Posted on 03/28/2009 10:53:58 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
Fellow Conservatives,
I'll make this brief, so as not to use more bandwidth than necessary, so graciously provided by our most excellent hosts here at Free Republic.
The major part of conservatism's problems today is a lack of unity and organisation. We're in disarray. We get out-manoeuvred by the Obama ground game. They have 10 million names on call that can be text-messaged or emailed and given marching orders at a moment's notice, and we don't. They work together, even on the parts of their agenda that they don't individually care about, and we don't. We fragment. If it's not "our" issue, or if you deviate from "me" even one iota, then we split up and refuse to work together.
This is idiotic.
We all want to see conservatism resurge. We want to see this country return to the values and practices that made it great. It can. Other than in the area of theological eschatology, I don't believe in the "inevitability" of anything - especially in politics.
I propose that we FReepers start being the nucleus of an organised grassroots effort designed to unite conservatives, unite conservative groups, and unite conservative outlets to get us all on the same page. Unity in this is key. We need to reunite the Reagan coalition, which is still out there.
To this end, I propose that interested FReepers get together and really, seriously, committedly start to brainstorm ideas, and then put them into practice, as to how we can generate the sort of grassroots effort that will produce the results we want. We can no longer just care only about one particular social issue or one particular fiscal issue. We need to get it all together, on the same page, and this needs to be done yesterday!
I propose that conservative, liberty oriented groups work together with conservative elements in the GOP to regain control of this Party and use it as a vehicle to effect OUR change. The GOP already has the apparatus, the network, the organisation, and the national reach - let's take it back, and use it. Sure, the GOP is flawed - but fixing flaws is at the heart of America. Let's take it over and use it.
Please FReepmail me if you are interested in this proposal for conservative unity leading to conservative ACTION. Please FReepmail me if you're concerned about the direction this country is heading in, and you aren't willing to resign yourself to the "inevitable." Please FReepmail me if you think you have good ideas you'd like to bounce off other conservatives about how to do all of this.
Don't FReepmail me if you just want to be a splitter for some ego-trip, pissant third party. Don't FReepmail me if you'd rather just whine about past failures instead of looking forward to future successes. Don't FReepmail me if you're too lazy or too afraid to work hard for what you'd like to see happen in this country.
Conservatives, let's get serious.
The primary reason we lost the last election is because the a corrupt old media was in Hussein’s and the RAT Party tank. ABC, CNN, NBC, CBS, PBS, Nytimes, and LAslimes have become nothing but a mouthpiece for the RATS. It is not that complicated and the old media do have THE major influence on national politics. I travel quite a bit by air and it is a very rare occurrence that CNN does not have an airport monopoly. People watch this crap and they believe it.
“We” have jobs, families, responsibilities. “They” organize the unemployed, students, and people who have nothing better to do.
“They” are ANTI ... they organize against war and against poverty and against low wages.
“We” are PRO people. We are for America and for the soldier and for the Constitution.
I think that is part of the problem. “We” are a smiley face. “They” are more interesting to the media with their scowling face.
And these are groups that hold a specific belief about a single subject.
You just cannot get conservatives to rally around a "big tent" of disparate ideas as the liberals do. Conservatives are just too individual to make that happen.
No, the message is there and always has been, Back to the Constitution, Smaller Government, Less taxes etc... what we need are the people that can articulate the message to reach the masses.
Thanks! Our biggest problem is that on a site like FR, there is a danger of imposters(Libs) coming on and acting like they are on our side. Then they go back to their radical cronies and plot ways to destroy our efforts. We must figure out a way to be active but somehow filter out the enemy.
another must read; They Must be Stopped, by Brigitte Gabriel. Why we Must Defeat radical Islam and How We Can Do It.
The problem is more complicated than a mere lack of disunity. For one, conservatives tend to appeal to the self starter, ones who do not care to ally themselves with egalitarian groups and committees. One real big problem for conservatives is to find priority in their values. One would think personal freedom from elitist rules and taxation would be on the top. Not so in the real world. The anti abortion and anti Mormon crowd did in Romney, championed a priest, and got us the most liberal candidate. They eschewed the one candidate that had the best insight into our economic problems and gave us the one least able to cope with the crooks in the Treasury.
Those who value freedom have got to assess their values. Personal freedom, personal responsibility, minimal taxation, vigorous support of the middle class should be the principles around which to unite. Religion, anti abortion, drugs should be off limits as they will the values that divide us. Narrowing the objectives would have a greater chance at consolidating power of the middle class at local levels. The challenge for the middle class is to defeat public sector unions (leave the private enterprise unions alone), end government dependency, and free ourselves from self righteous meddlers who strangle the economy. Fix those and the rest of society's problems will diminish.
This will require organization open to the middle-class of all races and its supporters, control of media to get the message out, and the fortitude to withstand all the name calling that the Marxists will hurl at us. You will need paid professionals good at publicizing your values. These should be fresh faces who have no political ambitions. You will also need effective tactics at dealing with race hustlers and Marxists. Know this organization need not be a political party. It could be an organization much like the National Rifle Association. Be prepared to be called racists and all that crap. But know this, you will have strength in numbers, you will be able to bend most politicians to your side, and you will be the shark in the ocean.
The Constitution is the answer. The law is the means. We need to identify THE lawyers/group that will sue issue after issue that cannot be found to be constitutional.
You talk about years and money....but the courts have been major players on the road to socialism. We didn’t get where we are overnight. Make the lawmakers prove bills are within governments constitutional restrictions.
Indeed, TQC — and this is key to their success: They unite around the idea of winning, and we don't. (We'd rather argue with each other.)
The clear-eyed, single-minded focus on winning means people's particular pet ideas and policy preferences aren't put on the front-burner. The fundamental idea is: Unite around winning, and those pet projects will have a way of taking care of themselves in time.
For "elections have consequences," as we are reminded by our ever-so-charming Speaker Pelosi. /sarcasm
To get back into the game, it seems to me that conservatives of every stripe — economic, social, cultural — and Libertarians will have to set aside our differences and work together to win elections. And we better start paying real attention to local- and state-level elections while we're at it; for the Obamaniacs have a "ground game." Meaning, as a "community organizer," Obama's going to try to build his power base from the "bottom–up" — from the plethos of society — from the very "dregs" of a disorderly, irresponsible, ignorant, and ever needy, ever growing mass. In other words, on the basis of people — all the José's out there — who do not understand that, in the following "dialog," José's "understanding" is perfectly irrational:
José: What a crazy world! The rich, who could pay cash, buy on credit. The poor, who have no money, must pay cash. Wouldn't Marx say it should be the other way around? The poor should be allowed to buy on credit, and the rich should pay cash.Just look at what happened in Colorado over the past four or so years. It went from a red state to a blue state virtually overnight. It's been an absolute bloodbath for the GOP majority in that state. Now, though still a majority of the electorate, the GOP is in the minority in virtually every institution of government. And all because a very small, self-selected group of wealthy ideologues decided to promote massive campaign spending favoring Dems, to be flushed through non-profit organizations that they created for the purpose (a great way to evade the strictures of McCain–Feingold campaign finance "reform"). They invited all the other "libs" to set aside their differences and personal agendas and jump on board. Which they did.
Manuel: But the storeowners who give credit to the poor would soon become poor themselves!
José: All the better! Then they could buy on credit too!
The GOP was not only routed; but this strategy of winning local and state offices was a major factor in Obama's presidential victory in the formerly red state of Colorado. Mayors and councilmen and governors have resources for "getting out the vote," etc., etc., you see.
The rest is history just waiting to be written. And remember, to our political opponents, history is something that only the victors get to write.
It all comes down to winning elections.
We conservatives better wake up and get busy. One way that hasn't been much discussed around here is that people should consider running for local office themselves, or supporting solid candidates who are running. Get involved, not just with money donations, but with your time.
Just some thoughts TQC. FWIW.
And replace them with......? That is the important part.
“We” are PRO
It is always easier to incite people to "change" something than to excite people to keep things the same.
Conservatives, by definition of the very term itself, want to conserve the status quo.
What is causing a great problem for any kind of conservative movement is that some "conservatives" have become radical agents for change -- in that they want to change things back to the way they were before all the liberal agents for change succeeded making things different.
Quite simply you have some "conservatives" who want to change things back to the way they were -- a direct contradiction of the very term "conservative". On the other hand there are conservatives who just want to be left alone, and don't much appreciate it when either end of the spectrum starts trying to impose change.
I’ve been thinking along the same lines. I would happily rally around Palin, but the MSM is already far along in demonizing her. We also need some basic concepts to get people understanding how dangerous gov’t is - whether far left or far right. About the only thing I can see that would have far reaching appeal is FREEDOM. We need that as the central tenet. It naturally leads to self-reliance. We must get back to limited gov’t interference in our lives.
Stop making sense. Many Freepers won’t like it.
If you’re talking about is putting the Reagan Coalition back together again, then count me in!
Wow, you are a paranoid dude.
agreed...
I agree. The real underlying problem is that ‘conservatives’ are *not* unified in thought or purpose. Some are conservative about government’s role in society - no social welfare programs, no Dept. of Energy, no NIH, etc. Others’ ‘conservatism’ is limited to “I’m against abortion, evolution, stem cell research and gay people - and we should use the gov’t to do something about it!” And there’s a whole spectrum in between, but if you make a list of things common to all of them, all of a sudden it’s not much of a list anymore =)
I tend to agree with you. I cringe everytime I hear someone on our side say we lost because Republicans lost their way. They did not govern as conservatives so they got thrown out.
In order to believe that we would have to believe that these same voters either sat out Republican elections in sufficient numbers to give us RATs. There's some evidence of that. Look at the Coleman/Goofball race in MN. Thanks, third-party voters!!
Or the disenchanted Republican voter voted Democrat because they thought the RAT would spend less. I can't believe there enough of those voters to mention.
That leaves the real reason I think we lost. It's the reason you state along with a really stupid, ignorant electorate that is easily influnced by the media.
Not paranoid, oh one in denial! Just realistic..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.