“He is hurting the GOP’s chances at victory because he is a lunkhead hell-bent on making sure everyone knows his name.”
You could not be more wrong here. I live in Oregon, where conservative candidates were abandoned in favor of “moderates” and it has led to the utter destruction of the Republican party here. They now have a super-minority and can’t even stop tax hikes anymore. The State party would support crappy incumbents over up and coming true-conservatives *all the time* and it has made the Republican voters in the state unmotivated to act. I worked for a true conservative candidate, and he won the primary against the incumbent (who had voted for dozens of tax and fee hikes) without any support from the state party. And after he won, they said “Uh, we’re with you all the way!” Ha ha. Nice to know a-holes.
Voter apathy is caused by moderates! Glenn Beck is not even close to a “sister souljah” type. The comparison is completely ludicrous.
The way you motivate a voter base is to be exciting. To be a newcomer. To be DIFFERENT. Do you think Scott Brown won by being a moderate? How much support did the national GOP give to him? It wasn’t much. They didn’t think he had a chance. If people like you had their way, you would’ve suggested that some Arlen Specter type run for that Mass. senate seat because he’s the only one who would have a chance. You would have failed.
The GOP insiders, the old-boys’ network WILL FAIL if they keep running establishment types who work hard to build their moderate bonafides. They will fail miserably. THEY will cause a third party to run. THEY will cause voters to feel apathetic towards Republicans. THEY will not be abl eto convince any Democrat to jump the aisle. Why should they if the Republican isn’t any different?
Glenn Beck is not the problem. THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT is the problem. They are acting like ridiculous arrogant politicians rather than Americans.
I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I am tired of having to vote for people like McCain who became addicted to being liked by the mainstream media even though when the going got tough, they completely screwed him in favor of Obama. Republicans NEVER learn! George W. Bush did a bunch of stuff because he thought it would make the media like him more, but it never works, even when you do the media’s bidding on an issue. That is the trap.
There is no reason to kowtow to the MSM any more. There is far too much alternative media now, and rather than play by their rules, the GOP just needs to step out of the game. Their industry is dying and Michael Steele and his ilk need to learn that they will never give Republicans the benefit of the doubt, ever, no matter how “moderate” they are.
So I say, that Glenn Beck is necessary. His speech was necessary. The GOP Establishment has become so addicted to MSM approval, and so thoroughly connected to the power, the lobbyists, and the corruption of the beltway, that they have lost their way. It started in the Bush years. They squandered their chances at real reform and tried to be like by spending craploads of money and it didn’t work. The 1994 revolution didn’t happen because Newt and company were trying to be liked by the MSM. It worked because they went right to the people and said “This is what we will do” and they did it. They moved Clinton to the right whether he wanted to go there or not.
Mid-term elections usually have about 40% voter turnout. The other 60% isn’t going to come back if you are running candidates who aren’t dynamically different from what’s in power now...and what is different are candidates who believe in the constitution!
I am a conservative working within the republican party. What I am doing is what Beck should be telling people to do, not telling them there is no difference between the two parties, pushing a third party, and generally making Ron Paul nutjobs seem interesting to get behind.FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD—AND I’M NOT WRONG. Perhaps the reason your conservative candidates are abandoned is because you are not out there raising a fuss for conservatives.