Liberal Republicans and media are pushing McCain, just as they pushed out Taft

EDITOR:

The current political machinations going on in the Republican Party put me in mind of presidential pre-convention maneuvers in the years 1940, 1944, 1948 and 1952. Ohio Sen. Robert A. Taft, affectionately known as “Mr. Republican” was the pre-convention choice of most Republicans during all four of those pre-election years to win the presidential nomination to run against Franklin D. Roosevelt in the general elections of 1940 and 1944, Harry Truman in 1948 and Adlai Stevenson in 1952.

Taft was a conservative before the term became popular. He was for lower taxes, less government, private ownership, an isolationist, who did not want us fighting other people’s wars around the globe and free enterprise economics. His father was William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States.

In 1938 when Robert Taft was making a run for the party nomination, he was called to New York City by the party’s liberal kingmakers, where he was asked to recant his conservative principles which did not fit the party’s left wing ideology. When he refused to do so he was assured that he would never be president. The liberal party leaders proceeded to bring an unknown candidate to the electorate named Wendell Willkie and popularized him by placing his picture and biographical sketches in Time, Look and Life magazines. The media willingly cooperated, being liberally minded in those days as well. Willkie won the nomination and lost to FDR, but the liberals could not have cared less.

In 1944 and 1948

they again approached Taft, but when he stood firm in his conservative ideology they nominated liberal New York Gov. Thomas Dewey who lost to FDR and Harry Truman, who was much more conservative than Dewey.

In 1950, Taft was again asked by the East Coast kingmakers if he would finally come their way and become the Republican nominee for president. Having failed in their attempt, they nominated WWII hero Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower, a registered Democrat who had never been a Republican, and chose Richard Nixon as his running mate. They defeated Democrat Stevenson handily. Sen. Robert A. Taft died on July 31, 1953. He would have had a short term as our president had he recanted of his conservative principles.

The Vietnam hero McCain is also a darling of the liberal wing of the Republican Party as well as the liberal media, and as was apparent on “Super Tuesday” they have seen to it that he runs against the Democratic liberal (Hillary or Obama) in November. No matter how you cut it, as before in 1940, 1944, 1948 and 1952, whoever wins in the next presidential election, the liberals have apparently won the day. Be prepared for rising taxes, increasing government interference in our lives and more power inside the Washington beltway. If you think, as I do, that George W. Bush is a big government guy and no real conservative, we haven’t seen anything yet.

CHARLES H. McGOWEN, M.D.

Howland