Posted on 03/26/2008 7:46:38 PM PDT by Content Provider
There is a story, often told, that upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: "A republic, if you can keep it." The brevity of that response should not cause us to under-value its essential meaning: democratic republics are not merely founded upon the consent of the people, they are also absolutely dependent upon the active and informed involvement of the people for their continued good health.1
If I have called your attention to this message, I have reasonable grounds to believe, based on messages you have posted here, that you understand the dire situation that now faces the republic given to us by the founders of our nation. Specifically, you have expressed one of the following:
If I have erred in including you in this list and you do not agree, I apologize.
If you are yet to be convinced that McCain is just another Democrat and another socialist liberal regardless of the letter beside his name, this message is not for you.
This message is specifically for those who agree that an alternative to McCain, Clinton, and Obama must be found, or that the Republican Party, having emphatically objected the conservative agenda, is no longer a suitable vehicle through which our nation can repel the continued march of socialism.
It is time to do to the political elite's monopoly on power, what the grassroots has already done to the media elite's monopoly on information - to break the stranglehold of control by a privileged few.
The purpose of this thread in particular is to have a brainstorming session - I do not have, and do not represent myself as having, all the answers. What I do know is that our nation has made us prosperous beyond anything humanity has ever known before, and we owe it to our nation to repay that favor by acting to save it from "socialists of all parties"2
This is what I would like to do.
First, consolidate the case against McCain so that our fellow Republicans and conservatives can see the folly of holding their noses this time. A good deal of information is already assembled here and here. What you can do is add additional references, and help in the framing of the argument.
Second, if we’re to be serious, we need to find someone who knows how the game is played and can be convinced of the necessity of finding an alternative to the Big Three. I’m no politician, but I’ll bet that if we can put heads together we can use the tools at hand to find one or more champions to take this message to a broader group of people. Once we have the case above put together we present it as a petition to prospective champions. I would like to specifically avoid including those who ran campaigns against McCain this year so as not to have this effort misconstrued as payback for their losses. This is a positive effort, not a negative one. Some initial suggestions I can put forth who I believe would be sympathetic to a well-constructed argument: Thomas Sowell, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Tom McClintock. There is no such thing as too many champions, the more the better.
Third, put together an effor to derail the nomination of McCain at the convention. There is a reason why the candidate is chosen by delegates rather than by direct vote, and candidates like McCain validate the forethought of those who put such a system together. Just because the candidate was chosen by Democrats and other non-Republicans doesn't mean we have to consent to it. In this the advice of our champions and others among us with political experience will be of immense importance.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, I believe we can use the tools available to us in 2008, such as social networking and viral marketing, blogs, forums, and file sharing, to create an ongoing and enduring alliance between the disparate groups all working on specific elements of the conservative agenda. RKBA associations, pro-life organizations, third-party efforts and other groups may be focused on different topics, but the threat posed by the socialists afflicts us all equally. Rather than place all our eggs in a single third party basket, we should endeavor to get as many third parties on as many ballots as possible, so that in the future we are not held hostage to the Democrat/Republican government party. Our task would be gargantuan if created from whole cloth; by leveraging the power of existing groups, publications, and social networks, we could have millions of hands building a united front to preserve our Republic.
If you act, this can start right here and right now. Put an end to the helplessness, cast off your resignation - however much or little you have to contribute, bring it to the table. America was born as a free republic - it is time to reclaim our birthright as Americans. We have no guarantee of success, but if we place our trust in God, we may yet again regain His favor.
Please add your ideas as to how we can pursue the items above and pass this along to those who are also interested in seeing our nation free once more.
Well, my sister, for a Christian you have an awfully big chip on your shoulder.
I never said Dobson and Keyes shouldn't be included (I've spoken at an Alan Keyes rally...have you?), I said that anyone who expects Dobson to have the skill to put forward a national presidential candidate is putting their trust in the wrong place.
Dobson refused to include a good guys who isn't a steady churchgoer but shares our values and has a 100% pro-life records, so McCain is for him, too. I don't think Fred would have been the nominee, but there are people who rejected him because they thought we were electing a Pastor-in-Chief, and as a devout Christian it made we want to throw up.
I respectfully disagree. If their is a possibility that someone other than those three can be elected this year we owe it to our nation to pursue every avenue to make that possible.
I detailed already two recent cases where the inevitable did not come to pass, amnesty and Miers. There is no good reason why we should not try again.
If you merely doubt my sincerity, I can doubt yours as well, and accuse you of having vested personal interests at odds with the interests of the nation.
The 200 other active users on this board who have expressed agreement with the ideas I present here understand that only a conservative could make the argument I have made.
You have refused to even look at the information presented and are acting solely to stop conservatives from acting in our own interest. You have established here far more reason to doubt your motives than you have for anyone to doubt mine.
Therefore I respectfully request that you leave the conversation to those of us who have interest in it.
EN, and Content, I believe a major part of this is going to be prayer coverage...the spiritual battle needs to be fought as well as that in the natural. EN, your thoughts?
Get back to me when you have an alternative that can actually win an election. By that I don’t mean this BS the RNC puts out that we need moderates to carry the banner, I mean get back to me when you have a guy or gal who can convince the convention to go brokered even though we have a clear winner in pledged delegates.
If your state hasn’t had their primary yet, please vote for Duncan Hunter. He might be on the ballot, but if he’s not, write in his name.
I will do that. If our effort results in a convention that nominates a superior candidate to McCain, I think you will in the end appreciate the determination to see this through.
It's vaguely insulting that you show up at FR after we've been fighting McCain for years and act like we don't know anything about the guy, and that your expertise will save us all from the impression that he's the second coming of Reagan.
What do you think Barack Obama's top priority is, skippy? How about Hillary?
I'm not marching of the cliff. I'm a gorilla, not a lemming. Find somebody else.
BTW, is your white knight alternative candidate going to be someone who put his political career on the line to back victory in Iraq?
“We true conservatives need to concentrate our money, efforts, and persuasive abilities to get a Republican Congress elected this year.”
Yep, realistically, that is the best thing we can do.
For instance, Captain Duncan D. Hunter is running for his dad’s seat this year.
Does anyone know of any other strong conservatives who are running this year, or even the next couple of years?
I don’t see the “some good.”
“Another conservative running for Congress is a personal friend of mine: http://www.andyharris08.org/";
I’ll check him out, too.
Please keep me on your ping list as this develops. I will give this some consideration but have no experience in GOP grassroots organizing or precinct-type work. I appreciate your fervor and desire however some of the other posters have pointed out obvious barriers to success and best alternatives such as working on electing conservative members to the House. Your thoughts on using technology to overcome the barriers are what intrigues me most yet it must be recognized that the process at this point is designed to be run by the “professionals” as a “bread and circuses” sham for the masses.
Flower, if the hippies could turn the Dem party from the loyal opposition to the party of treason by infiltrating and working upward, we can turn the GOP back into the party of Reagan by doing the same.
We cannot change the Republican Party back by electing McCain. If he wins, he will be the most Conservative candidate we’ll see for 40 years.
I am fortunate that my Congressman is a real conservative, and that his seat is 100% safe. Keep me posted, I’ll be willing to help andidates elsewhere.
Step back for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What are we fighting for? We’re fighting to preserve our freedom. To what end do we fight, if we must surrender our freedom to “win”? That in the end is no win, but a loss - it is a win for our enemies, they will have achieved their goal of taking our freedom and prosperity away from us.
McCain has demonstrated open contempt for no fewer than six of the ten Amendments (#s 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, and 10) in the Bill of Rights - including the one right (RKBA) that protects all others, and without which all others are illusory. Moreover, he has also demonstrated contempt for our very form of government. If he should win, his oath of office would be a blatant lie.
I am not sure how I can help, but will do what I can. When your arguments are ready to present, I will gladly send it out to my email list, to my pro-life email list, to the Republican Party contacts I have, and any other organizations in South Dakota or elsewhere that I may have contact with.
I am tired of settling for a lesser evil as a choice for a candidate, rather than one who really represents my values. I am no longer BUYING the crap the GOP is pressing on us to force us to KNUCKLE UNDER to their wishes, saying we have to vote R or else the Dem will win. SAYS WHO? If enough people band together and are fed up with the GOP, I believe we CAN make a difference! This year I say, "ENOUGH!"
When are you guys going to start listening? I can tell you have your ears shut because you say stuff like "I don't OWE my vote"...when did I say you owe your vote to anyone? I'm saying that McCain has problems but his opponents have all the same problems and more...much, much more. Plus, McCain's flaws tend to be in areas we can fight on (like when we killed amnesty) but Hillary or Obama will do stuff not even a conservative Congress can deal with, like yank the troops out of Iraq.
Yeah, you don't owe McCain your vote. But I am telling you right now that everyone who does anything that helps one of the anti-Semitic chihuahuas into office will regret their decision. You have not begun to realize the disaster they will be, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.
How long do you think that will take? Too long to impact this years election. People will then fall into complacency and it won’t happen at all. Now is the time to move, when people are upset about it, making a statement that will be heard thru the entire country. MHO.
Remember, the media was also supposed to be a "professionals only" club... until a bunch of rank amateurs handed them their heads. Now, the Goliath media industry is dying and another bunch of amateurs is eating their lunch.
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