Conservatives--or, perhaps, non-statists of all stripes--need to quit giving up on candidates when there are only two or three disagreements on policy. The Left is really good at this; they will stick with their wo/man if there is agreement on one or two things. They use that small area of agreement to build an echo chamber that is very difficult to tune out, let alone counter. And the more voters require 'ideological purity' at the cost of political efficacy, the harder it is to beat back the liberty restrictions endorsed by the statists.In the other corner, Six brings this cri du coeur:
With loss after loss, bad candidate after bad candidate, betrayal after betrayal and disappointment after disappointment here's where we are now. After yesterday's Virginia race I'm afraid that a parting of the ways between you and I has finally come.Both are passionate, well reasoned, and well worth your time. The contrast does a good job of summing up what is quite frankly a civil war for the soul of the Republican Party.
Read carefully. I will never again vote for any candidate with an R beside their name if they even have a whiff of the Republican establishment. Period. And I'm not a lying progressive who promises a period knowing all along that they don't really mean it. Period means period. And lest you think I'm a lone voice crying in the wilderness take a very long look around. You will see that I have a lot of company and such good company it is. I will however take every chance I get to vote for a conservative who primaries one of your chosen few. Stuff that in your pipe and take a nice long puff.
The only thing that I have to add is the distaste for the Chamber of Commerce and Big Business spending big bucks on establishment candidates who will vote for big pork barrel laws like Cap and Trade (*cough* Mike Castles *cough*), "Comprehensive Immigration Reform", and the like.
I'm thinking that this may put me more in Six' camp*, but your should read and think on both of these.
* My objectivity may be compromised by this post from 3 years ago where I once again took issue with the Republican establishment:
This November [2010 - BP] will see the breaking of the Democratic Party, which is half the battle. But everything will come to naught if the Republican Old Guard is not also broken. There is quite frankly no evidence that they will change their old ways unless we break them. Christine O'Donnell may be crazy like a Cat Lady, but she serves the purpose of breaking them. She is particularly useful in this, because it sends the following message:But still, read both of those posts. This is the discussion of our day, well stated on both sides.
We'll vote for the Village Idiot before we'll vote for you lot.Some will say that the Democratic Party is killing this country. I can't argue with that. However, the Republican Establishment is killing the country, too - just a little slower.
Think strategically, not tactically. If we are to die, it's better to go fast than slow. The proper response to the contempt being shown us by the Republican Party Old Guard - vote for us because we suck less than they do - is to return that contempt with interest. Vote 'em out, every Man Jack and Woman Jill. If they're an incumbent, get rid of them.
7 comments:
This "Conservatives--or, perhaps, non-statists of all stripes--need to quit giving up on candidates when there are only two or three disagreements on policy" would be all fine and dandy if it went both ways. Cuccinelli is just one more proof that it doesn't. Establishment Republicans know who their true enemy is and it ain't Democrats. So, I'm with Six. Let's see 'em win without us.
Another reason I'm now an independent... sigh
I'm with Six. I've held my nose so often that it's damn near broken. As a Texan, I've got a Senator that has kept his word(so far) and been called a wacko bird and a show boat. That I would expect from the dims, only it wasn't them but senile senior citizen senators from the R side of the dim party doing the name calling. They'll get no more Vaseline from me.
Do what Six says and there won't be a GOP in two or three election cycles.
Which is fine with me. This country needs a center-right party and it currently doesn't have one.
As with many things, balance is in order.
Tactically, I'm with the Gormogons. If that's what you've got for an individual election, then that's what you've got and you've got to roll with it.
Strategically, I'm with Six. Voting RINO is distasteful at best, so the second someone better comes along in the primaries, it's time to strangle the RINO.
Six's strategy is ruthless, I know, but do you think the Dems or the GOP establishment are playing with kid gloves here? (OK, the GOP Old Guard plays with the Dems wearing kid gloves, but....) At some point, any serious strategy requires removing the pads and going bare-knuckle.
If I had to pick one over the other, I'd go with Six. It's the more likely of the two to produce a change in the way the GOP establishment is run at its core. The Gormogons' method is too easily trumped; all the GOP has to do is NOT endorse primary challengers - IOW, nothing, and they're VERY good at that.
What we need in Washington is an army of conservatives and constitutionalists; instead, we have Republicans.
It's apparent, to me, at least, that the Democrat Party has become not just the enemy of Americans, it's fully anti-American, at least anti- the America that was created out of a Declaration of Independence, a revolutionary war and a remarkably well thought out Constitution.
Unfortunately, so are the Republicans.
I told a friend in 2011 that 2012 would be the last election cycle for the Republican Party as we knew it; so far, I think my prediction is on track.
Government, at all levels, but especially at the federal level, has become the enemy of the American people (if you think your local government is on your side, who do you think the cops who shoot dogs, 70-year-old woodcarvers and 13-year old kids with toy guns work for? Check Tam's blog for info about the saga of IMPD officer David Bisard).
Republicans support all this crap only slightly less than Democrats. It was Republican Marco Rubio who delivered a pro-amnesty speech with Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer at his side, then repeated his speech in Spanish.
Government at all levels has become too big, too expensive, too intrusive; Republicans masquerade as conservatives to get votes then switch sides. See: Graham, Lindsey, McCain, John, et al.
Six is right. The Republican Party is no longer an American party, no longer an organization to be trusted to honor American principles. I don't know what will take its place, but something will. The Tea Party? Maybe. Maybe something completely different. Mark Levin has mentioned a Liberty Party as a parallel to his proposed Liberty Amendments.
Whatever takes the place of the Repubs will have to earn its position the hard way, because anything that can even spell "Republican Establishment" won't get much support.
The problem I have with the Embracing them is its based off false pretexts.
Two people (Well in particular two independently thinking people) will always have disagreements. I have disagreements with other libertarians myself about some public policies. That is not the problem with the RINO establishment.
Its the fact they lie as much as the Ds. Oh I'm your conservative, but ill do the exact opposite as what I say I'll do. Its not minor niggling policy differences that people are pissed about. It is the Major policies and proposals that is the problem. Most people can or will forgive small potato type of differences or changes of heart.
Its the big stuff that stands out.
I'm all for killing the RINOs off or making them simply stop talking.
Let the strong liberal areas vote for them, the rest of the nation can vote for actual conservatives. They need to be the majority, not the other way around.
Post a Comment