Posted on 09/23/2009 9:55:57 AM PDT by Tiger_2009
Obama's Radicalism and the GOP Posted by Rocky Mountain Foundation on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 5:09:09 PM
Thank God John McCain lost in 2008. Obama's radical agenda will bring about the revitalization of the Republican party through grassroots citizen activism that would have been impossible under a McCain presidency.
By Tom Tancredo*
Eight months into the Obama presidency the Republican Party is suddenly thriving by virtue of the patriotic reawakening generated by Obama’s radicalism. But the Republican revival may be short lived if it does not listen to the voice of the new citizen activists.
Obama was elected on the strength of Bush exhaustion syndrome and Obama’s plausible promise of “hope and change.” But now that Obama has unveiled his truly radical agenda, middle class Americans are understandably alarmed.
Obama’s radical program has provoked a grassroots rebellion of historic proportions. While the Republican Party may be one beneficiary of this rebellion, the rebellion itself has nothing to do with party allegiance or party organization. Indeed, some Republican elites feel as threatened by this new activism as Obama Democrats.
What is astounding and unprecedented in recent American politics is that this authentic citizen protest arose entirely outside of political party structures. Republican officials had virtually nothing to do with organizing the Tea Party protests that began in April or the town hall protests in August or the historic gathering of over one million people on the Capitol Mall on September 12.
Millions of Americans are seeing the radical, Marxist character of the Obama agenda for the first time. The attempted government takeover of health care, a crippling new energy tax, his affirmative action Supreme Court appointment, the World Apology Tour, the Justice Department attack on the CIA interrogation of terrorists, and now the abandonment of NATO allies on missile defense — none of this was foretold in the platitudes of the 2008 election campaign. Obama’s agenda is the fulfillment of the dreams and fantasies of the left wing of the Democrat Party, but our political and media elites were all taken by surprise. Obama is not the “pragmatic centrist” voters thought they were getting.
The unprecedented citizen activism that brought 1.5 million ordinary American to the Capitol Mall a week after the Labor Day holiday is in part a predictable reaction to Obama’s radicalism, but it is also more than that. Something more profound is also at work. The fact that it has developed outside the established political structures is a story that has not yet been told because it does not fit the dominant “narrative” of American politics: genuine grassroots populism is supposed to always be from the left, not the right.
Obama’s radical agenda is forcing the Republican Party to confront a fundamental issue it tries hard to avoid. Is the Republican Party going to seek compromise with Obama’s radical agenda to prove they are committed to the same “compassionate” agenda, or will it provide leadership based on a different vision for America?
The sad truth is that this new activism, this rediscovery of constitutional limits on government and principled resistance to further expansion of entitlement spending, could never have emerged if John McCain had won the 2008 election. If John McCain had enshrined his anemic “hands across the aisle” pragmatism as the official language of the party of Lincoln and Reagan, the Republican Party would have continued its sorrowful drift.
What is most fascinating and encouraging and revolutionary about this mushrooming grassroots activism is that it is more than a reaction to Obama’s radical program. It is more than “just say no.” It also a rediscovery and reaffirmation of the conservative principles that were abandoned or belittled by Republican Party elites in the Bush era.
The grassroots activism of the Tea Party rallies and 912 protests is almost the exact opposite of a traditional political rally organized by a candidate for public office. The purpose of these rallies is to save our country, not elect some candidate. In fact, there is often a large element of “pox on both your houses” in these protests, and Republican candidates who think they can run on traditional themes in 2010 without addressing these new challenges will have a rude awakening.
Yes, we all know that compromise is a necessary part of governance. But what the new citizen activists are demanding is that compromise be based on a constitutional, limited government, low-tax agenda. A little arsenic will kill you a little slower than a larger dose, but please don’t serve it with a chocolate mousse and call it dessert.
What course the Republican Party will take at this crossroads is an open question. Old habits die hard. Just as George Bush was tone deaf on illegal immigration, many in the Republican Party leadership are loath to acknowledge that the mainstream media is in the pocket of the Democrat Party and new modes of communication and organization are needed. The hardest words for a Republican moderate to utter are, “Rush Limbaugh was right.”
But what is clear is that there is no going back to “hands across the aisle bipartisanship” that gave us McCain-Feingold and is too often a substitute for principled leadership. We do not need more snake oil of the “no entitlement left behind” variety. The day of reckoning for reckless government spending is at hand.
The “Help (Desperately) Wanted” sign is hanging in the window. Only leaders who can speak the language of liberty and limited government need apply.
A truly intelligent article - laid out with stark lucidity.
What Tancredo is stating is the obvious.
Short term, sure, McCain would have been better than Obama, but long term, Obama’s victory has placed the difference between conservative political thinking and radical Democrat philosophy in stark contrast.
I liked Tancredo and voted for McCain. But the only reason McCain got MY vote was Sarah Palin. He never fooled me. The enemy within is always more dangerous than the enemy without.
>>>>>Well, we have a much better chance of defeating ...
I don't want to have Obama-Biden anywhere near the White House. And with the GOP still in a deep coma, any conservative uprising will go nowhere.
Crazy times!
There are a few Republican luminaries like Bachmann, etc who should be re-elected.
But the Lindsey Grahams, the Olympia Snowes, etc, need to be flushed very badly. The smell is overpowering.
But we need far more than that. Our enemy is the career politician - the person who feels that spending a few days in Congress approving or vetoing bills they don't have the time to read AND study, the person who feels that entitles them to a PENSION, the kind of individual who would force a socialist health system down the throats of all other Americans while enjoying a special health benefit system funded by taxpayer dollars for themselves, and the kind of individual who is so arrogant as to think “THEY” know what is best for the people who voted them into office and pay their salaries and perks ARE THE REAL ENEMY.
“Profiles in Courage” are really images of arrogance.
We need Term Limits and each and every Congresscritter running for office should have their ears pinned by by this issue.
Look at Ted Kennedy - 50 years in Congress!!!!! Look at Byrd of West Virginia!!!! OR Grassley OR Hatch!!!!
These people have NO idea how normal citizens have to work and support their families.
They have become a House of Lords.
... by a truly intelligent son of Mother America. Maybe, we have a candidate for 2012.
“I hope we have somebody to step in and Re-Reaganize this country in 2012”
So do I. And I know EXACTLY who we need:
http://scavenging.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/sarah-palin.jpg
http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/michelebachmannb_10x15.jpg
Bump
Beck said he would have voted for Hillary over McCain. I never suggested that was even a remotely intelligent thing to say or contemplate. But he’s just flapping his gums. He voted for McCain.
I didn’t and wouldn’t. Nor would I ever vote for a marxist like Hillary or Obama.
If the GOP has learned anything, then Pawlenty, Perry, Huck and Mitt will NOT be frontrunners for 2012.
We are going to either turn this ship around and save the republic, or we are going to drift further into socialism and kill all traces of American Exceptionalism.
We better choose wisely.
The fact is, long term, Obama-Biden could destroy America!
Right now, people aren't embracing Republicans as much as they are opposing Democrats. The GOP has to give the people good reasons to support them again. That means getting back on a conservative track. So far, that isn't happening.
If the GOP chooses Pawlenty, Perry, Huck or Mitt in 2012, they will lose. On that we agree.
Tancredo has my undying admiration. He’s right up there with Barry Goldwater and Reagan in my book. The GOP mandarins hate him, which makes him all the more endearing, like Sarah. I think we may be reaching the tipping point where enough people realize that the GOP will not be reformed, will never be a conservative party, and the time is right to extinguish it and create a real conservative party. The GOPs total failure to identify with the Tea Party movement should be enough to make this very clear.
WE HAVE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!
Every time the RNC sends you a letter for a contribution, send it back with a note to the effect that as long as they support Judases like Olympia Snowe, Lugar, Sue Collins and the rest with their money, they get nothing from us.
When you send a contribution to an individual conservative Republican out of state or in state, SEND A COPY OF THAT CHECK TO THE RNC. Tell them why.
ATTEND AND SUPPORT THE TEA PARTIES.
In your own state, support local candidates for office who are conservative Republicans with money and your time and work.
If YOU have the personality and time, RUN FOR COMMITTEEMAN on the local or state level. These are dull positions BUT THEY VERY OFTEN CAN IMPACT ELECTIONS. In New Jersey, if an office holder leaves office on the local level, the County Republican Committee chooses the successor. An opportunity for conservatives TO BE HEARD. Here there are two STATE Committee persons per County who have similar power on the state level.
We need to look at the ORGANIZATIONAL effectiveness of ACORN and similar leftist groups and use them as an organizational guide to TAKE BAKC THE GOP.
It is a lot easier than building a party from the group up.
AND REMEMBER - the Republican Leadership Council of Chrissie Whitman and Lewis Eisenberg is the ENEMY WITHIN.
LOL Thanks for the advice. I haven't contributed to the RNC-GOP in years. I give directly to conservative candidates only. Like to think I've become more of an independent conservative, who still likes voting in the primaries.
Also, I've been active in local GOP politics since 1968.
Tancredo was in my district. Absolutely safe, and he could have stayed until now and into the foreseeable future, another 10 or 20 years. Bulletproof.
He was the one Congressman thrown out of the Bush White House and told by Karl Rove to 'never darken the door of this White House again' for his unwavering stance on illegals. Voters in his district loved, and still love him.
He’s no more a quitter than Sarah Palin. He quit because he originally ran on term limits, and had overstayed his promise.
If the GOP had more like him the occupant of the White House would be a conservative Republican right now.
“The “Help (Desperately) Wanted” sign is hanging in the window. Only leaders who can speak the language of liberty and limited government need apply.”
Love it!
No wonder Rove banned Tancredo from the Bush White House.
His support for Romney was a slap in the face to ALL conservatives. Now he thinks McCain-Palin would have been worse for America than Obama-Biden. Tancredo is nuts!
I appreciated Tancredo’s term limit vow, but the people wanted him to run again. That isn't an issue anylonger. When the CO-GOP and conservatism needed him most, he retired from office. Just like Palin, Tancredo quit. Unlike Tancredo, Palin didn't support Romney and her appeal to conservatives is still flying high.
Good.
I selfishly wish the economy would turn around. I wish this for the good of my family and for the good of the nation. The conundrum, however, is a quick turn around sends the droves of people that are starting to engage back to their complacency and the shock of the past 9 months wears off. I am encouraged that we are starting to see the start of a more effective, grass roots conservative revolution of sorts.
For the sake of my children and the long term good of the nation, it might take more of this misery for a while to bring more of our population into the fold. We need the 50% of apathetic Americans that don't pay attention and don't vote to actually take an interest. I believe that 70% of those are hard working, tax paying, personally conservative people.
I do not think McCain would have led us out of this and socially I don't think he would have made many if any gains for the good of our cause. Partner that with a Pelosi and Reid lead opposition, it could have been disastrous for another generation. Republicans really screwed up during the Bush years by not embracing a Reagan conservative agenda. They had the majority and the power and apparently got drunk, lazy and complacent with it.
It is a true conundrum and I am not proud of what I think. I have decided a short term rebound and gain for me and my family now will not necessarily advance a free-er more capitol based and smaller government later for my children.
To prove to you my sincerity here, I am slated to be layed off in November. My employer was gracious enough and had enough respect for me to let me know and help me out. I am in private commercial construction. There is none right now! My prospects for finding a job, in December, in my current profession are very bleak. Finding a job at the living standard we are at is impossible and we have been adjusting that standard downward for over a year. We have two vehicles with over 300,000 miles combined and they will need to just keep running. I support a family of 4 on my income and my wife is interviewing for a job as a result of this economy. She is trying to find something at night so we do not have to do daycare. We will have to figure out how to get insurance and we won't take it from the government. It is real anxiety we feel, not fabricated BS about Global Warming or some crap.
So don't take my perspective lightly.
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