Posted on 02/01/2008 11:08:49 AM PST by PlainOleAmerican
Republicans no longer control the Republican Party and as a result, they can not advance a truly Republican candidate though the current liberal leaning primary process. By the time 99 percent of Republicans get a chance to vote in the primaries, all real Republicans have already been eliminated from the race. Lesser evil choices are all that remain by Super Tuesday…?
How it Happened
It happened by two important factors.
First, Republicans refused to unite behind any of the conservatives originally in the race. They were divided, and all of their candidates failed as a result.
Evangelicals think Pastor Huckabee is the real conservative in the race based solely upon his evangelical preaching from the stump. Fiscal conservatives think that business man Mitt Romney is the real conservative in the race. Anti-war isolationists think that Ron Paul is the real conservative in the race. Border security – national sovereignty conservatives thought that Duncan Hunter or Tom Tancredo were the real conservatives in the race. War on Terror hawks thought that Rudy Giuliani was the real conservative in the race and the base of the Republican Party, those who are fully conservative on all the above, thought Fred Thompson was the real conservative in the race.
As a direct result of these divisions, the one candidate that is by no means a real conservative in the race, John McCain, is currently leading the race for the Republican nomination. Failing to unite early behind one of the conservatives, left the door wide open for the worst possible result, John McCain.
The second factor is a broken primary process. McCain is not being nominated by conservatives or for the most part, even by Republicans. He is being nominated by liberal voters from liberal leaning states who hold the earliest primaries and vote to eliminate all conservatives from the race before “fly-over” Republicans get a chance to cast a single vote.
A Broken Party
Like it or not, the BIG TENT is collapsing. You can’t invite liberals to your table without inviting their ideologies along. Try this at home with your liberal neighbors if you think I’m wrong on this. They will be happy to eat your food and drink your wine, while they tell you all about the progressive benefits of socialism. They won’t shut up until you stop inviting them for dinner.
Yet this is what the Republican Party leadership decided to do years ago. Invite liberals across the aisle into the fold under the BIG TENT open society philosophy whereby all ideas are welcome if not equal, even when they aren’t.
Today, the base of the party is trying to figure out if or how it can wrestle back control of their party from the dinner guest they invited to the table years ago. The problem is this. RINOs now think it’s their party. They have exercised squatter’s rights. They are using the “possession is nine tenths of the law” defense to claim ownership of the Republican Party now and demanding that “right-wing extremists” (the foundation of the party) leave. The guests are tossing out the hosts.
A Broken Process
How do you expect to advance a Republican candidate via a process designed to net a liberal candidate, voted upon by liberals in Democrat strongholds? The answer is - you can’t. Yet this is what we do.
It is not possible to advance a conservative candidate using liberal RINO, Independent and Democrat voters in liberal strongholds. The Republican primary process MUST change.
The Long-Term Fix
Only registered Republicans should be voting in Republican primaries and Republican primaries must begin in Republican strongholds, not Democrat strongholds up east. There should be no such thing as “open primaries.” Even in many “closed primaries” in Democrat stronghold states, where Republicans seldom have even a chance of carrying the state, many Democrats and Independents register as Republicans for the sole purpose of skewing the Republican nomination. This can not be allowed to continue.
Further, if the Republican nomination process expects to ever advance a conservative Republican candidate, it must start its nomination process in Republican strongholds across the country, not the Democrat strongholds they start in today.
The ten most Republican states in 2004 (a Republican year) were Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Alabama, Kansas, Alaska and Texas, in that order. Yet only one of these states has held a primary thus far, Wyoming. Before the rest will get a chance to vote, all Republicans are out of the race.
Other traditionally Republican strongholds are Indiana, South Dakota, Mississippi, Kentucky, Montana, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Pick the five most populated states from these two groups and start the nomination process there, if you want to see what real Republicans want for party leadership.
Three of the worst states in which to hold an early Republican primary are Michigan, New Hampshire and Iowa. Yet this is where we begin our nomination process?
Both of these things must change looking forward and they will have to be changed at the state level by simply getting Republican stronghold states to move their primaries up to the front of the line. Don’t count on any help from the Republican National Committee which has long since determined that Republicans must join liberals in order to compete with them.
The ONLY Short-Term Fix
These two changes in the nomination process will allow Republican stronghold states and real Republican voters to advance a real Republican candidate in the future. But it’s too late for 2008.
So a short-term answer for the immediate problem is also in order and only one option is available now…
That option is the subject of my last column, Time for Some REAL Straight Talk
Take a moment to read it quickly. Super Tuesday will set the next four years in stone. What we do between now and then makes a difference….
Republicans simply passed on all opportunities to do something smart and unite behind one of the conservatives in the race over the last several months. Now, doing something half-smart is the only immediate option available. Find a way to be part of the solution, not just an angry part of the problem acting out in childish temper tantrums and protest votes.
Half-smart is better than blindly foolish and all wrong any day…
Long term, things must change. But short term, our options are now limited to living to fight another day. Think about it!
When the guest want to take over your home, you can either hand them the keys and find a new home, or toss their ass out in the streets...
I prefer the latter!
All liberals stop after the headline, thinking they already know everything...
Stupid is as stupid does and one who refuses to read first and comment second, refuses to comment intelligently.
The long resisted and cursed solution: a multi-party system! Don’t toe the line? You’re outta da Party. It’s my party! Until we have such a system, we’ll be crying the same old blues as the parties try to be all things to all people.
McCain, Obama, Clinton, Huckabee - choose your poison.
I’m voting for Romney when we caucus here in Washington State February 9. Our primary doesn’t designate delegates and is just a beauty pageant.
Romney’s past performance as a governor is one in which I find he lacks the backbone to stand up for his principles against mob rule. I will vote for him nevertheless. But if the general election comes down to McCain (R) and Clinton (D), there isn’t a choice at all.
Go to the following link to see why:
http://www.reforminstitute.org
This is the homepage of McCain’s think tank. The one which receives tens of thousands of dollars in donations from the likes of George Soros and radical environmental groups. There is NO fundamental difference between Clinton, Obama, and McCain.
South Carolina and Wyoming are liberal?
Even Karl Rove smuggly and arrogantly offered up the whole RNC attitude with this gem: “Well, just where are Conservatives going to go??!!”
LOL Ron Paul is the only economic conservative running this year. I don't think he's crazy at all. He's so principled that he only seems crazy when compared to all the rest.
Great answer!
That way America will always be ruled by the largest “minority” voting bloc. No more will a candidate need the support of at least half of the people. With three parties or more, anyone with 34% support can lead against the will of the other 66% of the nation. Minority rule... why didn’t I think of that?
Great thinking! Any idea who the largest voting minority bloc is in America today and what they never pass up an opportunity to vote for???
Gift’s from the treasury, right!
Wait, if we have ten parties, I only need 11% support from the people to run roughshod over all others. I like how you think!
Forget multi parties, let’s just skip past that step and go straight to a full dictatorship. I like that idea even better, so long as I get to be the dictator, of course.
Brilliant!
NOT!!!!
Make no mistake, we’re attempting to limit our loss here. The option of winning is already off the table.
But I would like to live to fight another day.
South Carolina is now apparently. Didn’t they just nominate two liberals?
No, he’s so far to the right that he has circled the political globe and ended up left of Hillary...
That makes him NUTS!
Oh, and he’s also a complete fraud.
Fine, keep banging your head against the wall about RINOs and others who shouldn’t be in your party. These two parties stand for nothing now, nothing, their principles are worthless if a KKK member can represent the RAT party and a CPUSA member can represent the STUPID Party. The complaining will never stop.
You are sooo convincing. You must have been on the debating team in high school. BWAHAHAHA
At the moment, we have two parties acting largely like one party. That’s because we have allowed our house guests to take over control of our home.
You can hand them your keys and go try to build a new house if you like, but where I come from, when a guest has worn out their welcome, they’re given the boot, not the keys to the house.
Yale actually...
OK, now I'm SERIOUSLY impressed...or would be if you could back up your gratuitous assertion...
You think Yale grads hang out blogging on FR? LOL
If you need a Yale grad to list all the ways that Ron Paul is a looney fraud, then there’s no way you could comprehend the discussion... LOL
I detest that a small percentage of the country can determine who I get to vote for in my state's primary.
Yeah, I know I can write someone in...but I may as well write in "Ronald Reagan"...and we know that's not an option.
To be honest, you're the first Yale person I've ever communicated with in my life. So far, I'm unimpressed. You seem unable to back up what you say.
OK, I'll be fair. You may very well just not want to go to the trouble of showing anyone that you are capable of critical thinking. That's okay. I know a lot of people like that...only so many hours in a day, eh?
Time for a boycott. I agree with Ann—McCain is the worst candidate.
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