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Posted on 10/22/2008 11:32:45 AM PDT by grundle
Why the Republicans Must Lose
Nothing short of defeat will put the GOP back on its limited government track
I grew up in a particularly conservative part of the already conservative state of Indiana. I voted for Bob Dole in 1996 and George Bush in 2000, generally because—though I'm not a conservative (I'm a libertarian)—I'd always thought the GOP was the party of limited government. By 2002, I was less sure of that. And by 2004, I was so fed up with the party that I did what I thought I'd never do—vote for an unabashed leftist for president.
Since then, "fed up" has soured to "given up." The Republican Party has exiled its Goldwater-Reagan wing and given up all pretense of any allegiance to limited government. In the last eight years, the GOP has given us a monstrous new federal bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. In the prescription drug benefit, it's given us the largest new federal entitlement since the Johnson administration. Federal spending—even on items not related to war or national security—has soared. And we now get to watch as the party that's supposed to be "free market" nationalizes huge chunks of the economy's financial sector.
This isn't to say that Barack Obama would be any better. Government would undoubtedly grow under his watch. And from my libertarian perspective, he has been increasingly disappointing even on the issues where he's supposed to be good. We may not go to war with Iran in an Obama administration, but we'd likely become entrenched in a prolonged nation-building adventure in the Sudan. Obama's vote on the FISA bill and telecom immunity also suggests that, for all his criticisms of President Bush's use of executive power and assaults on civil liberties, Obama wouldn't be much better. On the drug war, Obama has promised to end the federal raids on medical marijuana clinics in states that have legalized the drug for treatment, but he wants to resurrect failed federal criminal justice block grant programs that have had some disastrous effects on civil liberties.
While I'm not thrilled at the prospect of an Obama administration (especially with a friendly Congress), the Republicans still need to get their clocks cleaned in two weeks, for a couple of reasons.
First, they had their shot at holding power, and they failed. They've failed in staying true to their principles of limited government and free markets. They've failed in preventing elected leaders of their party from becoming corrupted by the trappings of power, and they've failed to hold those leaders accountable after the fact. Congressional Republicans failed to rein in the Bush administration's naked bid to vastly expand the power of the presidency (a failure they're going to come to regret should Obama take office in January). They failed to apply due scrutiny and skepticism to the administration's claims before undertaking Congress' most solemn task—sending the nation to war. I could go on.
As for the Bush administration, the only consistent principle we've seen from the White House over the last eight years is that of elevating the American president (and, I guess, the vice president) to that of an elected dictator. That isn't hyperbole. This administration believes that on any issue that can remotely be tied to foreign policy or national security (and on quite a few other issues as well), the president has boundless, limitless, unchecked power to do anything he wants. They believe that on these matters, neither Congress nor the courts can restrain him.
That's the second reason the GOP needs to lose. American voters need to send a clear, convincing repudiation of these dangerous ideas.
If they do lose, the GOP would be wise to regroup and rebuild from scratch, scrap the current leadership, and, most importantly, purge the party of the "national greatness," neoconservative influence. Big-government conservatism has bloated the federal government, bogged us down in what will ultimately be a trillion-dollar war, and set us down the road to European-style socialism. It's hard to think of how Obama could be worse. He'll just be bad in different ways.
The truth is, unless you vote for a third-party candidate (which really isn't a bad idea), you don't have much of a choice this November. You can either endorse the idea of a massive, invasive, ever-encroaching federal government that's used to promote center-left ideology, or you can endorse the idea of a massive, invasive, ever-encroaching federal government that's used to promote center-right ideology.
Sadly, if the GOP does lose, it's likely to be interpreted not as a repudiation of the GOP's excesses, but as an endorsement of the Democrats'. When the only two parties who have a chance at winning both have a track record of expanding the size and scope of government, every election is likely to be interpreted as a win for big government—only the brand changes.
Voting yourself more freedom simply isn't an option, at least if you want your vote to be taken seriously (and I'm not denigrating any third parties here; I'm just reflecting reality).
Which brings me back to why the Republicans need to get throttled: A humiliated, decimated GOP that rejuvenates and rebuilds around the principles of limited government, free markets, and rugged individualism is really the only chance for voters to possibly get a real choice in federal elections down the road.
Of course, there's no guarantee that's how the party will emerge from defeat. But the Republican Party in its current form has forfeited its right to govern.
If 0bama (notice that is a zero) wins, the damage his presidency will do to this Great Nation will be so enormous, that it would take generations to fix.
NY is a mess. The RATS have ruined this state and are about to ruin the country.
We’ll still have to live for years with Obama appointed supreme court justices. McCain my not be the perfect Republican, but he sure beats Obama.
I agreed with this article, when it was Hillary that was going to be the DNC nomenee. Now, We must band together to stop Obama from being in the white house.
Why?
Because of the Supreme court and Obama’s choices of Justises!
If the Obamanation gets elected, it will be much more of the same. Can anyone imagine repealing “health care for the poor and children” in the future.
The only thing that will fix this, and it might (but it is not certain) is a complete financial meltdown. When we go bankrupt and can no longer pay for any of these programs, then the people will need to make a decision, do you want government control of your life or freedom?
schu
If McCain LOSES the election, the liberal spin will NOT be he lost because he was a “poor candidate”, or because of the “economy” or because of George Bush II.
No. The Liberal spin will be he lost because he was “too conservative” and his running mate was a “far right wing extremist”.
And they will use THAT and their patsies in the Mainstream Media to justify a host of new liberal left-wing social agenda items.
There may be a time in the future when it will become necessary to split with the Republican Party.
THIS is NOT that time.
Two of those guys were in the primaries and LOST.
Now, you support the winner if you want your guy supported in the future.
Under a McCain adminstration we’ll get the same b.s. high court appointments we got under Reagan, 1 good, 1 bad and 1 total lying socialist promoting disaster. We are going to lose the SC no matter what happens, accept it.
I will not accept it. You want to be a quitter and a bitcher, feel free. I will stand and fight. Out of my way coward.
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Or.... “Lack of Reason Magazine.”
Thank you for the ping!
Anyone who agrees with this, PLEASE, go read Michael Medved’s column:
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2008/10/22/the_consequences_of_defeat
Yep. That’ll do it all right. Snarf!
BUMP on so many levels!!!
The author claims he is a libertarian, not a conservative. I'm conservative, both sides (economic & social). From a conservative point of view, libertarian only concerns with the first one.
What is getting smaller is your brain. By the minute.
I have more to say, but it is against the rules.
Coward, f’ yourself, I’m a realist. You expect McCain to govern as a conservative? What a joke. I may be a coward by your definition, but your a ignorant fool by mine. The only reason I’m voting for McCain is because Palin is a Conservative. McCain is total RINO b.s.
McCain is a democrat and will govern as a democrat.
Many things the author writes is total garbage. However, BOTH parties are racing to see who can give away more freebies to the unproductive and who can punish the productive the most. This most certainly will not change no matter who is elected president. Did your local congressman vote to bail out Wall Street? If yes, he should be replaced.
The USA’s descent into socialism will continue to occur unabated when either of these clowns are elected. The choice is Europeon socialism (McCain) or full blown Russian socialism (Obama). Obama’s version may end in revolution and an ultimately resurgent America, McCain’s version will not end in our lifetimes and America will end up looking like Mexico, France, Chicago, etc. Take your pick.
“We have to destroy the party in order to save it” thiking.
Meanwhile the Dems take over the country, the IRS, the Supreme Court, and the Defense Department.
That is so dangerous an attitude that I cannot think that anyone but an irrational person would expouse it.
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