Why I'm Voting for Bush

Christopher Hitchens writes in Slate:

...The Kerry camp often strives to give the impression that its difference with the president is one of degree but not of kind. Of course we all welcome the end of Taliban rule and even the departure of Saddam Hussein, but we can't remain silent about the way policy has been messed up and compromised and even lied about. I know what it's like to feel that way because it is the way I actually do feel. But I also know the difference when I see it, and I have known some of the liberal world quite well and for a long time, and there are quite obviously people close to the leadership of today's Democratic Party who do not at all hope that the battle goes well in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There are far too many Democrats that are rooting against the US in Iraq and in the War on Terror generally. I won't get into possible motivations. Many sincerely feel we are doing the wrong thing. But many others are cynically hoping for anything that will make Bush look bad, no matter what it means for the future and security of their own county.

For that reason, even if Lieberman had been nominated, I probably still would have gone with Bush. Lieberman truly wants to fight and win the War on Terror. But he would be surrounded by people who opposed him. This is going to be a long, tough fight and there is no guarantee that Bush can win it. But until a majority of those on the left come to grips with the seriousness of the problem, a Democrat, any Democrat, is bound to fail.