Posted by
Forgive My Patriotism on Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:11:18 PM
I realize that many here at Townhall are Republican first and Conservative second (I got mostly criticism for refusing to hold my nose for McCain.)
I get a lot of flak for being a no-compromise Conservative who doesn't think "realistically". According to them, I'm responsible for Obama being in the White House. It's ok. I understand the "united we stand, divided we fall" principle. But I don't put tradition into that mix as a trump card. Some things you don't want to change, like meatloaf-Thursday. But some things can change like when Tevia allowed Tseitel to arrange her own marriage.
And on that note I'd like to say, - first to Conservatives who no longer compromise their votes (hold their noses), and second to Republicans (pardon all the generalities), I'd like to point out that, as much as the left are denouncing and ridiculing Tea Parties and the rest of conservative America, they are truly hoping we get enough traction for a third party to split the Republicans.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't encourage anyone to stay Republican and have to put up with Michael Steele scolding you for having been "unrealistic". No, I would say the opposite, if we can not (near completely) gut the Republican party and replace them with candidates who will begin rolling back the socialist and pseudo-socialist policies of the last century, then we should replace the actual party itself.
It's the damn Ross Perot effect that has me worried. Conservatives cast the most votes in 1992, but the liberals won office because 20% of the total vote went to Ross Perot. I know there are some who'll say we should just stick to the Republican party and just spice it up a bit. Hire a promoter, put on a hat, change the lighting, maybe sing a few more patriotic songs. That's what they are planning to do already. Frankly, as a Conservative it insults the hell out of me. Well, I'd rather give blood through my tongue. If so many believe we should be "realistic" and keep the party strong, the answer from Republicans to Conservatives should not go "compromise, compromise, yeaaaaah compromise!" No, it should be "help us clean house here."
The Republican Platform should be rewritten. It should not consist of fourty-four pages of "We believe", "We affirm", "We recognize", because when the day is done and Conservatives say to Republicans that they didn't stay true to what they believe, they sound like liberals and give a bunch of excuses for why everything has been COMPROMISED. Instead, it should read "We the Republicans will seal the border. We the Republicans will abolish the nanny state. We the Republicans will institute a fair tax by 2014." Etc. That is what the Contract With America was, only on a much lighter scale. That's a major cause for the Republican win in 1994.
Just thinking in my "unrealistic" terms, because I'm, well, Conservative, I will zealously hold to my principles and vote my principles when the time comes. If leftists win the next election, Republicans can blame me again, or they can blame themselves. Either way I don't really care. But I'm laying out for everyone what to expect from me. Either the Republican party gets gutted and their platform is founded on real conservative values and promises, or I go to another party that does.
If Republicans want my votes, they had better be "realistic".