Hello, Folks! It's me, that cuddly adorable conservative member of the Brown County Republican Central Committee, Mark! I have been very busy with a number of things lately, so I haven't been able to get on and blog. But, I feel compelled to do so right now.
John McCain appears to be the presumptive nominee and frontrunner as of now. He has all the momentum, and is collecting endorsements like crazy. He has won Florida, and things are looking good for him on Super Tuesday. However, things do not look good for the Republican party.
John McCain is neither Republican nor conservative. He cares little for personal freedom, as evidenced by McCain-Feingold, McCain-Lieberman, and his ambivalence and mild opposition to Sam Alito on the Supreme Court. Contrary to what some liberal sympathizers say, McCain does not admit his mistakes. If he did, he would apologize for McCain-Feingold. He would apologize for the Gang of 14. He would apologize for opposing the tax cuts which stimulated this economy for the past 7 years. However, he has done none of this. He has told the base to go to hell, and it appears that is where we are headed. Despite the polls and studies, I am not so sure Senator McCain will beat whomever the Democrat nominee is.
We have a fractured Republican party, where people remember the name Ronald Reagan but forget what it is he stood for. We have a party where limited government has given way to increased scrutiny and intrusion. WE have a party where fiscal responsibility has changed to bridges to nowhere and "compassionate" conservatism. We have a party where the majority of people are ignored in the name of making money and appealing to the mainstream media, and what is the result? Look at November 2006, and I think you will see where this is heading.
This has led some to say that Reaganism is dead, that the Reagan revolution is now on the very same "ash heap" of history where communism now lies. To look at America today, one might think so. We are drifting backward in terms of thinking, not forward. While most of the rest of the world sees the wonder of the free market and less government intrusion, we are drifting into socialism. And who do we blame for this? Sadly, we can look no further than the mirror.
While we were all patting ourselves on the back for winning the Presidency, then Congress; we allowed our public officials in the party to throw us under the bus. We allowed them, little by little, to divide the very coalition that allowed us to take the majority in the first place. Instead of staying true to core principles, we allowed these officials to pander to certain segments of the coalition in an effort not to change government, but to stay in power. In fact, we became what we despised--liberals.
How did we do this? We became special interest groups, not Americans who believe in a set of core principles. We went from being the party of strong defense, less government, and fiscal responsibility to the party of paybacks and payouts. And we let it happen. We did it in the name of keeping the majority, or in the name of "expanding the big tent." And guess what? The real leaders got pushed out of that tent, leaving only little fiefdoms which wanted their slice of the pie.
We became reflections of the Democrats. Instead of being a true coalition of allies, we became belligerent companions in a party with no rudder. In the name of building a big tent, we kicked out the main pillars of that tent. In the name of appealing to the masses, we ended up with voters sitting on their asses. We went from a party of galvanized, focused evangelicals, fiscal conservatives, libertarians, defense moms and dads; to a confederation of disinterested robber barons seeking out favor with this person or that one. We lost track of the things which unite us and instead focused on that which divide us. We lost sight of the forest because of the trees.
Then, rather than do what is best for our states and our country, we pouted. We pouted or we listened to so called experts (read Hugh Hewitt) who were all about grand strateegery of winning new states with liberals with an R next to their name, and these liberals would then tow the line in gratitude. Liberals may changes that letter next to their name, Hugh, but they don't change their nature (see Spector, Arlen; and Bloomberg, Mike). We then elected people who did not believe in the pillars of the tent, but that is OK, we were expanding the base. Funny, where was that massive show of moderate support when Ken Blackwell needed it? Where was that roar of support from moderates when Jean Schmidt needed it?
Folks, conservatism is not dead in the Republican party; it has simply been neglected. We have seen this before, in the early 1960s and the 1970s, when Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan were voices crying in the wilderness. We saw what happened. Those voices became multitudes, and can be again.
The problem was that we became all about assigning the credit, and we began to listen to so-called experts who came up with "election strategies" and "push polls" and "triangulation." The Republican party should not and cannot be about these things. This is the party that was built on the notion of freedom for all, a grand idea that at many times was not popular. We were and can be again the party of ideas, and it doesn't take a massive defeat by John McCain.
What I say next is going to shock you. I say we throw our weight behind John McCain if he is the nominee. We have to. We are at such a critical time in history, when we are fighting a war against terror, a struggle the Democrats want us to lose. It is a struggle they don't want. They would rather pretend it went away, just like they tried to pretend the drumbeats weren't sounding in the 1990s with the Cole, the Kobar Towers, and the First Trade Center bombings. We are already going backwards on the economy with this populism of stimulus and housing bailouts. We cannot, the world cannot afford going backwards on terrorism and islamic fundamentalism.
But Mark, what about this grand notion of conservatism and such and Ronald Reagan that you talked about earlier? Well, it is the very spirit of Reagan I am invoking. Ronald Reagan was all about focusing on the big enemy, the big threat, which he determined accurately to be communism and government expansion. While he may have differed with many in his own party about other issues, these could be agreed on. In fact, he often said let's focus on the 75% of things we agree on and once those are taken care of, we can argue about that 25%. That is in fact the very spirit of Reagan that began the revolution.
Do I think electing McCain will be the Renaissance of that revolution? Sadly, no. Do I think electing Romney will be? Probably not. However, we who call ourselves conservative should take the cue from our inspiration, Ronald Reagan. He saw the big threat. He saw it and focused on it like a laser and destroyed it. In his day it was communism. In our day, it is unabashed liberalism and the intrusion more and more of the nanny state. In our current political season, the big enemy is whomever the Democrat nominee is.
But Mark, you say, McCain is as liberal as they are, and you yourself cited those alliances with liberals. And you are mostly right. However, John McCain is right (for the most part) in terms of fighting the war on terror. He is right about balancing budgets. And, he is not a fan of socialized medicine. Again, we as conservatives must put aside our pet issues and focus on what is best for the country. Would a Mrs. Clinton or Barack Hussein Obama presidency be good for the country, or for our men and women in uniform? History and their records say no. At least McCain understands (for the most part), the military. At least he sounds like he wants to cut spending.
I myself am hoping for a Romney miracle. However, I am a realist, just as Reagan was. Reagan knew he couldn't get increased military spending and all he wanted in terms of breaking down spending. He therefore went with what was most important, which was defeating the Soviet machine. He knew and had faith that America would work itself out and that spending would be overcome by the increased revenues from a lower tax rate, but with more income to be taxed. Today, we need to realize what is most important, and that is keeping staunch "blame America first"ers from invading the White House.
Some have said they will stay home, pouting about this candidate is not perfect and is not all too much different than the Democrats. To that, I say hogwash. If we don't go and vote for the person who would do the better job, who is more in line with us, then we have no right to complain if/when the Dems win. We cannot be like they are, pouting and noisy brats who will not stand. I truly fear for this nation if a Democrat wins the White House. I fear for the safety of our troops and for the safety of the nation. I also fear for the economy, because the tax cuts will disappear and we will be left with more of our money going to people who didn't earn it.
Folks, we can battle and worry about our little empires or we can come together again and focus on what brings us true majorities: ideas. However, we cannot allow the malaise of our party to destroy the nation. Rather, fight within the party. Kick out people who have betrayed the ideas for contributions, who have muddied the waters. Run for central committee. Get involved in the process. It is only through such conservative activism that we can get things back. If Goldwater and Reagan would have acted as we are, they would have left and formed a fringe party, and we would have never known the glory of the Reagan Revolution. We have had the revolution. What happens to bring it back cannot happen by staying home, nor by giving up. It must take place within, and must spring out, like the phoenix of myth. It cannot be about our individual interests, but the best interests of the country and our ideals.
However, I am a conservative and must and will respect individual choice. I, for one, would rather have a President who I know will defend us in an attack rather than two other possibilities who I know would capitulate and obfuscate rather than engage. I am all for a renaissance to get us back to core principles and to what got us the majority, but it we cannot do it by whining and crying in our beer. Rather, we must rise up and get involved. It is one thing to sit on the sidelines and play Monday morning qb. It is another to get involved and get into the process. Maybe if more of us did so, we would not be at the crossroads we are in.
The choice is simple. Vote for the person you dislike least, or get what you hate most. It is a hard call. Not making a decision does not make you a stalwart or righteous, it makes you part of the problem; it makes you irresponsible.
Am I happy with John McCain? No. Am I happy with Mitt Romney? Not really. But, I shudder to think what a presidency of Clinton or Obama would look like. Is it worth risking this much just to teach the clowns in Washington a lesson? That choice is yours. I understand the urge to lash out, but rather than lashing out, let's use their process against them. Let's get primary opponents, let's join the central committees, let's get involved. Instead of just being a pundit or an observer, engage the process. That is what happened in the Revolution, and it is the only way to begin the Renaissance.
