Why Republicans cannot root for Kerry

Paul at Wizbang confessed to having a small part of him rooting for a Kerry victory. Why? Because it would ultimately help the Republican party. Why? Kerry is a pompous a*s, a liberal nutter and a polarizing figure who would drive swing voters into the arms of Republican representatives once Kerry's policies began running the country into the ground.

I think this line of thinking is stupid, and I explained that in my comment to the Wizbangers (see link above). Here is the comment in full:

Quite honestly, your analysis is completely preposterous on so many levels that I would overflow your comment limit if I tried to address it all.

Most notable among the flaws in your argument is the implied notion that Republicans are Republicans first, Americans second. If I have the choice between screwing the country or screwing the party, the party takes the hit. Period. Four years of Kerry will be catastrophically bad for the country regardless of the efforts by Bill Owens or Rudy Giuliani in 2009-2017 to turn the situation around.

Second most notable is your preposterous reversal of cause and effect: Carter did not get us Reagan; Reagan was the man he was before NIXON won in 1968, never mind Carter's election in 1976. Carter's personal malaise that he inflicted upon the country may have helped the COUNTRY realize it needed someone else, but the nation did not have a choice to pick Reagan in '76 (after he lost to Ford).

Really, this is a conceptual thread akin to wondering whether Bush secretly welcomed the bin Laden tape's appearance. It is unworthy conjecture of a type that has achieved prominence and some respectability since Clinton's Wag-The-Dog presidency. That does not make it right or legitimate. My party or my country? Forget the party, the country must succeed.