Are you as fed up as I am with the old "political game?" Would you like real, genuine change in Washington?
Then let's cut through the crap, and demand the Republican Party step up to the plate and define its core beliefs - the sooner the better! And I'm not talking about some stupid protest, making DEMANDS like the "progressives" do. I'm talking about pulling any and all support - money, time, votes, etc. - from politicians who don't represent us, and redirecting it to one's that will.
Now is the time, and we genuine conservative constituents need to act accordingly. We don't have any more time left to wait.
If the Republican Party is alive (albeit on life support), all the better, it puts another too in our belt. But if the Republican Party is dead, so be it. There are much larger things at stake.
Being a conservative is above and beyond being a Republican. And these politicos need to know, for example, that in no uncertain terms is supporting bank nationalization acceptable ... let's be real here, it's not even American. It's blasphemy!
Is there anyone left who remembers why we had a revolution?
The other day, Glenn Beck interviewed the party's new boss, Michael Steele. Like most of you, I have some faith in the guy, but at the same time ... I'm not holding my breath. So let's take a closer look at what he had to say.
First we notice is that Beck gets it! What he says about his radio audience being more pissed at the Republicans than anyone else, because we expect socialism from Democrats, hits the nail on the head! So let's put this problem in a broader perspective.
For too long, far longer than Steele recognizes, the Republican Party (RNC) hasn't offered a product indistinguishable from the Democratic Party (DNC). Think of it this way ... the DNC offers the Mercury Sable, while the RNC offers the Ford Taurus. Same thing ... other than the Sable being a little more expensive.
For those of you living outside metro-Detroit, here's a quick refresher from Edmunds (emphasis added):
The Mercury Sable has always been a kindred spirit to folks like Clint Howard, Ashlee Simpson or any Baldwin not named Alec - celebrities with even more famous siblings. People who will always be greeted with, "hey, aren't you so-and-so's brother?" or "your nose is much bigger than your sister's." Along the same lines, it's just about impossible to talk about the Mercury Sable midsize sedan without mentioning the Ford Taurus, its nearly identical sibling that for about half its life was the number-one car sold in the United States.
What I'm getting at here is ... that if the RNC doesn't differentiate themselves significantly from the DNC, and do it quickly ... there will be no compelling reason, regardless of whatever marketing tactics, for their constituents to support them, or new constituents to be attracted to them.
Now ... I've gotta give it to Michael here, because it takes real leadership to admit, as he does, that we shouldn't trust their words, or even their actions at this point. And that alone, in my mind, gives him enough credibility to be taken seriously. But like he says, "it's gonna be an uphill climb," and we don't have enough air to hold our breath.
Recommendations for Michael Steele and the RNC:
There's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of "The Contract with America," but it's reality was failure. The "contract" tried to work within the system, not against it. Obama won, not because he (like Hillary and McCain) stuck with the tired, old Sable/Taurus mentality, but because he ran as an outsider who could bring "change!" In other words ... if you step back and take a look at the big picture of his campaign. It's easy to see that he ran as a bold, Alinskyite radical!
1. Be a bold, Goldwater/Reagan radical!
We're not interested in government being our father, anymore than we are in it being our mother! When you use words and phrases like "stifle the ingenuity and capabilities of small businesses," it doesn't resonate. It's shop jargon. Instead, talk about the benefits individuals and families experience via low-taxation. You know ... that "little thing" I like to call the freedom of keeping your paycheck!
And puh-lease ... stop using phrases like "personal responsibility." I'm aware you didn't say it here, but I can't take it anymore!
What you're trying to say when you say this (I pray), would be better communicated through words like "freedom" ... "liberty" ... "opportunity" ... "ability" ...
We expect our father to talk to us about "responsibility," because it's his job to teach us how to properly enjoy and prosper using our freedoms. And at the same time, we expect politicians to butt-out.
2. Words are important. Conservatism is the philosophy of liberty, not governmental puritanism. People don't want you telling them how to live, anymore than they want Democrats doing it.
Think with me here for a moment ... Who, as in what "generations" ... have the most to gain from a political philosophy of limited-government, and likewise, the most to lose from Big Government?
Hmmmm ... maybe I'm just hallucinating here ... but I bet you're thinking it's the younger generations ... Right? And parents and grandparents want the best for their (fill in the blank ) ? ? ?
Here's a little-known secret I'd like to share with you ... nobody cares about politicians and/or the government. In fact, people only care about themselves. The Kool-aid drinking "progressives" may talk as if the government is important to them, but only so far as they perceive it relates to them. Whether they believe government is a provider, safety-net, or even charity ... it's still only in relation to themselves.
So start speaking the way you do among family and friends, and share the message of hope through liberty. Use metaphors and anecdotal stories, so people can relate it to their daily lives. Let's face it ... kids in their twenties and thirties by their very nature, want to be free. It only makes sense that they would be flocking to the conservative party in volumes (if we had one). Likewise, parents and grandparents by their very nature, want nothing but the best for their children, which again, means being able to live free!
As we can see, your "market" isn't any particular "group," such as the religious, the entrepreneurs, the southerners, or whomever ... its each and every one of us, as individuals, who go about living our daily lives.
3. Know your market and give people a reason to find you attractive - freedom!
Here's another little-known secret ... nobody respects a compromiser. If the captain of a sailboat, for example, simply sailed whatever way the wind blew. Not only would he fail to reach his destination, but soon would find he had a mutiny on his hands. Sound familiar?
There's no need to apologize for being conservative, so with that in mind, go ahead and start taking control of the conversation, thereby stopping the Democrats and the media, from defining the conversation for you.
Here's the reality ... It's not the "progressives" who care about people ...
The shoe is precisely on the other foot: it is Socialism that subordinates all other considerations to man's material well-being. It is Conservatism that puts material things in their proper place - that has a structured view of the human being and of human society, in which economics plays only a subsidiary role.
The root difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals of today is that Conservatives take account of the whole man, while the Liberals tend to look only at the material side of man's nature. The Conservative believes that man is, in part, an economic, an animal creature; but that he is also a spiritual creature with spiritual needs and spiritual desires. What is more, these needs and desires reflect the superior side of a man's nature, thus take precedence over his economic wants ... Liberals, on the other hand - in the name of a concern for "human beings" - regard the satisfaction of economic wants as the dominant mission of society ... In this approach, I believe they fight against Nature.
Only a philosophy that takes into account the essential differences between men, and, accordingly, makes provision for developing the different potentialities of each man can claim to be in accord with Nature.
The Conservative knows that to regard man as part of an undifferentiated mass is to consign him to ultimate slavery. - Barry Goldwater, The Conscience of a Conservative
In his first term, President Eisenhower described himself stating, "I am conservative when it comes to economic problems but [progressive] when it comes to human problems." During their campaign, Vice President Richard Nixon said "Republican candidates should be economic conservatives, but conservatives with a heart." Remember President George W. Bush and his lame "compassionate Conservatism?"
It is precisely conservatism, that "take[s] account of the whole man," not left-wing progressivism. Be grown-ups! And start acting and speaking accordingly.
4. Stop apologizing for being conservative, and instead, start living it!
With such a big task in front of you, trying to raise the dead is a waste of your time. The American people don't care about political seniority, connections, or even (as the election of Obama proves) experience.
Stop wasting your time trying to convince politicos like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Spector, and those like them about the importance of conservatism to not only the party's survival, but more importantly, the survival of our nation. They're a lost cause.
Now I admit ... I don't have a clue how it works there in the inner-bowels of the party. I may be a political junkie, but those are exactly the types of things I abhor ... so I pay it no interest. However, since the party isn't the actual government (I pray), there should be plenty of options available to you.
Deal with these turncoats as who they are - political and philosophical opponents - not who you wish they would be, or how you (falsely) project others would like. Go ahead and just take away their party memberships - kick them out! Eliminate their funding, then provide substantial backing to the genuine conservatives running against them during their next elections.
5. Don't waste your time hoping for conversions. It's time to clean house!
