Prior to John McCain sewing up the Republican presidential nomination, there was a lot of angst about his conservative credentials from the right wing. Even now that he has the nomination wrapped up, conservatives (myself included) continue to gripe about his moderate views on certain key issues.

In essence, McCain has become a yardstick by which conservatives can measure their own ideology. Want to show all you blog readers how conservative you are? Just take some shots at McCain. Congratulations, William F. Buckley, that moves you to the front of the line. It reminds me of the Packer fans that paint their house, car, and dog green just to show you how much more of a Packer fan they are than you.

Of course, all this hand-wringing about McCain will be short-lived. By the time November rolls around, Republicans will be so horrified at the prospect of either an Obama or Clinton presidency, they\’ll turn out in droves for McCain. The McCain campaign and its surrogates will do everything in their power to make it seem like the apocalypse will be upon us in the event a Democrat is elected.

As George Will has said, an election is about choosing the best person to lead our country – we don\’t have any \”right\” to choose someone that satisfies every one of our ideological desires. I\’d like a president that does my laundry, but I\’m not sure that\’s going to happen.

So here\’s a message to my fellow conservatives: You\’re conservative. We get it. But the game is over, and you now have a choice between McCain and Obama/Hillary. Take some time to think that over.

In the meantime, I have created a suggested ad for the McCain campaign to use in convincing conservatives to give him their vote: