Until this year, I’ve never registered as anything but Libertarian. This year, for the first time, I decided to register as a Republican. At a time when the Republican Party is experiencing “right flight,” and conservative Republicans are leaving the party in droves to register as Libertarians, Constitutionalists, and Independents, why am I going in the opposite direction? I am still (and will always be) a libertarian, but I foresee an impending disaster resulting from conservatives fleeing the Republican Party.
Throughout our history, the Republican Party has been the bulwark of conservatism in this country. The more conservatives turn away from it, the weaker the party grows. The weaker the Republican Party grows, the longer it will be before we have a true conservative administration in our government. Splintering off into third parties is ultimately harmful because, like it or not, this is a two party system. No candidate from any third party will ever be elected president. (Practically speaking, voting Libertarian is like mailing your ballot to Santa Claus.) Splitting up the conservative vote can only hurt us in the long run. Restoring the Republican Party to its conservative roots is our only hope.
The current Republican leadership seems to believe the country is moving to the left and they’re floundering around pathetically, trying to move the Republican Party left with it. But the current Democratic Congress has the lowest satisfaction rating of any Congress in history — even lower than Bush’s satisfaction rating. The latest Rasmussen survey reports that 62% of voters would prefer fewer government services with lower taxes. 29% would rather have more government services with higher taxes, and 10% are not sure. Apparently, despite the fears of the current Republican leadership, the majority of American voters agree with core conservative principles.
What are these core conservative principles? True conservatives believe in maximizing individual freedom and individual responsibility. We favor small government, with less regulation and lower taxes, because we believe individuals should be free to make their own choices and should take responsibility for the choices they make. We believe the primary legitimate purpose of government is to protect its citizens, both from each other (law enforcement/criminal justice) and from external enemies (the military). We recognize that some taxation is required to support that function. However, we believe the taxes collected should not exceed the amount that’s necessary and sufficient to carry out that role. We don’t believe in taxing the ants to support the grasshoppers.
If we can get strong candidates who represent core conservative principles, I believe we can not only take back the Republican Party, but we can win over the majority of the country who, according to the Rasmussen poll, would also rather have lower taxes and less government. Our country is in a downward spiral because we’ve abandoned these core principles, and most of the Republicans in office today are just as guilty as the Democrats. To return America to the status of the most successful and progressive, — in terms of true progress (i.e., economic and technological progress, rather than socialist double-speak), we need to return to the core principles and values on which our nation was founded. Those are the principles that made this the greatest nation in the world.
First, we need to reunite the Republican Party. We cannot do that by serving up lukewarm oatmeal, in the form of RINO candidates trying desperately to pander to liberals while turning their backs on the conservative base. The Republican Party needs to go back to being the party of conservative principles and ideals, so conservatives can once again feel proud to belong to it. The Republican Party is facing a crisis. Something’s got to change. I believe the time has come for conservatives to take back the Republican Party and restore it to its former glory. By abandoning it, we abandon any hope of conservative government along with it.
Government is Not Your Daddy 
Valid and true…
It is something of a Dagny Taggart predicament; admirable but potentially futile…
However, I tend to agree with you and have recently reconsidered and done the same.
I am not ready to give it in yet… the alternative of changing parties, while emotionally satisfying, will probably just make things worse. Some had to go to get the RNCs attention… but some have to be here to rebuild it when they get the message.
DToM
Psst. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans. How do you reconcile that with “the majority of American voters agree with core conservative principles.”
I would imagine because the survey was not ‘what is your affiliation’ but rather ‘what do you think about A, B and C’
What your registration is has nothing to do with actual sentiment. By that assessment the Republican party as a whole would be conservative, which is clearly not the case when it comes to party ops.
Wiggles: we know. Over 75% of lamestream media “workers” are registered Democrats, which is one reason why they’re quickly becoming Mediasaurus.
Mediasaurus is shedding “workers” and fighting to hang on as it slips toward extinction – primarily because the Democrats present opinion, speculation, and ideology rather than facts.
The numbers speak for themselves; the decline cannot be due to registered Republicans dropping newsprint subscriptions and failing to tune into broadcast “news” – clearly, increasing numbers of Independents and yes, even Democrats, are tuning them out.
What we have in the lamestream media today is a clear example of the tyranny of the majority, and what we are witnessing is the fact that it doesn’t sell in most American markets. Airhead America, for example, has gone through two bankruptcies because they can’t gain an audience. And why should they expect to do so? Americans know that they’re being spoon-fed the same stuff every evening on television, so they feel no need to tune into Airhead. By contrast, conservative talk radio is a growth industry, and precisely because Americans know that they can’t get such material from print and television media.
In general, Americans seek a degree of balance; they are neither far-left nor far-right. Indeed, a belated understanding of the fact that most Americans are fundamentally conservative resulted in the recent decisions by Democrat party leaders to run with centrist or conservative Democrats during the past four years of congressional battles.
Republicans who fail to understand that the reason Dems regained control in congress was due to a calculated move toward conservatism are doomed to continue to repeat their mistakes: running and acting like little Democrats won’t get them into office.
I heard someone once say that most of the American People live their daily lives as Conservatives, i.e., go to work everyday, pay their bills, self-sufficiency and not looking to Big Gov’t to solve all their problems, and generally enjoying the daily freedoms that come with being a citizen of this great Country. Unfortunately half of them vote Democrat. That might go to what “MaxRedline” had to say about MSM and the effect it still must have on those who still view it as a “fair and balanced” source of news…
I wasn’t implying anything. I simply stated a fact that there are more registered Democrats than Republicans. And I wanted to know how that correlates to the view that “the majority of American voters agree with core conservative principles.”
Of course not all people with the same party affiliation think alike. I just find it odd that if America was so conservative you think the registration numbers would be slightly different.
I do think that since 2000 the numbers have drifted from Democrat to Republican and 9/11 and the omnipresent threat of terror is a big part of that.
I also think that the raw registration numbers don’t really “prove” anything, one way or the other. You also have to consider the remaining group of people who are not affiliated with the two main parties: independents and those with third-party affiliations. How that group leans also has an impact.
There is actually a fourth group, too, who may be included in the occasional poll. That is people who are eligible to vote but have not registered to vote.
As of 2004 it broke down something like this:
– 201.5 million U.S. citizens eligible to vote
– 55 million registered Republicans
– 72 million registered Democrats
– 42 million were registered as independents, minor party or with a “no party” designation
– 32.5 million not registered to vote
I also don’t see less registered Republicans as a “disaster” for our country.
Dear Wigglesworth…Is there nothing implied with THAT remark (30May08, 12:08pm)…I think the point of the well thought out GINYD-style thread is that to get the country back on track, it is much better not to split the Repub Party vote by ditching it and doing something “feel-good” like going “conservative independent” or libertarian in November. That is a sure-fire way to get Barry “The MT suit” in office…And THAT would be the disaster for our Country…Except for those who believe that we would be better off doing things here like they do it in France…In that case, those folks would be quite happy to see BO at the helm followed by the Dem Senate, Congress, and potentially 1-3 Supreme Court Vacancies…OOOOOOOO…As a small business owner, I hate to even contemplate the ramifications of that type of nationwide train wreck.
I guess we’d better define the word “disaster” then.
What exactly does that mean to you? Nuclear wasteland from coast to coast or having to put up with someone you don’t like in the White House for a while?
I assume you just forgot that when the Republicans elected Lincoln, the Republican Party WAS a third Party?
I am not ready to give it in yet… the alternative of changing parties, while emotionally satisfying, will probably just make things worse. Some had to go to get the RNCs attention… but some have to be here to rebuild it when they get the message.
Well, I for one am not willing to stipulate that a disaster for the Republican party equates to a “disaster” for America. But we sure are quick to throw around words like that these days.
“tyranny of the majority”
Ah, another day, another Right-winger railing against the evils of democracy. What it is that we are bringing the Middle East again (besides endless war that is)?
“Republicans who fail to understand that the reason Dems regained control in congress was due to a calculated move toward conservatism”
Dude, you have to be one of the few out there that doesn’t understand why the GOP lost almost across the board in 2006 (and why they are in trouble in 2008). It’s because of the Bush Regime & how badly that they’ve screwed everything up. People were tired of one-Party rule in D.C., and they gave more control to the Dems, period. Wake up…the last 8 years have not been good times for the long-term health of your chosen Party…
“I hate to even contemplate the ramifications of that type of nationwide train wreck.”
Yea, that would be horrible indeed…the last time that the Dems controlled everything they changed policies & passed legislation that allowed for one of the best, long-term economic runs in recent history…along with an eventual balanced budget to boot…fiscal responsibility…oh, the horror… ;)
You mean with a GOP controlled house?
No, I mean when the Dems controlled Congress & the White House, and they passed (with NO GOP votes BTW) legislation in 1993 that eventually balanced the federal budget & got the economy back on track through Clinton’s term.
Dear Mr. Mister Guy…What 1993 legislation was that “that eventually balanced the federal budget & got the economy back on track through Clinton’s term”?
This one:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_Budget_Reconciliation_Act_of_1993
Ah yes, the “government got a metric butt-ton of money during the Internet Bubble and the budget actually balanced for once” budget.
Which was followed by “Bill Clinton was too much of a pussy to kill Osama Bin Laden and then we had to fight radical Muslims for 10 years after the attacked us and spend a lot of money” budget.
Keep trying to re-write history. Remember when Clinton tried to attack Al-Qaeda training camps in Afganistan & the GOP whined about “wagging the dog”? Also, remember when former Clinton administration officials warned the Bush Regime about the threat from Al-Qaeda in 2001 & they did *nothing*? I didn’t think so…
Ahh, yes, sending a few tomahawks and blowing up a mosque by mistake, a very effective attack by Clinton, and indeed, it was a wag the dog moment because he was more worried about the semen he spurted on Monica Lewinski’s dress at the time.
Face it, Clinton failed to do his job of protecting the country by taking serious steps to elimiate the threat. I think Bush might have overcompensated a little, but I’d rather err on the side of scorching the earth a little too much than not enough.
Kill them all, let Allah sort them out.
Yea, and those cruise missiles devastated an Al-Qaeda base in Khost, Afghanistan, which is a near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. So much for him doing nothing then…just more hot air from your side…
well, it worked pretty well, right, attacjs were prevented…. not!
Mister Guy, a perfect example of why we don’t need Democrats in charge of defence!
Given that McCain is a self-described ignoramus on the economy, concurs with the Bush Administration’s radical theories of the unitary executive, is hip deep in special-interest lobbyists working for his campaign, and has absolutely no plans to deal with the energy crisis, I am honestly baffled as to why any truly conservative (particularly fiscally and economically conservative) person could ever stomach supporting him.
The fact that McCain admits his lack of expertise shows that he has the humility to recognize where he needs to focus and learn. Neither of the Democrats seem to have that level of self-awareness. It’s far more dangerous to not recognize one’s ignorance than to publicly acknowledge it. Besides, McCain isn’t nearly as ignorant as the Democrats when it comes to the economy. (See Sometimes Nothing is the Right Thing to Do, and Obamanomics.
Why would a fiscally conservative person support McCain? Look at the alternative. There’s your answer.
McCain may not be ideal, but half a conservative is better than none.
The utter disaster that is the Iraq War – a perfect example of why we don’t need Republicans in charge of defence!
As I pointed out before, McSame doesn’t support “doing nothing”.
“McCain economic policy shaped by lobbyist”:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24844889
We don’t need another lobbyist serving as Treasury secretary IMO.
“After Gramm passed a law easing regulation of energy-commodity trading, California experienced a sharp run-up in energy costs. The energy-trading company Enron was blamed and soon collapsed.
In 1999, Gramm successfully undid the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, removing the decades-old wall between commercial banking, which was heavily regulated, and investment banking, which was not. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act did not extend significant new regulation to investment banking.
Some economists fault Gramm’s deregulatory successes, as well as lax enforcement of remaining oversight powers, not just for the subprime mortgage crisis, but for its spread to other sectors of finance. Even Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has expressed interest in toughening regulations.”
Hmm, last time I checked we seem to be winning in Iraq, violence is down, the Iraqi government is getting increasinly more effective, oil revenue sharing agreements are making progress, etc.
We need to stay there until it is done, we’re making good progress.
You can whine all you want about whether or not it was a good idea to be there, but we are there, we are responsible, and it needs to be managed effectivly. If we would have cut and run when Messiah Obama and the liberal crew in ongress wanted to, things would very likely be much worse today.
“we seem to be winning in Iraq”
LOL…yea, if having a civil war is “winning”, then we certainly are “winning” big time over there…lol…
Starting next year…we are getting out…get used to it…
You seem to be pretty uninformed about what is going on in Iraq! That’s OK, keep your head stuck in the sand!
lookie here, looks like we’re winning hearts and minds as well:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/special-report-is-al-qaida-in-p.htmls-850606.html
LOL…opinion polls have shown that the Iraqis have wanted us out of their country for many years now. Talk about uninformed…
I think conservatives need to stand up and fight back, not lay down and play dead. In response to one of the comments above, the reason the Republicans lost in the last election is because for 8 years the media has done nothing but constantly harp about Bush this and Bush that. They can never say anything good about this country. They, like liberals, want to destroy it. Too many people are sheep that can be easily lead by the nose. People are afraid anymore to stand up for what they beleive in. As an example: Just like the political corrective nonsense, it has been drilled into them for years that if they should say anything even close to being negative about someone, they are a biggot or racist, or some other crap. God forbid someone should think anyway but the marxist liberals way. So, they get afraid and knuckle under and go back into their sheep mode. However, you liberals can say anything you want about core values or ideas and the media applauds you, for your lack of morality or values. Well I am sorry but not everything goes and is OK. It is about time the American peope stood up and started acting like they had a set of balls again. The left has dragged us into a quagmire not fit for human consumption or life.
Very interesting article, Tuco. Thanks for the link!
“the reason the Republicans lost in the last election is because for 8 years the media has done nothing but constantly harp about Bush this and Bush that.”
I encourage you to keep up with this line of thinking! The fact that the GOP basically lost across the board in 2006 (and since then), of course, has *nothing* to do with it’s (failed) policies…it has everything to do with the big, bad media.
“The left has dragged us into a quagmire not fit for human consumption or life.”
I wasn’t aware that it was the Left that dragged us into the quagmire that is Iraq today…
not your daddy?
Hey I am looking around for my list of Oregon blogger emails and I can’t find yours. Or if I have it I don’t recognize it.
Can you get it to me?
nwrepublican at aol dot com.
Thanks.