By J.B. Williams
Monday, March 26, 2007
American conservatives committed political suicide in four out of the last eight national elections. They learn slowly, but eventually, they do learn and it seems as though most true conservatives are finally on the right track to party and national reform. Who said old dogs can't learn new tricks? … (Or re-learn old principles…)
True conservatives have always known that we have a two party system for one very good reason. Any multi-party system guarantees "minority" rule and that just won't cut it in a nation supposed to be governed by a constitutional "majority". With help from the left, some conservatives forgot this fundamental reality for a bit. But after four expensive lessons, they remember now.
Conservative voters were less than impressed with "read my lips" Bush 41 after Democrats tricked him into raising taxes. They thought they should "send a message" of opposition to the Republican National Committee by voting for Ross Perot, who was no more conservative than Bush, but had great economic flow charts.
So they elected Arkansas playboy Bill Clinton Commander-in-Chief by popular "minority" vote. The message received at Republican headquarters was, "we need to run more centrist like Bill Clinton in order to attract a broader range of voters". Oops…
Conservatives then tried to limit their losses by electing Republican control of congress for the first time in 40 years in 1994. But they would soon learn that it was largely BIG TENT Republicans (RINOs) they elected, not conservatives.
The Republican National Committee decided to run Bob Dole atop their Presidential ticket. Though I very much like and respect Dole as a good man, he was not a viable Presidential candidate and everyone except party leadership knew it, even before Democrats poked fun at his tumble off the front of the campaign stage.
So again, conservative voters tried to "send a message". They divided their votes between Dole and Perot and once again, they elected now confirmed sex pistol playboy President Bill Clinton, again by a popular "minority".
After eight disastrous years of crime, corruption, perjury, impeachment and outright White House treason, conservatives were desperate for a Republican administration… No more "messages". It was time to elect a Republican.
In their desperate mission to elect a Republican in 2000, conservatives forgot to elect a conservative Republican. Instead, they followed the lead of party gurus who told them to get behind George Bush II in order to avoid an Al Gore Presidency. They were onboard the Bush 43 train before Bush 43 even agreed to run, because anything would be better than Al Gore after eight years of Clinton.
They were right in a way. Anything would be better than Al Gore and even many Democrat voters agreed. But they were too fast to buy into the RNC golden boy candidate and ended up with a self-proclaimed "compassionate conservative", which turned out to be not very conservative at all really.
The events of 9/11 turned what promised to be a lack-luster President into a temporary hero as the nation rallied around their commander-in-chief, seeking revenge more than justice for the attacks on our way of life. But that desire for revenge quickly faded.
Once American soldiers started dying again, those once thirsty for revenge lost interest in even justice or future security and we were once again left with a lack-luster compassionate conservative who many would come to doubt capable of even overcoming the smallest setbacks inherent in every war effort.
Bush 43 turned out to be far more compassionate than conservative and after his re-election by almost a 4 million vote margin in 2004; his approval ratings would never again show majority support.
By the 2006 mid-term elections, conservatives were once again seeking to "send a message" to RNC leadership…
Predictably disappointed in their compassionate conservative commander-in-chief, some conservatives stayed home on Election Day while others chose the third party route and still others crossed all the way over and voted for Democrats. The message received at the RNC was, "we must run moderate candidates" who are fiscally conservative and seemingly tough on national security, but socially liberal in order to attract a broad majority of voters, falsely believed to be more moderate than Bush.
So as we head into the '08 election season, the RNC advances their chosen "frontrunners" a year before the primary process is even due to begin. The nation's mayor Rudy Giuliani, the nation's war hero John McCain and the nation's man of religion Mitt Romney, all of whom have very liberal track records and stances on social issues, but tough talk on national security and fiscal responsibility.
Both Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. are Republican "moderates". All three presidential candidates now being touted as RNC "frontrunners" are even more "moderate" than the Bush family. The problem is clear now, in the minds of true conservatives.
I can go on and on, but the point is, people who are not committed to a single set of core principles are not capable of leading a nation in a single direction. They are best suited for double talk and that's exactly what we get from most modern politicians, including the average Republican. They want to address the problems facing our nation, so long as nobody is offended by how we address those problems. But no matter how our issues get addressed, somebody will be offended by the solution. A true leader can't and won't care about that.
The question remains - what solutions are supported by a constitutional "majority", not the largest popular "minority"? To answer this question, the people must be presented with the issues in an honest no-nonsense manner, and given clear choices of direction. The press won't help and today's Democrats don't want you to know the real facts because those facts will never support their current secular socialist agenda.
When both national parties present hogwash wrapped in class-warfare and ideological drivel, and then offer very similar solutions based on serving a plethora of minority constituencies, there is no real choice for voters to make. Something must change…
No longer willing to follow the dictates of the National Committee who has repeatedly gotten it entirely wrong, true conservatives are now seeking their own candidate for the '08 presidential election and they are doing so on the basis of conservative values and the electability factor of their chosen candidate.
Thus, the interest in conservative party outsiders like Duncan Hunter, conservative stalwarts like Newt Gingrich and the growing grassroots movement to draft former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson as a "people's" conservative candidate. A man with true conservative values and a track record, as well as great name and face recognition, experience both in government and as a leader in more than one facet of his successful life.
Unlike the others, Thompson is no career politician and he seldom pulls his punches no matter who likes it. Whether or not he will be the right man at the right time is a question conservatives will have to decide over the next several months, assuming he runs.
But the important message in this story is – conservatives have had enough of RNC anointed pretenders, faux conservatives, so-called moderates who are unable to lead in a clear committed direction with great purpose. They are ready to reform their own party and they seem to know how to do it correctly this time.
No more "messages" to party leadership. Party leadership hears only what it wants to hear. The people are ready to choose their own course now, with or without the support of the national committee. The RNC will have to follow or get out of the way now, because they have failed miserably in their efforts to lead.
No more third party nonsense. No more Ross Perots. No more divided efforts that end in minority rule. The time for real change has arrived and true conservatives seem more excited about their future than at any time in recent history.
People who are Republican only, have NOT and WILL NOT learn these lessons. They were never conservative to begin with and they still aren't.
They are not driven by principles, but rather by emotions. Like Bush 43, they are "compassionate" towards positions that are in no way conservative.
BIG TENT Republicans, too far right on national security matters and taxes to be a leftist Democrat today, but too far left on social spending and political correctness to ever be a conservative, "moderates" are stuck between the two primary agendas in America. They are Republicans only by default.
Yet the conservative base of the Republican Party has allowed this uncommitted constituency to control the national agenda of their party over the last several years. That practice is fast coming to an end.
True conservatives are gearing up to reclaim their party and then their nation. Some RINOs will follow that lead, if the message is clear, concise and wholly American. Others will return to their third parties of the past and some will even return to the Democrat Party.
But if real conservatives want to reform their nation, they must first reform their own party and it is clear now that they see the need, the opportunity and the means to do just that.
2008 may mark the return of the real GOP. RNC leadership is in for a change and so is America…year...
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