Posted on 08/05/2014 3:58:48 PM PDT by Eagle Forgotten
When one speaks with fellow Republicans about the future of the GOP, it is common to receive some negative feedback. This is because many conservative/libertarian Republicans feel the party has simply not done enough to challenge the Obama agenda. There is a widespread feeling among the rank and file that the country is hurtling toward socialism while Republican leaders sit on the sidelines and either do nothing or propose ways to manage socialism more effectively.
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I have given up on the GOP and am simply not sure it can ever be reformed.
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For a Third Party to be effective, millions of voters need to join it, become active, recruit others and support its candidates. Moreover, millions of dollars would need to be raised to market the party and fight for ballot access changes. I propose that a website be set up that collects pledges. By that, I mean a person would log on, register themselves, and then electronically sign a “pledge” that commits him or her to vote for a Third Party when the party officially launches. Of course, such a pledge cannot be legally binding, but I doubt most voters would go through the process of registering themselves online unless they were serious. Of course, there would be some fraud, but that would be factored in when determining how much support the new party has.
The when part is the key to this effort. When the number of pledges reaches, say, twenty million voters nationwide, only then does the party launch and actually field candidates. The same kind of tactic could be used to raise money for the new party. When contribution pledges reaches, say, $50 million dollars, the party launches. No more feeble third parties that get 1% of the vote.
(Excerpt) Read more at barbwire.com ...
Sarah has great instincts and a good conservative heart, but she is no longer in the arena.
Ross Perot has nothing to do with this.
You can stay with the GOP. I’m done. I’m 67 and tired of beating my head against the wall.
If Cruz and Gowdy take over the party ping me.
Don’t you see how Bush and Romney are being position for the presidential run.
How many elections will go by for you until you get tired of being discarded?
In effect, all of them by allowing the Dims to run rough-shod over law and procedure to pass it; sort of like what they are doing with amnesty currently.
"Sustained reform of the GOPe" has been going on since I entered the fray for Goldwater in 1964.
I admire your stick-to-it-iveness...I really do. And I was wondering whether you could give me an ETA. After fighting a 50 year battle, I'm growing weary. :)
“If Cruz and Gowdy take over the party ping me”
Ditto
Has the Eagle Forgotten??
What? You asked if we could have a third party and a democrat not win....the answer is NO> period. There are not enough GOP to vote for a third party candidate, but it will split the vote, hence a Democrat wins....I can’t answer you any other way!
I could care less what you do or how you vote, and that has nothing to do with me or how I vote...sheesh....shoot the messenger. Truth is still truth whether you like it or not.
Oh come on, do you honestly think Maine or Massachusetts are going to elect real Conservatives? RINOs yes, but Reagan Conservatives, no.
Or look at what happened in New Jersey last year, where a Conservative (by all accounts I've read) lost to a Democrat by 10%.
That's what's happening all across the country. This is why we need to win Americans over to Conservative values if we're going to elect Conservatives again. If we don't try, expect more Dems and RINOs.
I didn’t ask any such thing. I said if we start now we have a shot at president in 2016. If not, you can decide between Bush or Romney. I’ll not vote for the lesser evil again. I’m 67 and I will vote for someone who supports my beliefs even if I have to write a name in.
You can stay with the GOP until hell freezes over, but if you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.
This is the time to start, not retreat.
There’s several different parties on your ballet. None seem to be getting anywhere. Libertarian, Green Party, Socialists, etc. The Communist Party used to be on the ballet but they didn’t get anyplace either so they joined the Democratic Party. So in fact the Democratic party consists actually of two parties. That’s why we have communists running the government now. If the GOP were to break up, how will the splinter party get enough members? This would only destroy the party we have now. Best to just hold your nose and vote for what we have. The world of politics was never perfect for everybody.
What many of the posters are picking up on is the economic drivers of the party identities.
In the ten year cycle where the Whig party lost its national influence it was, as most parties were then, mainly founded upon economic principles — Manifest Destiny and rapid economic expansion. What occurred was the slavery expansion issue ran into the various factions within the Whig party that supported various compromise solutions that did not settle the question and the party factionalized allowing the newly minted Republican party to take hold. As the approaching civil war marginalized economic issues to the new dominance of slavery expansion issues, the Whigs split and withered. From having Zac Taylor win the presidency to his death, Filmore coming into office and the ensuing ten years they then finished a very poor third place in 1860 ten years later.
We have a similar thing now — economic issues overriding a constitutional crisis causing a party failure. If we are willing to have ten years of nothing followed by a civil convulsion, we can try what the Republicans of 1854-56 tried and start a new national party.
The easier course is to fight and fight and take the Republican voter base and keep the Republican vehicle and change it to a constitutional oriented platform and not an economically driven party caving to the Chamber and big employers.
Let’s take a Senate win in a bi-year election and build for the National election with a strong candidate that we all get behind. We are dependent upon the conservative candidates to coalesce — nothing else will produce it. Let’s say that Cruz and Jindal both announce they will support the nomination of Walker (or Perry), they are both young enough to follow eight years later and the party unites behind them and the fairly conservative governor. Next cycle, Cruz goes to the top.
Can a Third Party be Formed Without Helping Democrats Win?
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There many political parties out there now. Two are national in that they are
in all 51 states. Others are regional and many are local to a state. So another party
may not be a sure thing and may not impact the national elections until it gains a
large base of support.
http://votesmart.org/political-parties
http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm
And the list goes on...........
Only in certain places where the Democrats are virtually a one party state (like certain places in CA, the state of MA, big cities like Chicago, NYC, etc..). In those places it may be beneficial to form a 3rd party based on common sense (Conservative/populist) principles.
-JJS
The Republican Party is filled will closet Democrats. It should be obvious by now with the number of liberal Republicans reaching out to Democrats in the primaries or who are financially supporting Democrats. They are actively out to fight against any conservative (Tea Party) candidate. This is a big DUH! And I can’t believe after the last four years, and especially the last primaries, that people at FreeRepublic would believe there is hope for the Republican party.
I will always vote for a Tea Party Candidate even if they are in a third party.
I may vote for a Republican.
I’ll stay home and watch a movie before I vote for a Democrat.
No.
And how do we do that when, more and more, the electorate is of the low-information, "don't know, don't care" mindset? In order to convert (de-program) the 50-and-unders, who are going to be running this nation for the next 50 years, we first have to reach them with our message. How do we do that? How do we get their attention, then hold it long enough to educate them?
There is an answer, but I'm just curious if you know what it is.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
” ... There is an answer ... “
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I’ll bite, what is it?
One of my answers is to boycott to the best of our ability the companies that support leftist causes. I have already made this choice at the expense of my "Buy American" beliefs. I felt bad about it afterwards, but at least I didn't support the homosexual agenda.
Another is to patronize companies that are in or make products in red states, again to the best of our ability.
If you have other suggestions, I'm willing to consider them.
Avoid the trap of endorsing single issue politics altogether by keeping the message broad and simple - reverse the current path in order to restore individual liberties. Give the power back to the states to handle single issue politics so every type of person has a place to call home that champions their particular values.
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