It should've been my guy, Mike Huckabee but now I'm voting for John McCain by Claudio Simpkins

I liked Mike, but now I like Mac.

So, I guess I can stomach a vote for McCain.
I was one of the few folks who backed Gov. Mike Huckabee when he was still a nobody. A long-shot governor from a red state more famous for losing pounds than finding support for his campaign for the presidency. But I felt a sense of urgency. The Republican party, and more distressingly, the conservative movement, is at a crossroads. In much the same way we're now suffering from the application of Cold War foreign policy, strategy, and war tactics in a new world of global terrorism, the party and the conservative movement are suffering from the continually wrong-headed leadership of what I like to call the "Old Guard" conservatives – old white men, usually veterans of the Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush I eras.
Now, don't get me wrong. I respect my elders. I have a deep-rooted respect, awe, and appreciation for the way young activists (what I am today) backed Goldwater, brought the movement to the masses and achieved great victories in electing Reagan twice and attaining a Congressional majority in the Nineties. That said, it is time to move on. We can no longer run on "God, Gays, and Guns." Surely these issues – protecting the role of religion in the public sphere, the preservation of the sanctity of marriage, and the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution – still hold weight and deserve a prominent place in our party's platform and campaign messages. But it's time to move on. There are other pressing issues in the world, outside of even global terrorism – America's educational crisis and how it is feeding into the decline of our international hegemony, our dependence on foreign energy which is quickly becoming a national security threat (see Russia and China purchasing American assets by the billions), and more. It's not like there aren't conservative principles that would guide conservative solutions to these problems. But we don't talk about them. The Old Guard conservatives act as if the American public is too stupid to understand the policy benefits of conservative proposals addressing these issues. And as a result, Americans are instead being swept up in the rhetoric accompanying the "historical significance" of a Black man in the White House – an inexperienced and shiftless Black man at that.
Gov. Huckabee was my pick in the primaries because he wasn't afraid to talk about these issues – education, infrastructure, taxes, energy. Admittedly, he wasn't the most polished candidate (and his Confederate flag flip-flop had me fuming), but that wasn't what drew me to him. I don't want Republicans to win if it means turning into something we're not. I'd rather a Democratic White House for eight years if it gives us young conservatives an opportunity to make the movement our own, to fashion our own platform, revamp the coalition and properly utilized all the new technological tools at our disposal. It was a great triumph that Huckabee was able to pick up Iowa and make a strong showing in a few other states. But more than securing the nomination, I wanted Huckabee to push the party outside of its comfort zone. And maybe he did.
Now I'm supporting John McCain. Let me put it this way – it's a marriage of necessity, not one of passion. McCain suffers from many of the Old Guard afflictions – he's an old white guy who is big on foreign policy but has little economic or domestic policy strengths. Then again, he's an improvement over much of what the party has offered this election cycle as he, at the very least, realizes that being a racist fear-mongerer doesn't make much sense when the Bush II won 40% of the Hispanic vote in the last election and Hispanics continue their steady march towards being the dominant minority group in America. Bottom line: a McCain Administration would do this country better than an Obama Administration. But that's not saying much; neither candidate presents us with the complete package. McCain has the experience Obama needs; Obama (policy positions, whatever they are today, aside) presents young conservatives with the prototype of a candidate we need to put forth in future elections.
This election means little to me, so long as Obama realizes what it takes to protect America from terrorism abroad and at home. More important is the effort of young conservatives, such as myself and probably most of Karol's readership, to retake this movement and make it our own. The Old Guard has had its moments, but now its our time. We cannot allow the movement and the party to be set back another ten years because the old timers didn't know it was their time to go and we were too timid to take the reins. It is time for young conservatives to step up and utilize our God-given resources – whether you be a blogger, policy wonk, strategist, or future candidates for office – and help this movement adapt to the times and challenges. We need a new conservative policy platform. We need new candidates and new campaign strategies. We need to utilize new technologies. We need to build a new coalition.
We need a new conservative movement. And it starts with us.

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Claudio Simpkins is a former blogger and is one year away from getting his JD!