Posted on 09/19/2010 4:19:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I’ll issue one more caveat about liking the heck out of Karl Rove. I think his expertise is not as applicable as it has sometimes been to the predicament voters find themselves in this year. But I don’t accuse Rove of being what we used to call – with a sneer – a “Rockefeller Republican.”
Probably the most dissonant point he made in the past week is the one about Republican “strategy.” Along with many others, I thought, before the Tuesday primary, that Delaware voters would follow a conventional route and approve Mike Castle. Even though he’s a RINO, he has looked more likely than Christine O’Donnell to beat Democrat Chris Coons.
But Rove didn’t just expect them to do that: he wanted them to do that. The RNC was urging voters to do that. From the perspective of electoral strategists, strategic voting is a sound practice that voters need to be sold on. Vote for a RINO to get a Senate majority – that’s their plan.
And it’s a perfectly logical one if the objective is to get a Republican majority in the Senate. But that wasn’t the objective of the Delaware voters when they went to the polls on Tuesday. Their objective was to vote for the platform they want, and not for the continuation of the platform that has produced our current conditions. They were less concerned with positioning the GOP for a Senate majority than with registering what they want to hear from a candidate, and the direction they want our lawmaking to go.
What Rove and those in the GOP leadership need to understand is that a citizen’s vote is the main tool he has to express himself politically. There comes a time when he has to use it for his own purposes, rather than as someone else’s tactical tire-tool; and 2010 is one of those times.
I can’t count how often this year I’ve heard the following expressed one way or another: “Things have got to change. I don’t even care if I’m voting for the candidate who supposedly can win. I’ve got to vote for the candidate who’s saying what I believe in, and let the rest take care of itself. We can’t keep voting for the same old people. Maybe it’ll take some time to get some leadership for a new direction, but it will never happen if we keep bringing back all the folks who got us into this mess.”
There is wisdom in this. The conservative right has a number of people in political leadership who have good ideas and real promise, even though none are looking dominant in the presidential category today. I don’t think that’s really a problem. Republicans – in fact, conservatives as a whole – have to unite around a core set of governing principles before a single national leader will emerge.
I think many high-information voters see things this way: if we can retake the House and achieve a blocking minority in the Senate – both of which are increasingly probable, even if O’Donnell loses in Delaware – Congress can act as a check on Obama until January 2013.
On the other hand, a RINO-heavy Congressional majority would be likely to set Obama’s course in stone – e.g., with only marginal changes to Obamacare, with some version of amnesty and some version of cap-and-trade – and actually make the Obama agenda harder to decouple from down the road.
The Republicans who would take over as a majority in 2011 just aren’t convincing to a lot of voters. The voters aren’t stupid; they’re using their votes for their own purposes. It’s not a knock on Karl Rove that his electoral advice has been overruled. It’s a signal that something much bigger is going on, and the rules have gone out the window. Expertise with running campaigns is secondary right now. In first place is a candidate’s message – and the people are listening with a very critical ear. They’ve left their party’s, and nation’s, direction on autopilot for a long time now, but they’re no longer willing to. Their vote is the one thing they have direct, personal control over, and they’re using it to do what they want to do.
Let’s not forget that it was Karl Rove and George Bush who gave the Republicans a bad name in the first place by governing too far to the left for conservative voters to stomach. He and Bush (whom I voted for both times but ended up disappointed in due to his too-liberal attitude) helped set the stage for the Dem takeover.
Bean Counters are out this year - pass the word. Policies and beliefs are in.
This was nicely said and spot on.
What’s in now is:
Adherence to the US Constitution/Bill of RIGHTS
Freedom from the dictators in this Congress and this Regime/
Freedom from tyranny at the hands of the Ruling Class
Tax reduction and emphasis on job creation in the private sector
Repeal of DeathCare
National Security/Support for our military
Reduction in government workers
Reduction in government spending
Prosecution for corruption exposed among this Regime and this Congress
Investigation and prosection of voter fraud
Please feel free to add to the list.
Ahh... You’re just trying to get on my good side.. :^)
Great post and read!! Thanks and BTTT !!
It's a sad commentary on our country that that statement even has to be made, that it should be considered a radical idea.
It's a sad commentary on our country that that statement even has to be made, that it should be considered a radical idea.
This was an excellent piece, glad you posted it. I was coming to do the same!
The House is a different matter. The purse strings have to be put into Paul Ryan's hands, and Pelosi's keys to her Gulf Stream need to be yanked from her cold botoxed fingers.
The next two years will be the Pubbies' opportunity to show that they "get it". Time will tell.
Wow...yes, that does say it all doesn’t it!
The way our system works is that the party with the most elected representatives is the one that controls that branch of Congress. If the GOP doesn’t have the most elected representatives, then the Democrats will continue to control the Congress. The goal is to make the Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress. The only way to do this is to make sure enough Republicans are elected. There is no other way.
Word.
objective is to FIRE the political elite who think THEY run things and who are corrupt and disgusting
DeMint has said he would rather have 30 conservatives than a majority with Castle, and his ilk. He is correct.
You are right. And they never refuted any of the lies and smears of the Left either, so they all stuck to President Bush like glue. That was Rove’s faulty judgement. He is truly an elitist thinking the ruling class is above it all. He is discovering that the ruling class are mere mortals after all.
Well I tell you Rove, the conservatives out here have been going along with this support the RINO for the good of the Repub Party for quite a while now. And what have we reaped from that? Liberal government unconstitutional government, czars with no Senate approval, unemployment, debt, illegals paid for by the hard working American, more debt and corrupt, immoral representatives.
This conservative is through with that garbage. One by one, election by election, we will slowly drain the swamp of this Congress.
I don’t care if we win the majority, we aren’t going to quit. Find another job Rove.
The only way to do this is to make sure enough Republicans are elected.
I agree with both statements. But I would go a little further with #2.
"Enough Republicans" should mean "enough real Republicans". IOW, RINOs that vote 80% with the Dems on critical issues don't count towards that goal. On the contrary, more like the opposite.
We all know how much damage back stabbers like McCain and Graham have done. Ditto for the weak kneed and weak bladder Republican. You know the kind that gets an instant yellow stain on his pants when a Dem or slimy media person growls at him. They just want to be liked and seen as "compromising".
I believe this article’s message is Spot On!
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