-illegal-immigration for his entire career (like Huckabee -- and similarly implied that all such opposition was bigoted) and now wants to convince us he holds the other stance. When the Bush tax cut was in trouble, he opposed it on class warfare grounds, but now lies about his stance regarding that. (More on McCains love of class warfare.) McCain's almost every impulse domestic policy issues is liberal, as is not hard to deduce from legislation like McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, etc. And he's just an angry, nasty person -- up-close and personal.

Hey, and the media seems to love him, which should also give you pause.

This is a perilous time for conservatives, as three main candidates remain: Huckabee, Romney, and McCain. I'm not exactly thrilled out of my mind about Romney, but he's run a clean, consistent campaign, and doesn't appear to be drawn into the liberal impulse to "look" or "feel" good in the eyes of elites, history, etc. He did reduce the size of Massachusetts' government, and doesn't seem to have been madly switching his views over the last several years (or months).

In short, he scares me the least of the three.

I also have great concerns about Huckabee. I started out as a Huckabee fan, but his numerous lies (his seminary degree, his switching support on illegal immigration), his rather nasty and underhanded (against Thompson, no less; another transcript here) campaign tactics, his apparent ignorance of the bible (only important for a person who claims to be biblically-based), and warnings from Arkansas conservatives have landed him, in my mind, is a similar category with John McCain (though not quite as a bad). He sounds good on paper at the moment, but if you watch the hips, not the shoulders, you intuit an entirely different center of gravity.

Regardless of whether you agree with my analysis of Huckabee, or think he's the best thing since sliced bread, you only have to ask one question:

Do you want John McCain to the next Republican candidate for President? Would you prefer him over Mitt Romney?

If not, then you need to get serious. Three is a bad number, sometimes. When you have three candidates, bad things can happen -- you can often end up with the worst of the three winning because the "more popular" position gets split between two candidates, and their supporters are too "idealistic" to actually do good in the world -- they refuse to vote strategically, rather than "with their heart."

And Huckabee is running a distant, not close, third. But substantial enough to be, in effect, McCain's greatest ally.

Politico and others have noticed as much:

“In Florida, McCain is desperate to keep conservative Republicans from coalescing around another candidate, and the best way to prevent it is to have the GOP vote fractured,” said University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato. “Huckabee knows that by keeping his candidacy alive, he’s potentially helping McCain win another split plurality vote. McCain knows it, too. Gratitude will follow — but whether that includes the vice presidency is anybody’s guess.”

I'm no fan of Mark Levin. I find him whiney, annoying and disrespectful to opponents. Like Mike Savage and Ann Coulter, I often wish he wasn't "on my team", so to speak. But I'm willing to hold my nose and say he's absolutely right when he makes this case:

Why recite this record? Well, if conservatives don’t act now to stop McCain, he will become the Republican nominee and he will lose the general election. He is simply flawed on too many levels. He is a Republican Hillary Clinton in many ways....

McCain has not won overwhelming pluralities, let alone majorities, in any of the primaries. A thirty-six-percent win in Florida doesn’t make a juggernaut. But the liberal media are promoting him now as the presumptive nominee. More and more establishment Republican officials are jumping on McCain’s bandwagon — the latest being Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has all but destroyed California’s Republican party.

Let’s face it, none of the candidates are perfect. They never are. But McCain is the least perfect of the viable candidates. The only one left standing who can honestly be said to share most of our conservative principles is Mitt Romney. I say this as someone who has not been an active Romney supporter. If conservatives don’t unite behind Romney at this stage, and become vocal in their support for him, then they will get McCain as their Republican nominee and probably a Democrat president. And in either case, we will have a deeply flawed president.

I agree entirely. Read the whole thing.

Regardless, even if you disagree with me, get out there and vote in the primaries, or at least try, as I now realize I must -- quickly. If you don't like Republican Presidential candidates, get involved earlier -- don't stay home and let someone you really dislike take office and shape our nation in ways you won't like.

Best to you, friends.