Tax Day April 15th 2009, I attended my first Tea Party event held on the front lawn of the State House in Columbus, Ohio. Only a couple of months into the Obama administration, the Tea Party movement was in its infancy. At the time, it did not even have an official name. But it was a Tea Party event nonetheless with hundreds of people congregating in a chilly Ohio rain to listen to, among others, then-aspiring Gov. John Kasich speak.
As with a number of similar type events that I attended subsequent to that, it was marked by patriotism and a sense of optimism as conservative-minded folks came together to make their dissatisfaction with the state of the nation known to their elected officials and to those seeking office. With a crowd of this size, it is safe to assume that there was a wide range of ideologies present that day. But everyone in attendance had one thing in common: A sense of pride in the concept of American exceptionalism.
Fast forward seven years to 2016. We find ourselves in the very early stages of the presidential nominating process. Many Americans are no less dissatisfied with the status quo now than they were in 2009. But a once-united Tea Party initiative dedicated to taking back America from the progressive elitists that had assumed power has devolved into several different factions all purporting to be “conservative”. No longer is the Tea Party a united movement. We now have a group of Donald Trump supporters who are convinced that it’s Trump’s way or the highway. Like their candidate, they feel as if they can bully non-believers into supporting their guy. Similarly, we have the supporters of Ted Cruz who claim to be “real” conservatives. They seem to be nearly as belligerent but in a “religious”, almost sanctimonious, sort of way. Then there are the fans of Marco Rubio who feel that their guy is the most electable of all of the GOP candidates. All three candidates have qualities that appeal to certain segments of the electorate. Likewise, all three have attributes with which many conservatives take exception.
The problem is that the formerly-united conservative front is now a loosely-knit conglomeration of at least three distinct beliefs, none of which tolerate the other. Conservatives, after seven years of Obama running roughshod over the economy, should be clamoring to unite behind a coalition to push back the Democrat statists who yearn for more giveaways and continually-compounding debt. However, they are at each other’s throats each claiming that the other guy’s candidate is either part of the Washington establishment or not conservative enough.
Have we not had enough of this in-fighting and bickering? Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008 both suffered crushing defeats in what really should have been runaway GOP victories. We might be able to excuse the 2008 drubbing at the polls; Americans were punch-drunk on “hope & change”. They can be excused for not knowing any better. But 2012 was an entirely different story. After four years of Obama and the Pelosi/Reid cabal in Congress which gave us Obamacare, a Romney victory SHOULD have been a slam dunk. But, alas, Romney was not conservative enough for the purists and enough of them stayed home (or voted for “other”) to assure a second Obama term.
So, here we are in 2016 in no better shape – and in many ways, worse shape – than we were in 2012. We have a handful of viable candidates, all with some terrific credentials and attributes. Flawed? Yes. But even Ronald Reagan wasn’t considered to be a “perfect” candidate at first. Once again, we find ourselves in a position whereby we can end the madness – or at least dial it back somewhat – by defeating Hillary Clinton (or Bernie Sanders) and the leftists who, like Obama, want to see us continue to slide into the cesspool of socialism and disarmament.
We the People can stop it. We the People MUST stop it. At any cost.
James Sharp is a middle-aged, middle-class, middle-management salesman who believes in secure borders and fighting our enemies with a strong military. He also believes in limited government, free markets, and unlimited opportunity and personal liberties for all citizens of the U.S.
