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I am a lifelong Republican who does not foresee any change in party affiliation, and I would be happy to answer your questions...

First of All - What do I believe? I believe in the supremacy of the individual, but that individual power must be tempered by private morality. I believe in the rule of law, and that law violations should be met with considerable force, and severe punishments. I believe in economic and political freedom, private property rights, and non-intrusive domestic government (other than in the defense of property rights). I believe in a strong military, and an armed population. I believe in freedom of speech on a political level, but that such freedom is not without limits. I believe in freedom of religion, but not freedom of morality. In short, I am a textbook Reagan - Buckley - Limbaugh conservative.

Now, on to your operative question - why continue with the Republican Party? When does one abandon ship? Why not a third-party - etc?

I would be the first to admit that the Republican Party has not fully embodied the values of conservatism at all times (recently there have been a few major deviations). I would further concede that some elected Republicans exist in a realm to the left of me. However, these inter-party conflicts are not new, and should be dealt with by acting within the party structure. Christ has yet to run for office, so there will not be a "perfect" elected official.

I am a conservative - not a Libertarian, Constitutionalist, Reformer ... whatever. I have yet to see a political party which entirely embodies the political beliefs that I espouse, and, frankly, no viable third-party even comes close.

The Reform Party, with Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot? Buchanan is off the reservation on foreign policy (I am not an isolationist - I am a colonialist), and his stance against globalism is a slap in the face to capitalists; and Perot is a bit off his rocker. The Libertarians? Harry Browne is a good man, but I have trouble aligning myself with a party which has morphed into a group of drug-addicts who seek to legalize whatever they're on. Furthermore, I have distinct problems with the Libertarian ideology - I have a Libertarian streak, but I am a conservative ... not a Libertarian. Those are the only two worthwhile right-leaning third-parties. The Constitution Party, etc are too small to make any difference.

This third-party movement is not productive, and it will only serve to marginalize the right-wing. Case-in-point - the Green Party. These are avowed leftists, and their secession from the Democratic Party has only made them look even farther out of the mainstream than they appeared before. If we remove the right-wing from the Republican Party, Republicans will move further left, capture the conservative Democrats, and catch a second wind. The Party will continue to drift leftward, and the real conservatives won't win an election for another half-century. We must work within the party, and release the grip of the left. We will never win by diluting the conservative vote.

So, you ask, at what point will I stand for principle? Frankly, I always stand for principle. But I fight from within the party, not from outside. With Democrats holding the Senate, the Republicans are forced to make more compromises - however, the Republican controlled House is a distinctly conservative body. The Senate can be corrected in a single election, but not if weak-stomached conservatives jump ship and vote for someone who hasn't got the money or talent to actuall win an election.

At what point will I draw the line? My answer is, I won't. I will not abandon my party, so that it may be taken over by the left. I will continue the fight for my values, even after you and your cohorts have abandoned ship and swam to safer waters. So, you can make your principled, but inconsequential, vote for some no-name third-party, and I will retake the Republican Party, so that the weak-stomached will return.

I am first and foremost a conservative; not a Republican. I fight for conservative values, and I fight to maintain the conservative grasp of the Republican Party. The more conservatives abandon the Republican Party, the farther away the Party will drift. So - in short - I blame you "principled" Republican refugees for the recent leftward drift. But, make no mistake - we rock-ribbed conservatives will hold the Republican Party long after your dozen-member third-party has been disbanded and liquidated.

Just something for you Reformers to think about.

From the right,
Adam D. Elrod
adamdelrod@hotmail.com

"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." -- Ecclesiastes 10:2

BRAVO!

" If we remove the right-wing from the Republican Party, Republicans will move further left, capture the conservative Democrats, and catch a second wind. The Party will continue to drift leftward, and the real conservatives won't win an election for another half-century. We must work within the party, and release the grip of the left. We will never win by diluting the conservative vote."

Well said.

What you describe is exactly what has happened in New York, where there is actually a fairly established Conservative Party.

The Republicans drifted leftward. The Conservative Party candidate can't win, unless it also happens to be the Republican candidate. (The flip also is true, that the Republican can't win more times than not unless also on the Conservative Party ticket).

Now, the state is mostly Democrat, the Republicans in power are "centrists" at best, and the Conservative Party is forced to end up putting moderates like Rick Lazio on the ticket anyway.