American Conservative's Scott McConnell Endorses Kerry

Scott McConnell of the American Conservative has reluctantly endorsed John Kerry for president. I found this comment interesting:

It is, instead, an election about the presidency of George W. Bush. To the surprise of virtually everyone, Bush has turned into an important president, and in many ways the most radical America has had since the 19th century. Because he is the leader of America’'s conservative party, he has become the Left’s perfect foil——its dream candidate. The libertarian writer Lew Rockwell has mischievously noted parallels between Bush and Russia'’s last tsar, Nicholas II: both gained office as a result of family connections, both initiated an unnecessary war that shattered their countries’' budgets. Lenin needed the calamitous reign of Nicholas II to create an opening for the Bolsheviks.

Actually, the whole article is pretty good.

How can any conservative claim to actually like Bush? Even in the editorials in the American Conservative that endorse Bush (their editors were unable to come to a consensus on who to endorse, so they have a series of endorsements from each editor) start by blasting him. As Pat Buchanan essentially says, conservatives don't have much of a choice. Bush is terrible, but Kerry would be worse. "Assuredly, a president who plunged us into an unnecessary and ruinous war must be held accountable. And if Bush loses, Iraq will have been his undoing. But a vote for Kerry is more than just a vote to punish Bush. It is a vote to punish America."

Republican Switchers has numerous articles about conservatives dumping Bush and endorsing Kerry.