until you get a MAJORITY of Conservative in Congress, NOT voting Republican is suicide, and not something I care to help commit.
You change NOTHING from the outside. (Unless you have a HUGE media machine quoting your PR releases as God-Given Facts, like the Dems do.)
So in other words; the pols have us right where they want us; cowering in fear to say or do anything to them vote wise, for fear that the other side will get the upper hand.
That would work until you realize that the sides are becoming one in the same.
We're never going to get our congress critters to grow a spine until we the people get one ourselves, bite the bullet if necessary, and either not show up, or vote for another candidate. BTW: Primaries are a good place to start, you can still vote for your party, but vote the incumbent out. Failing that, vote for a third party, or just don't show up.
If we all did that, our so-called representatives might get the silly idea that they represent US, and depend on US to get them there, and start listening to US.
The situation just plain sucks, but other than outright rebellion, I don't see any other alternatives. If you have one, I'd like to hear it, but spare me the "we have to maintain the status quo or we'll be screwed" line: Because we're already screwed.
Perot made a good showing back in 92 when we had a lot less important issues than we do today.
Squirrely as he seems in hindsight, he pulled almost equally from left and right. A common sense candidate for any office can make a "politician" look like an idiot in a debate.
I think a Presidential election was not the right place to begin, however. We need to push common-sense candidates up from the bottom. Candidates that will vote NO on spending that doesn't properly belong at that level of government. When I see Congressmen crow about the bacon they brought home, I'm disgusted. I don't want them to bring home spending to my state -- I want them to reject spending in my state and every other state on principle. Federal spending is not supposed to be a big slush-fund used to buy local votes.
General rule: if you can identify a specific group that benefits from spending, and that group is smaller than the entire constituency at the level you serve at, it isn't appropriate spending. At the Federal level, you should NOT BE ABLE to identify some segment of the population that benefits.
Katrina ? BS
Social Security ? BS
Medicare ? BS
Medicaid ? BS
Welfare ? BS
Federal Flood Insurance ? BS
Public Education without choices ? BS
Military ? OK
Borders ? OK
Judiciary ? OK
Interstate highways ? OK
New Bridge in Podunk ? BS
Applause back home tempting pols to spend other people's money is commonplace, but just so far outside what anybody would consider honest in the private arena that it is stunning.