THE "MODERATE" AGENDA: A DANGEROUS PROSPECT

The rampant confusion and dismay among Democrats in the wake of Tuesday's election shows that they have no idea as to why they lost. And if they continue in this state of ignorance and denial, they are unlikely to turn such defeat into future victories.

Unfortunately, an equivalent danger faces the Republican Party. If it fails to recognize the reasons for its success during this election cycle, it may once again stumble at a crucial time, and face dire consequences in upcoming elections. With the grim specter of a Hillary candidacy looming in 2008, America can ill afford such a blunder.

Before the votes were fully counted, forces were working to undermine the message sent forth so clearly by the electorate. Any attempts to ignore the real meaning of this election, or to take for granted the loyalty of the conservative base who made it happen, could ultimately backfire on Republicans, as happened in 1996 and again in 1998.

The landslide Republican congressional gains in 1994, much like 2004, directly resulted from involvement by grassroots conservatives. And that involvement was a reaction to the obvious contrast between the agendas of liberals and conservatives. Unfortunately, once the conservative victory had been achieved, Republican insiders immediately embarked on a program of blurring the distinctions between the two.

''Business as usual'' overtook the conservative revolution. The public responded with disappointment and cynicism. Bill Clinton, with less than half of the lowest voter turnout in decades, did not win his 1996 race as a result of enthusiasm for his political philosophies. Rather, as uninspired as the nation was with him, the Republican base was even less inspired to support the constant waffling and capitulation of Bob Dole.

It is highly significant that the last Democrat president to receive greater than fifty percent of the popular vote was Jimmy Carter, in his 1976 race against Gerald Ford. While some of Carter's support resulted from public disgust with the Nixon administration, much of it was a direct response to Carter’s open professions of his Baptist roots.

It was this perception of a moral component to Carter's philosophy that convinced the public to support him. Such a case was relatively easy to make, when Carter’s professed virtue was contrasted against the darkness of the Nixon White House.

Of course, once Carter's ''spirituality'' turned out to be nothing more than empty rhetoric, his popularity plummeted, and never recovered.

Over the past three decades a consistent pattern in the political landscape has emerged, though Republican Party insiders, at the prodding of so-called ''moderates'' continually seek to ignore it. Every Republican president's success in office can be directly correlated to the degree of morality and conservatism that he espouses. But sadly, the ''conventional wisdom'' from party hacks is that the politically safe ground is at the philosophical ''center.''

The pro-homosexual organization known as the ''Log Cabin Republicans'' (not named for any allegiance to Abraham Lincoln, but as a reference to the human anatomy), showed its true colors this past summer when members refused to endorse President Bush. Their goal, with his defeat looking likely at the time, was to position themselves to make the claim that he lost, in part, because of their lack of support. Thus they could ever after hold the Republican Party hostage to their agenda.

Yet not only did this ruse backfire, other evidence of electoral antipathy towards their agenda is inarguable. In all eleven states where same-sex ''marriage'' bans were on the ballot, the initiatives passed by overwhelming margins.

Although a shift to the right may be smart politics for liberals, it does not follow that a shift to the left will similarly benefit Republicans. In truth, nothing could be more absurd. Yet for more than a decade, such thinking is exactly what Republican ''moderates'' have promoted, and with consistently disastrous results.

In South Dakota, John Thune's victory over Tom Daschle sent an unambiguous message to Washington that America takes a dim view of those who would subvert the Constitution through the encroaching tyranny of judicial activism.

If Senate Republicans, after witnessing such deep-seated fervor from the electorate, choose not to take on this battle as if the very future of our constitutional republic depends on it (which in fact it does), the anger vented against Daschle will shortly be transferred to them.

A great victory has been won. This is no time to let ''moderates'' take the reins once again and thus squander it.

About the Writer: Christopher Adamo is a freelance writer from southeastern Wyoming, where he has been involved in grassroots political activites for several years. He maintains a website at http://www.chrisadamo.com. Christopher receives e-mail at adamo.chronwatch@lycos.com.

Unfortunately, once the conservative victory had been achieved, Republican insiders immediately embarked on a program of blurring the distinctions between the two.

And that's precisely what we're getting with the jokers who think that we need to turn into Democrat Lite in order to win in 2008.

Let's face it, people: the LAST thing we need to do is turn to RINOs for the race 4 years from now. We need to stay on message, stay strong, and stay Conservative!

When you see Hildebeast gets RELIGION and starts going to Church --- Beware --- the Shewolf in Sheeps clothing. She will be positioning herself for her greatest roll -- Centrist !! Everybodies answer for everything!! The Label will be perfect, her Senate VOTING RECORD will be perfect and reflect a record of a Centrist. Why not throw the Conservatives a few bones -- when she gets in the Oval Office -- Look Out !! Bill's Pardons of the politcal scumbags and felons will look like a Childs Bedtime Story !!

WELL SAID.

And while we're at it, let me add that adding many thousands of Hispanic immigrants each year without time to absorb (read: Republicanize) them all means that time is running out. We need to halt immigration for a while if for no other reason than to give our newcomers time to realize just who's playing whom here.

And not only is the Republican Party desperately need to cut the fat, but the GOP really needs to rethink its unquestioned support of free trade. Our increasingly massive debt and mounting trade deficit can only hurt its prospects in 2008.

This is an extremely important issue; - making sure that our leaders understand that we did not go through the pain, "angst" and sheer fright early on election night, only to have the victory turn sour, as Republicans yield to liberals in the name of "unity" or "coming together!"

We've had quite enough of "comingtogether.org" to last us a lifetime. We are now the dominant political party and FORCE in this nation. Rush is saying that these creeps are actually cooked for at least a generation, so now is the time for OUR agenda to be first and foremost. I can only hope that I'm hearing the president correctly when he says, "I earned political capital, and now I intend to spend it." He must realize that he has to spend it on behalf of the issues, agenda and policies which we - his supporters and grassroot activists - worked for.

There is some truth to the fact that the Republican Party can hurt itself if it is not true to its roots, but I want to make a counterpoint to what the author of the article has to say about Bill Clinton's victory in 1996, because it was not, in my opinion, a result of Bob Dole's "waffling" and "moderation," but rather a contiuance of public anger with the Republican Congress after its ill-fated encounter with Clinton that led to a government shutdown.

Now don't shoot me because I brought this up. I do not believe the shutdown was our fault, not by any means, because Clinton had continually used the issue of fiscal integrity in his rhetoric and he refused to be led into doing what he actually claimed he wanted to do or, to put it another way, he lied and was called to task for it. But the problem the Republican Party encountered after the shutdown was straightened out is that we left Clinton with an opening to blame us for it and win the public relations battle. By March of 1996 Clinton had already run enough negative ads against Bob Dole to associate him with the shutdown and raise his "negatives" high enough that Dole had no chance of being elected. Those negative numbers were not the result of Republicans straying from their conservative agenda, but rather from overplaying their hand tactically in putting the agenda into effect.

There are two things we must separate if we are to avoid a repeat of the 1995-1996 fiasco; what we want to do and how we go about it. As to the "what" I say that we should keep our word and pursue the conservative agenda we have already placed before the American people when we asked for their votes. But the "how" is a little more touchy. We cannot do anything that creates the appearance that we are trying to simply ram our agenda down everyone's throats, because that will backfire on us just as it did in 1995. We must involve moderates in the process, without surrendering the essence of what we want to do. Using sound tactics in enacting our agenda will be every bit as important as the agenda itself.

The comments on this thread including yours have renewed my faith in my fellow FReepers, and that true conservatives still exist who hold what is RIGHT for God and country above party..and who are willing to fight for those principles...and also who are willing to abandon the RINO party [like myself] if it turns left. NO MORE EXCUSES. The election is over. And the RepublicRats had better have gotten the message!!

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