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!
How the GOP has failed
1. failed to deliver on contract w/america
2. rolled over for dems when GOP had power
3. elected GW, he certainly has rolled over for the dems
4. Allowed GW to have second term w/same vp. Missed opportunity to place incumbent vp as front runner.
The whole county is having a big open party with out any
care for who is paying the tab or when it will come due.
“Ya, what’s our half smart option we have left?”
Mitt Romney, if we want conservatism to live on at all!
Good point... sorry!
Here ya go.
I don’t know that we have one. There is only one candidate who I can truly call Conservative, and he’s crazy: Ron Paul.
To say I’m horrified to write that is an understatement.
My March 5th Mississippi primary vote seems pretty pointless now.
he was on the raio yesterday and he didn't actually say no, he said he thought McCain had better judgement than that
This author nails it pretty good. The Republican party is broken, and it may have to “hit bottom” like an alcoholic who wakes up in a dumpster one afternoon before it can truly begin the road to recovery. McCain appears to be just what the GOP needs to “hit bottom”, and it may be best (shudder) for real Republicans to try to ride out a Democrat in the White House for four years and then get a conservative candidate for the ‘12 contest.
Personally, I will never vote for McCain.
Exactly.
So are liberals.
This is true.
Even now...ppl are not getting behind our only hope....
It looks like it’ll have to be Romney. McCain would strive har to stamp out conservatism
Yes, you are dead on, but there’s no way we can change that, how are those now in control going to let us restructure so we can vote them out, the control it now, the only option is a 3rd party, if there are as many true conservates as folks say then it’s an easy win, if there are not enough conservatives then prepare for a new America. I always wondered how/when America would abandone Israel and hasten the end times, now, it’s just around the corner, in a matter of 6 weeks the entire landscape of America has changed, the liberals did an end run around the election before the election even began, the deck is stacked, the game is over. We lost, period.
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.
***Right there is the biggest clue to how party primaries ought to be run. That should be the ORDER of the primaries, based upon what the highest percentages of republican votes. Those states that have high percentages of republicans would encourage more turnout in blowout elections because the results count towards primary order.
One of two candidates will be the RNC nominee...
Our most liberal backstabbing Republican, McStain... or Romney, whom I believe to be better than 50% conservative on the issues.
100% right would have been to unite behind one of the conservatives before they got pushed out of the race.
At least 50% right is to stop McCain BS Express before it gets anywhere close to November.
Why? It looks like the whole article was posted, and since it's dated February 1, it is likely "JB Williams latest column"....
I'd like to know what he thinks is the short term solution.
Oh, it’ll be Huckabee, you can count on that. That will be his gesture to conservatives.
I certainly share the sentiment, but not the strategy.
This is a war for the future of my country. I will not provide aid and comfort to my primary enemy by sitting idle on the sidelines or refusing to work with less than perfect allies to defeat that enemy.
Clinton and Obama are my primary enemy. McCain has chosen to side with my primary enemy, even though he lies about it to ignorant voters.
Romney is a less than perfect ally, but the ally available to me at this moment.
A vote for anyone else, including none of the above, is a default vote for my primary enemy. When I can’t do everything I’d like to do, I still do everything I can do...
Hijacked...
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