Today is Super Tuesday. Voters in 24 states get to voice who they want as the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.
I guess it is some sort of big deal.
Forgive me if I am just not that excited.
As someone who has been active in the Republican Party, run for local office as a Republican, supported Republican candidates, served on the local Republican Committee, and gone door-to-door for other Republicans, this election has been difficult to experience.
I have always felt like the Republican Party was where my allegiance rested.
But I look at candidates John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee (is he still in this race??), and I look at President George Bush and the Republicans in Congress, and I see a party that does not reflect the principles that I signed up for.
And I find myself hoping that the Republican Party loses.
It is not enough to win with the wrong principles.
Today’s Republican Party does not fight for limited, Constitutionally-derived federal powers.
Today’s Republican Party does not fight for limited government spending.
Today’s Republican Party does not fight to protect the rights that the Bill of Rights was designed to safeguard.
The one candidate in the Republican race who does represent all of those principles has been blocked out by the Republican establishment and the media.
That candidate is Ron Paul.
I rejected the idea of supporting Ron Paul earlier in this primary season because I was looking for a candidate that could unite the party around our traditional principles.
That candidate was Fred Thompson.
But the party voters rejected former Sen. Thompson.
Now, the party faithful rally behind Mitt Romney, a candidate whose record in government wholly contradicts everything he has said in this campaign, and John McCain, the maverick who has dogged conservatives for years with his decidedly un-conservative activities in Congress.
It is any wonder that my support for a Republican Party resurgence is waning?
Truth be told, I hope that Ron Paul runs as an independent and we witness the birth of a new party in American politics.
I am not talking about another failed third party. I am talking about a revolution. A new major party.
The death of the Republican Party and the birth of something new, something better, something that encompasses the clamor of a yet unrepresented group of Americans that wants to see the power of the federal government reined in and a return to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Ron Paul? Yikes!
The death of the Republican Party and the birth of something new, something better, something that encompasses the clamor of a yet unrepresented group of Americans that wants to see the power of the federal government reined in and a return to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
As I keep telling the Democrats (who finally listened in 2006, much to their dismay) you do not win elections on the margins: You need win with the center. If you want to elect leaders who think like you, you have to move the center.
Clearly what we would like to see, Federalism, small government, constructionist, is not the majority position in this country. Just as Socialism, Communism, and Universal Health Care are not the majority position for the Left.
To be a purist and be involved in politics is a good thing. But to expect to see a purist position arise from the political process is an unrealism expectation.
Politics is mostly compromise and sometimes, when we’re lucky, consensus.
It’s just the nature of the beast.
You can not ask that leaders who believe like you be elected without doing the work of moving the center to your direction. It’s bottom up, not top down, which is as it should be.
But, Ron Paul? Really?
February 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
“I hope that Ron Paul runs as an independent”
I hope this too…it would be great for Democrats IMO. The other problem is that I’ve seen him rule it out entirely before when on TV. Did you ever think that you might really be a Libertarian Charity?
“Universal Health Care are not the majority position for the Left.”
Keep spinning there Frank…lol…
February 5th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Mister Guy
“Universal Health Care are not the majority position for the Left.”
Keep spinning there Frank…lol…
I should have clarified: Clear it is a majority position of the Left, but it not a majority position with respect to the universe of voters in the US.
Do I need to back that up for you?
February 5th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I am not a Libertarian, but, yes, I am libertarian. So are many other conservatives, even main stream commentators.
And did you guys see that Pat Buchanan’s magazine, The American Conservative, endorsed Ron Paul?
Frank says, “you do not win elections on the margins”
True, but what a sad, sad day for America when our country’s founding principles are considered on the margins and make one unelectable.
I actually think that there are more people who skew libertarian than you think. That is why I would love to see a candidate run on those principles in a general election.
And contrary to Mr. Guy, I think Ron Paul will pull from both parties.
After all, he is the only true anti-war candidate.
I assume that is why you don’t like him, Frank. Is that why?
February 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
“Do I need to back that up for you?”
I knew what you meant originally Frank, and don’t bother…I’m not interested in reading another BS FOX “News” poll from you.
“I actually think that there are more people who skew libertarian than you think. That is why I would love to see a candidate run on those principles in a general election.”
The Libertarians have been running national candidates for years and years and gotten nowhere…just like the Greens and the commies, etc., etc..
“After all, he is the only true anti-war candidate.”
…on the GOP side.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
“…on the GOP side.”
No, on any side.
“The Libertarians have been running national candidates for years and years and gotten nowhere”
Good for them. I am not a Libertarian.
Republicans have run candidates like that, too, and they do quite well.
The Republican Party has all but abandoned those principles. Either they need to find their way back, or there will be a mass exodus. There are too many influential GOP supporters who skew libertarian to just be tossed aside.
Do you read a lot of conservative commentary? Conservatives are NOT happy with the GOP or this year’s presidential candidates.
Something’s gotta give.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Charity
And did you guys see that Pat Buchanan’s magazine, The American Conservative, endorsed Ron Paul?
I’m not a big fan of Pat Buchanan. Lat time I checked he was a protectionist and a populist with some social conservative underpinnings.
To be frank (and I am) Social Conservatism is the least attractive part of the Republican Party.
True, but what a sad, sad day for America when our country’s founding principles are considered on the margins and make one unelectable.
Yes but this is not something that has happened suddenly. Much of the “entitlement” mindset goes all the way back to FDR and it is this mindset that is primarily responsible for the growth of the Federal Government
I actually think that there are more people who skew libertarian than you think.
I have lots of libertarian-like views. And again, social conservatism is antithetical to libertarianism.
At the same time, I do believe that the Government should have a larger role to play than what was originally envisioned by the Founders.
I am not opposed to Social Security, for instance. But I am against the budget games that hide the cost of it.
And contrary to Mr. Guy, I think Ron Paul will pull from both parties
Absolutely. One reason is he is seriously anti-war. Or I should say he is rabidly anti-expeditionary and people believe him when he says it.
Only the really blinkered believe Hillary or Obama that they will withdraw troops from Iraq with a year (or whatever they say) regardless of the circumstances.
Neither would do such a thing.
fter all, he is the only true anti-war candidate.
I assume that is why you don’t like him, Frank. Is that why?
Well his antiwar position is a symptom of his larger philosophy which, as I said, is anti-expeditionary. If he had his way, the US Navy would not roam the seven seas and if you think piracy is bad now, see what would happen if we withdrew our Navy.
What worse, see who takes our place….
And to lament the fact that we are the policemen of the world is nice, but the fact is, we need to be this in order to be what we are. Without us, it would be global feudalism and that would be more dangerous in my view.
And ultimately we do this to protect our markets: trade is the lifeblood of capitalism and the basis for America.
A form of Imperialism, if you will, but one that does not take and hold territory and battles for economic and political freedom. As Colin Powell once pointed out
“‘Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.”
Ron Paul, like Buchanan, is ultimately a protectionist and against open markets globally. And his position on national defense is a direct consequence of this.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Mister Guy
“Do I need to back that up for you?”
I knew what you meant originally Frank, and don’t bother…I’m not interested in reading another BS FOX “News” poll from you.
Putting the blinders on does not make the facts go away.
The Libertarians have been running national candidates for years and years and gotten nowhere…just like the Greens and the commies, etc., etc.
Precisely my point with regards to the political center. You can either vote the fringes and be left out of the conversation, or vote for or even against someone and at least have a dog in the fight.
Politics is a conversation, often a heated conversation, with the result is that the center moves in one direction or another. To move the center you have to convince the center that this or that policy is important.
That’s what leaders are for.