Election Strategy for Conservatives

Free Republic Exclusive! | 5-1-12 | Antoninus

[Antoninus]

Let's face it. The second Mitt Romney becomes the Republican nominee for president, conservatives have lost the 2012 election. The time has come to attempt to make the best of a bad situation.

Please allow me to present my analysis of our current political situation and my worst- and best-case scenarios.

Worst outcome: Obama wins, Democrats Take Control of the Congress.
If that happens, conservatives have lost everything for the next generation at least. Nothing short of divine intervention could save us from socialism at that point.

Second worst outcome: Romney wins
If Romney wins, it doesn't matter who controls the Congress. Socialism will progress, and fast. Romney will have no opposition from Republicans and Democrats will only oppose to push him even further to the left. And he will acquiesce. That's his MO. Worse, Republicans will rightly get the blame for every piece of socialist legislation that Romney signs, resulting in catastrophic defeats in 2014 and a loss of the presidency in 2016 to an even more radical Democrat commanding even more insuperable majorities in Congress than Obama did in 2008.

Least bad outcome: Obama wins with less than 50% of the vote, Republicans control Congress with solid majorities in each house.
This could happen with the emergence of a strong conservative third party candidate that bleeds votes from Romney, giving Obama a Clinton-style non-mandate victory. A strong conservative third party would also have the effect of energizing otherwise apathetic conservatives to come out and vote for conservative Republicans down-ticket, even while voting against Liberal Mitt on the top line. The resulting government produces only gridlock which keeps us in the fight with momentum leading into 2014 and 2016.

Given this, I have decided, for the first time in my life, to vote for a Third Party candidate for president in November. If no one with more national name recognition emerges, Virgil Goode will be getting my vote. I encourage others to think about it and do likewise.

Conversely, you could delude yourself into thinking that Romney isn't as bad as his record clearly shows him to be and spend your time, treasure and energy helping to elect an admitted "progressive" to the presidency. If you decide to do that, God bless you. But don't claim you weren't warned.

[Antoninus]

There is reason to be disciplined in this election year. If we falter, Zer0 will be reelected.

Since "disciplined" equals voting for a liberal in this election, I'll pass. What this country really needs is a voter revolt. To that end, I'm voting conservative, party be damned.

[The Sons of Liberty]

The biggest problem with scenario three is that dictator 0bama will “bypass” congress, as he has taken to doing, and forget about losing conservatism for a generation, and start worrying about losing The United States of America!

[Antoninus]

and forget about losing conservatism for a generation, and start worrying about losing The United States of America!

Your talking about voting for a guy who gave Massachusetts gay marriage, socialized medicine, and $50 abortions.

How any of you can square that with "saving the country" is beyond me.

[Biggirl]

Well the OWS yesterday has for all purposes handed Romney by “default” this coming November.

[Biggirl]

Correction:

Well the OWS yesterday has for all purposes handed Romney the election win by “default” this coming November.

[The Sons of Liberty]

Well your boy is driving us to communist hell at warp speed, and don’t say you’ll fight it because you won’t have a gun.

[ImpBill]

No need to apologize, even dripping with sarcasm, as the mistake was mine in replying in the first place.

God Bless you and yours,
Greg Adams
Brownsville, TX

[OrangeHoof]

So I live in PA. Do I get a conscience?

Of course you do. But if Obama gets re-elected because he carried PA by a slim margin, I hope your conscience can live with that.

[SoothingDave]

I want to make sure I understand you. Your argument rests on the belief that a conservative Congress can mitigate against Obama while it will not be able to do so against Romney?

[jonrick46]

Poor advice is the product of an undisciplined mind. When the future of our nation is at stake, we cannot afford ill conceived ideas like a Third Party movement.

[Kickass Conservative]

If given a choice, I wouldn't drink from the Obama Punch Bowl, but I could take a chance swimming in the Romney Swimming Pool, Baby Ruth or no Baby Ruth.

I think we have determined that neither of us are changing our minds, (at the moment). That decision may or may not come when we are staring at the November Ballot in the Voting Booth, pen in hand.

What will be will be.

[D-fendr]

Then the GOP decided to nominate…

The candidate that won the primary. They should have done otherwise?

Virgil Goode's hat wasn't in the ring and I doubt he could have unified the notMitt vote any better than the others.

Weak field, disunited opposition. You don't fix anything with an even weaker candidate and a still disunited opposition.

It's nonsensical to blame the party.

[Antoninus]

I want to make sure I understand you. Your argument rests on the belief that a conservative Congress can mitigate against Obama while it will not be able to do so against Romney?

Yes. Remember--we don't have a conservative Congress and probably won't after the election. We have a Republican House and hopefully Senate after November. However, my argument goes like this:

When Clinton was in office, the Republican Congress from 1994 - 2000 was able to move forward on a whole bunch of issues and kept spending under control. As a result, the Republican party got credit and G. W. Bush was able to defeat Al Gore in 2000.

From 2000-2006, the Republican Congress was little more than a rubber stamp for George W. Bush whose policies were mixed at best, left-leaning at worst. He increased the public debt, made big entitlements even bigger, made the housing bubble worse (granted, that wasn't completely his fault), kept awful Clinton-era appointees in place, failed to curb entitlement spending, and advanced an insane pro-amnesty policy on illegal immigration. The result of all this was the loss of Congress in 2006 and a catastrophic defeat for Republicans in 2008.

Now, in my view, Romney is an order of magnitude worse than Bush in every respect. A Republican Congress will not check him as they didn't check Bush when he wanted to go left. A Democrat Congress will only push him farther to the left. Either scenario is disastrous for the country and will lead to a cataclysmic Republican defeat in 2014/2016.

But Obama faced with a Republican Congress equals gridlock and gives us a fighting chance to tread water and come back stronger in 2014/2016. And that, sir, in my opinion, is the best we can hope for at this point.

[SoothingDave]

Would this be largely the same Congressmen who are strong against one and weak-willed against the other? Or are you saying two different sets of Congressmen?

Do you think Romney would like a second term, if he wins the first one?