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.
This is the last chance for Republicans to win. Once McCain or Obama give citizenship to the illegal aliens, the Electoral College will shift and Republicans will go out of business.
Naahhhh, the real idiots are the ones that think a vote for McCain - which is pretty much a liberal vote - will somehow keep them closer to that conservative ideal they crave.
You'll all be the cock of the walk if he wins and then whine like bitches about betrayal for 4 years.
IGNORE the 2 left-wing, marxist, business hating, criminal loving Supreme Court Justices which will haunt us for the next 30 years. WAKE UP YOU CLOWN! If you don’t vote for McCain you help elect Obama. It is that simple.
Here in Western NY, it pretty much doesn’t matter who I vote for as Odinga will take all the states electoral college votes based on the number of d’RATS who live in the cities and south of Westchester County.
So, from my perspective, voting for McCain is pointless. Maybe Nader or Barr, hell I might just vote for Lyndon LaRouche or is he dead? LOL!
Let me explain the flaw in your logic. After the leftist wins, the opposition is going to think they put up a guy who was too far to the right. The loss will prove the voting population has moved to the left, so the GOP will have to follow it there to win again.
Dude, I have a message for you - the nation is doomed no matter what. Here's a profound observation that supports this statement: democratic republics represent the wishes & aspirations of the electorate.
It's ludicrous to believe that a nation founded on a set of principles would continue to value those principles as the electorate changed. What we currently have is a disconnect with certain people "clinging" to a notion of limited government; they are either uninformed or in complete denial about the dramatic shift in underlying beliefs.
Not just one generation ago, California was a conservative state. Now it is permanently a socialist state & will only become more so. As goes Calif, so does the rest of the country. Imagine, with the vote being this close this year, what will happen when illegals are granted citizenship?
The USA will continue to devolve until it reaches a break point where the social contract is deemed null & void. That's when arms replaces politics. It's simply the cycle of life.
Thank you for a great illustration of “throwing the baby out with the bath water”.
Walker County Texas expects about 34,000 registered as
in 2006, we had about 28,000 registered.
There was no line at about 10 AM, when I voted.
I think they need to that even if they win. But of course they won't under any circumstances. And the big losers will continue to be "We the people ...".
I am not a big Ron Paul fan, but much of what he says absolutely makes sense, especially owing fidelity to the Constitution and the intent of the founding fathers.
Of course the founding fathers, and most especially George Washington, warned of what aligning with "political parties" would bring us. And all those warnings have come true.
Voting based upon individual principle as opposed to "group think" practicality has become increasingly difficult for responsible citizens to even consider with the death grip the two major political parties have us under.
What is the solution? I wish I knew.
Your vote is yours to cast as you see fit and if you will visit my FR homepage you will see that I believe a principled vote is never cast wrongly.
You are and will take quite a bit of heat here on this conservative forum and that is unfortunate. For exercising personal responsibility is the duty of every individual and not groups.
I did vote early, here in Texas, and I voted against Obama. Once again I cowered to the "lessor of two evils" argument, only because there is so much at stake. I am not particularly pleased with doing so "once again".
But like many of the others slamming you for your principled decision I will not take issue with your reasoning, nor decision thereupon.
Let oinkbama win this one, and there won’t be a next time for the republicans or anybody else, other than for a second civil war. Anybody who’d vote for Ron Paul has to be straight out of his mind.
LOL, silly Hollywood notion.
You got that right! Long live McCain Feingold!
If you can't vote for McCain vote for Sarah Palin :-)
Wow, you’re pretty delusional. You are so ‘my way or the highway’, you would risk having a card carrying marxist like Obama as POTUS? That’s some kind of bitter pill you’re chewing on buddy.
Most likely a waste of time, but please see post 58.
And this could actually be the last time you cast a ballot if The One gets into the White House.
Good choice. Your voice has been heard.
Where may I ask do we then practice our “conservative ideals” if there is no county left in which to do so?
In essence lets get rid of the cancer by hanging ourselves instead of maintaining our nations life until the cure finally comes along...
BRILLIANT
We should have given ourselves over to the ideals and genius of Ron Paul and the Paulinati months ago...
How could we have been so blind...
I feel like a fool...
(for responding to this crap...)
You got that right! Long live McCain Feingold!
But we can manage him. There is still hope if he gets elected.
If Obama is elected our form of government is over.
It’s funny how I long for the Days of Clinton in comparison to an Obama presidence.
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