The Pendragon's Hall

One of the most frustrating things the Pendragon has had to deal with lately is the constant chorus of people, some right, some left, telling me I should ignore moral issues and vote for economics above everything. On the right, this belief takes the form of people telling me to forget about Mitt Romney and the fact that he is an outstanding candidate and just be happy there's a fiscal conservative like Giuliani running, never mind that he is a snake both on the moral issues and in his personal moral life. On the left, they tell me that the country does better economically under the Democrats (a debateable proposition in and of itself) so I should ignore the immoral positions these candidates tend to take and vote Democrat.

As a historian, the Pendragon cannot do that. It is not easy for me to forget the similarities between this debate and an earlier one--the debate over slavery. Everytime Giuliani says he is "personally opposed" (a Democratic mantra) to abortion but supports the institution, the Pendragon sees James Buchanan, "personally opposed" to slavery; "personally opposed" to secession, but doing nothing to stop either of them. The entire slavery debate was filled with people saying they were "personally opposed" to slavery but couldn't find a way to do without it, economically speaking. Those who champion the preeminence of economics to morality would have voted for men like Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce, not the abolitionist leaders who believed that morality was equally important. Because saying you are "personally opposed" to something means nothing if you do nothing to oppose it. It's just words. I cannot countenance the election of an immoral President (by voting for him or her) simply because economics are right. We've tried voting on economics before now and we ended up with lousy presidents. Our times are challenging and we need better leadership than the Fillmore-Buchanan faction of either party can provide. This is why the Pendragon is willing to fight tooth and nail against Giuliani's nomination, even to the extreme of backing John McCain if it comes down to a choice between the two, and why I remain, despite the odds, a committed Republican, warily eying the other side in the hopes that if Giuliani is the Republican nominee, the Democrats might step out of character and nominate someone who actually has the moral standing to compete. Who knows? This time next year, this blog may be pulling for a third-party candidate.