Andrew Sullivan has posted an e-mail that he considers "a conservative case for Kerry."
It isn't. While I understand and am in complete solidarity with Sullivan's primary opposition to President Bush—why they hell shouldn't gay people be allowed to marry?—the letter proposes not a case for Kerry but a case against the Bush administration.
Having said that, I will admit that it's a good, thoughtful piece, and the author's arguments bear consideration. In the final analysis, however, we are still faced with a choice: Bush or Kerry. You can argue that the Iraq War may have been a bad idea—I think it was (and continues to be) worth the price, but at least I'll admit the question—but the notion that a Kerry administration would be better for America, in my not-so-humble opinion, is nonsense.
With all respect to Sullivan and his fight—which is also my fight, by the way—issues like gay marriage and abortion are frankly trivial within the context of a presidential election. Politicians like to spout off about them because they move swing voters out of the middle and raise a lot of dust, but ultimately our culture will go where it goes, and no political party is goimg to stand in its way.
The things that do matter include broad economic policy, international trade, and defense... and, nuts like Torgerson notwithstanding, the Bush administration has at the very worst scored 2-0-1 in that arena.
Besides: like it or not, we're in the middle of an international street-fight. Are you sure you want your back covered by a guy who claims a Purple Heart every time he needs a Band-Aid?