i don’t normally follow these threads, having long ago decided that i couldn’t vote for romney on moral grounds, but you’ve hit on a rational, constructive strategy for starting a conservative party that can grow in future elections. i believe that this must be done for the future of the country, since both the r and d parties are ultimately toxic to the republic as currently constituted.
a plausible way to start a major conservative party is to unite patriots around an un-inpeachable conservative candidate in the blue states (like ca) where it can have no effect on the outcome of this election, while serving to build a conservative party from the ground up and put a real fear of conservatives into the r-elite for the first time.
the problem is finding a conservative nucleus organization or candidate that can effectively campaign across the blue states. if freepers or other conservatives want to do this or are already doing this, sign me up.
Your and p-marlowe’s idea is an excellent one. If we can get conservatives in blue states to vote for an alternative party, the Constitution Party is the best alternative at the moment, imho, then the numbers compiled will earn legitimacy in the American mindset.
I do believe, however, that one cannot build any party without first building from the congressional district on up. That is actually the way the republican party was started. Their strength was in congressional presence, and that made their presidential bid viable.
FWIW, I would rather have Virgil Goode be a CP victor in his old congressional district than be a “statement candidate” in the presidential election. I have no doubt that he’d be a formidable force in his old congressional district.
Additionally, a number of CP candidates in every congressional district will result in a far larger visibility than will a low budget presidential campaign in which the media and the system have constructed such enormous hurdles that must be overcome just to get one’s name on a ballot or one’s face into the news.
The bottom line of this post, though, is that the idea of voting for Goode in a state that will go blue anyway — such as California — is right on the money. It enables those conservatives to reject a radical liberal rino and maintain their conservative principles.
As with any party, as it grows there will be intra-party discussions over the best platforms, policies, etc. Surprisingly, though, the CP positions are very good and very supportable for the most part....which is more than one can say for the rino-infested party.