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Posted on 10/14/2013 6:18:15 AM PDT by SoConPubbie
Liberals have the Democrat Party, Establishment Republicans have the GOP and conservatives have no party that represents them in Washington.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of Republicans who say they’re conservative. There are even plenty of Republicans who will vote like conservatives when it doesn’t matter. But, how many conservatives are actually willing to fight for conservative principles the way Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi fight for liberal principles? In the House and Senate combined, there are a few dozen, tops and the establishment Republicans are incessantly bemoaning the fact that anyone stands up for conservatism.
So when Ted Cruz and Mike Lee pushed to defund Obamacare, grassroots conservatives embraced the idea. Most of them did so knowing full well that getting Obama to defund the Affordable Care Act was the longest of longshots. However, they also knew that there were and are plenty of other opportunities to be grasped.
That has certainly turned out to be so.
Obama has been telling the world he won’t negotiate while he punitively shuts down national parks, kicks old people out of their homes and blocks off veterans from memorials. Conservatives are energized by the fight. Every Democrat in the Senate has now gone on record as being in favor of Obamacare, saying it doesn’t need to be delayed and saying that they deserve an exemption from Obamacare that the rest of the public doesn’t get.
If this isn’t a winnable fight for the Republican Party, you have to wonder what a winnable fight would look like? If Obama publicly sacrificed a baby a Satan on Ted Kennedy’s birthday, would the public believe that the GOP was waging a war on children after listening to John Boehner and Mitch McConnell for 10 minutes?
Moreover, the one heavily skewed Wall Street poll that’s freaking squishy Republicans out isn’t telling the whole story. Barack Obama’s approval rating has dropped to 37% and his approval rate with independents is down to 16%. Barack Obama is the face of the Democrat Party and those are the kind of numbers that lead to political bloodbaths while dislike for Congress has sadly become the rule, not the exception. Moreover, there are still great opportunities to be had. How about funding the entire government, but insisting on removing the exemption for members of Congress and their staffs? Let the Democrats tell the world that they’re willing to shut down the government to make sure that the American public supplements the cost of their Obamacare coverage. That’s a very winnable fight, but sadly, you have to suspect that a lot of Republicans would rather lose the political fight than lose the exemption they’re getting from the law. They might vote for it when they know the Democrats won’t agree, but actually winning on the issue? They’d prefer a half-hearted loss than a go for the throat win.
But instead, after some smart early maneuvers from the House, the GOP leadership team there has largely fallen silent. Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate have been actively working with the Democrats to undermine the House. In addition, establishment mediocrities like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Haley Barbour, Devin Nunes, Grover Norquist, John Sununu, Bob Corker and the loathsome Peter King have been fighting tooth and nail against their real enemy: Grassroots champions like Ted Cruz who actually want to stand up for conservatives instead of corporations, fatcat donors and country club Republicans.
The problem with the Republican Party isn’t politicians like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee who actually believe in representing the people who sent them to DC, it’s the establishment Republicans who fight harder against conservatives than they’ll fight against the Democrats along with a GOP “leadership” that can’t talk, strategize or do much of anything except flounder around haplessly while they get their brains beaten in by the Democrats.
It’s all well and good to say, “The most important thing is to win more seats and then we’ll fight later.” The problem with that is we’ve already gone down that road during the Bush years and we found that the same people who don’t want to fight now, didn’t want to fight when we had the House, the Senate and the White House either. In fact, a big part of the reason why the GOP lost the House, the Senate and the White House was because Medicare Part D and more funding for the National Endowment for the Arts was their idea of what the GOP should be doing when it was in charge.
People hate the Republican Party right now — and they should. It doesn’t communicate well, it doesn’t do much outreach to groups that don’t vote for us, it doesn’t stand up for the values it supposedly believes in, it betrays its supporters on a regular basic and although it claims to be the adult party of small government, reduced spending and law and order, it doesn’t consistently stand up for those principles even in the minority. Liberals never have to question where the Democrats are on abortion, raising taxes or expanding government, so why should we never know if we can count on the GOP on gun control, illegal immigration and spending?
The road to recovery for the Republican Party starts with proving that it will fight aggressively for the principles it claims to believe in as opposed to being talking big and never backing it up. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee get that. If more Republicans in DC understood that, the GOP wouldn’t have lost the last presidential election because a few million members of its base stayed home.
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Ted Cruz Ping!
If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.
Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!
For the first time since Obama took office, we’re actually fighting the democrats. We’re not just going along and pretending to go through the motions while the democrats rule with an iron hand.
If you want to know who the Libs fear, simply take notice of who makes them the most shrill and hysterical. There’s no doubt they’re TERRIFIED of Ted Cruz. And knowing he’s a Harvard debate champion won’t help them much, either.
Mr. Cruz has my support.
If we could replace all the Kings and Cains in the Senate with more Cruz’ then the GOP could really start to kick some Donkey @ss!
Excellent. Tweeted, FRiend.
For the first time since Obama took office, we’re actually fighting the democrats.
I’d change the time frame to since Reagan’s term ended.
Bushes were a disgrace to conservatives.
Amen, Go, Ted, GO!!
People hate the Republican Party right now — and they should. It doesn’t communicate well,
I disagree with this conclusion. I think the Republican party communicates perfectly well. It’s a party at war with itself and I think everyone gets that.
Ah! So THIS is why we should vote for the "R" behind the name regardless of core values - so if the R's win back the Senate and the White House, we can get more crap like Medicare Part D and National Endowment for the Arts funding?
I KNEW there was a reason not to vote willy-nilly for a candidate just because he or she had an "R" after their name...
Dems dont seem the least bit scared.
Now Reid is putting conditions on a debt limit increase: saying if the GOP really wants it then they have to make confessions, restore sequester cuts spending in a CR (that obviously ends the shutdown).
REID :”Not only do you get NOTHING for the debt limit increase but if it helps you to have one then you will have to pay for it. Otherwise Obama and I will get your approval down to the single digits losers”
If the GOPe doesn't stand now, they will be down the tubes shortly.
Elephants have a long memory. Elephant abusers are recognized and attacked when opportunity arises.
I will NEVER vote for a Mitt Romney, John McCain or Bob Dole again. Hell, I won't vote for a GW Bush. Never.
I have become a bona fide extreeemist.
Cruz living rent free in Rino’s heads...
Cruz is setting the standard, raising the bar far above self service, making integrity, honesty, boldness, character and sacrifice, once again the principles of leadership, he is quickly gaining the respect, confidence and loyalty from all those who wish to once again see a free republic.
I call BS. This guy was formerly the gaming commissioner for the state of Nevada. To accuse him of principles is a slander.
And then Nancy D'Alesandro? Principles?
“Cruz is setting the standard, raising the bar far above self service, making integrity, honesty, boldness, character and sacrifice, once again the principles of leadership, he is quickly gaining the respect, confidence and loyalty from all those who wish to once again see a free republic.”
Amen!
“Ted Cruz Isn’t The Problem, He’s The Solution”
Great bumper sticker for 2014
Cruz is the solution, but the majority of Americans will not be receptive. Let’s assume Cruz won the Presidency and the GOP won the Senate and kept the house. It would be a one-term proposition if they reined in government and a mid—term massacre in congress.
Most American’s want what the government has promised them. Entitlements have exploded and the party of free stuff has lots of new children to raise. On top of that, if Cruz made the necessary changes to social security half of FR would turn on him. That does not even take into account the demonization from the MSM and popular culture. Bush was a gigantic spender by any measurement and they destroyed him. Bush was not half the threat to the left that Cruz is and it would be vicious. Sadly, it’s effective with low information voters.
Most of us who frequent this site want fiscal responsibility, traditional morality, and we want to leave a better future for our children. Tragically - we need to admit that we are in the minority. We are in the minority even before they pass amnesty - a bill that will make it even less likely conservatives will gain power.
Sorry folks, I wish that I could believe. I will always support what I know to be right, but it’s time to face facts that our country is abandoning the values that formed the fabric of our success.
Has Cruz spelled out explicitly what it would take for him to give in and vote raise the debt limit? It’s not just about Obamacare anymore, is it? I feel like I’ve lost the plot lately. Has he decided to refuse to raise the debt limit under any conditions?
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