This is the constant and unremitting lesson of third parties: they elect DEMOCRATS.
LS wrote:
Historically not accurate. It wasn't "three or four election cycles." The GOP was formed as a new party within a year of the Kansas Nebraska Act. True, the Whigs were on the path to destruction, but there were plenty of "third parties" (Know Nothings, Free Soilers) all of which had the effect of electing DEMOCRATS.
This is the constant and unremitting lesson of third parties: they elect DEMOCRATS.
Sorry, this was a Glenn Beck thread. I didn’t think that absolute historical accuracy was required. (My total accuracy rating was still higher than Beck’s story about a journalist named Edward R. Murrow saying, “Have you no shame Senator, have you no shame,” to Senator Joseph McCarthy. That story was totally accurate, except that it was a lawyer, not a journalist, and his name was Joseph Welch, not Edward R. Murrow. Oh, and Mr. Welch didn’t say, "Have you no shame,” he said “Have you no sense of decency?” Other than that, it happened just like Glenn Beck said it did. )
My point was that the Republican party was formed from the remnants of a failed party, plus some new blood and some crossovers from “fringe third parties.” They even had a number of Democrats who supported the abolitionist plank of the platform cross over to become Republicans, often winning governorships or other leadership offices.
The path to a truly conservative Republican party in the near future is difficult. You have so many RINOs to deal with. These need to be voted out (ideally), or at least converted into reliable conservatives (more difficult, and a harder sell to conservative voters). You aren't as likely to get conservative Democrats (either at the grass roots, or as incumbent candidates) in a Republican Conservative revival.
Forming a new Conservative party has a different set of issues. To be successful, it would have to start with some conservative incumbents (probably mostly Republicans at first) forming the new party. That party might get more support from conservative Democrats and conservative Independents than a revitalized conservative Republican Party. A new Conservative party might even attract a few of the incumbent “Blue Dogs” who feel betrayed by the Democrat party now. If they vote reliably conservative after switching to the new Conservative party, I think that’s a good thing.
It will be a tough decision. Many of the TEA party and 9-12 groups are grappling with this now. And while many Republicans are courting the TEA party gatherings, trying to shore up support, I am not 100% convinced that the movement is buying into Republicans as their savior. I heard from dozens who were at the Rally in DC on 9-12 that the first half was great, but it became less interesting when the Republicans late in the day tried to turn it into a Republican pep rally.
The one thing I am sure of, this nation is doomed if we just have a Republican revolution in 2010. We need a Conservative revolution at all levels, from the Congress in Washington DC down to the county courthouses and city halls across this nation. I hope we get that. But it will be a hard fight no matter what.
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