We can sit there and wring our hands and be defeated, or we can regroup.
Third parties don’t work as power blocks in the US. The best they do is generate ideas and concepts that the major parties adapt. Both major parties are coalitions of various groups who have to work together or none would have the power to get anything done.
This is a truth of American politics that cannot be denied.
We need to do several things. One is study how the other side did it from a techniques point of view, not throwing around the demonizing buzzwords that keep us from seeing how they did what they did. What they did was get a message out, get people enthused and willing to support it, and got their version of broken glass voters out and to the polls.
We can wring our hands and say our cause is dead, or take the goodness of our message, figure out how to reach people with it and win again.
We can suck lemons or do the lemonade bit.
We may have to think outside of the box. We may have to find different ways to appeal to people. But if our message is worthwhile, we can do it. Or we can choose to sit on our thumbs and whine how the other side is evil, and fade away.
I’m not into whining. I’m into winning.
To accomplish anything there must be a focus of ideas, energy and leadership. Of these three leadership is the most important. Obama, apparently, was someone all the dissaffected were able to rally around.
Except for Gov. Palin, consevatives have no viable leader. I understand about coalitions, compromise and all the rest.
However, the GOP only wins at the presidential level when it runs conservatives—or those who are perceived to be conservative. Reagon was the last truly conservative president. Both Bush I and II were RINOs for all practical purposes, but ran as and were perceived to be conservative. Palin generated the excitement she did because she was new, young, not from the Belt Way crowd and is a conservative.
My point: Unless control of the RNC can be wrested from the RINOs by conservatives nothing will change. That requires a small group of people dedicated to that result.
“Third parties don’t work as power blocks in the US. The best they do is generate ideas and concepts that the major parties adapt.”
Apparently both major parties are adopting their ideas from the same groups, and they aren’t the groups with the “smaller government” ideas, that’s for sure. Or even the ones with the “Hey, let’s follow the US Constitution!” ideas, either.
A vote for McCain, when one didn’t agree with his policies, was a wasted vote. At least a vote for a third-party candidate would be vote on principle, and it may have sent a message to the GOP that we won’t tolerate candidates of McCain/Bush ilk.