Who owns the GOP?
It’s an interesting question.
One group that might be said to own it is the party pros—long time policians, staffers, advisers, the RNC, and so forth. They are the insiders who run the show and set the policies and decide which candidates to fund.
Another group that partly owns it is the big contributors and lobbyists, who regretably are largely country-clubbers. They give the big bucks, and without their support and consent it’s hard for a candidate to make his way.
Another group that has a claim to own it is the Republican voters. They tend to be more conservative than the rich donors, and when the pros and donors ignore them or kick them in the face, then they stay home and allow the Democrats to win. Is that their fault, or is it the fault of the pros who just kicked them in the face? Maybe a little of both.
It’s pretty hard for a party to succeed unless all three groups respect one another or at least agree to work with one another. For instance, the voters demanded many years ago that the party should pass a pro-life plank, but the pros and the donors recurrently talk about Big Tents, back RINOs, and try to undermine that plank. It’s self destructive behavior, because they are undercutting their own power base, but they just can’t seem to help it.
There’s no way for Republicans or conservatives to win unless they agree to work together and support each others’ bottom lines. As insiders, the pros and the donors are always in a position to pull a fast one, and they often do. But then everyone pays for it, as we saw in the 2006 election. The conservatives could pull out and start a new party, but that would take time, and the new party would soon have the same problems as the old one. It’s human nature. So, better to work together, if we can.
And that means, among other things, respect life, respect family, respect the Constitution, uphold the law justly, and cut back on taxes and spending. Although not all Freepers may agree, it all begins with respect for life, which is the bottom line, the first of all constitutional rights, the one thing that can’t be compromised.
Lots of insight in that post.