What We Conservatives CAN Do (vanity)

Kieri | 02/08/08 | Self

[Kieri]

I've been on FR for over ten years and to my best recollection, this is only the second vanity thread I've ever posted.

Like most here, I've been angry. Frustrated. Disgusted. Fed up to my eyeballs. Pick your favorite adjective to describe the lack of a good, solid conservative candidate in this election cycle. What I need now is not an outlet to vent my spleen, but ideas to help make something positive happen.

I listened to Rush during the 1PM hour and he made a point that was pure common sense -- we need to concentrate on making sure CONSERVATIVES get elected to the house and senate, even if it's only to throw a firewall between the damage liberals (including McCain) will inflict on this country. Rush is right. Rather than waste even more energy on ranting about how we've been betrayed, I'm going to put it to constructive purposes.

I live in Michigan's 6th Congressional District, home of freshman Tim Walberg (R), a good conservative who ousted RINO and whiner extrordinaire Joe Schwarz. He's been rock solid in supporting and pushing for conservative issues and I plan to volunteer for his re-election campaign. His expected opponent will be Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek), a typical tax-and-spender who voted for a midnight budget deal that not only raised income taxes on our already suffering citizens, but passed an insane 6% sales tax on some businesses that would've cost more for those businesses to implement than it would bring in tax dollars, or "investments" as our liberal governatrix now calls them. The last thing I want to do is inflict Schauer and his policies on the rest of the nation!

I'm going to vote in November, even if I leave the presidential box blank. In the meantime I'm getting in touch with Walberg's campaign to ask if they need help. It's small but it's productive, and I hope others decide to find their own niche. For me, the time for grousing is over.

So, Freepers, what contributions will you make? Suggestions can inspire, especially those looking for a positive direction rather than another lecture as to why we must support McCain.

Thanks for listening.

[Kieri]

When it comes to state races, we've got some good opportunities here in MI - we just need good people to fill the slots. There are a few recall campaigns going (after that godawful midnight "budget deal" last October), and there's even politics and games by Democrats surrounding that. Two recall petitions were filed with identical language for two democrats, but one passed and one failed. The fail came when a judge who'd recused herself the first time stepped in and voted against the second.

Michigan is ripe for the GOP to pick up seats. The tax hikes have made a lot of people very angry and they're seeing parallels between Hillary and Granholm, rightfully so.

I like the "Adopt a Congressman" idea, too. I've got several locals including Walberg I can support.

[Monterrosa-24]

Sue’s name recognition come from CAIR’s attacks on her. With VP’s it is usually not a name recognition thing.

Nixon picked Agnew and nobody knew the guy. Ford picked Dole and everybody laughed that it was a ticket that would be popular all the way from Ann Arbor to Topeka.

With Myrick you have somebody outspoken and anti-politically correct with a higher ACU rating than Hunter. Everybody would learn her name faster than you can say Geraldine Ferraro.

[EagleUSA]

And there needs to be an option for conservatives that will attract them to the polls so real republicans can be supported.
:::::
Any idea who that is, since McCain has the nomination???

[Kevmo]

Here’s an idea I had for something that we as Freepers can at least accomplish on Free Republic and reverse the course of RINOs co-opting conservatism.

It’s been posted to JimRob, no response.

We really should do something about these lockstep republicans on Free Republic.

It had become obvious to me when there was so much support for tootyfruityrudy on this website, which drove JimRob to finally open up the BugZapper thread. Now that Fred has dropped out, maybe JimRob will implement this suggestion I put forward on a couple of threads:

When all the smoke clears, if Hunter doesn’t get the nomination, I have one more suggestion for all of us remaining conservative freepers. It would make sense for us to have an idealogy score, a set of questions with rankings of how important the issue is and how strongly a freeper agrees/disagrees with it. We could all put these results on our home pages, so that when another freeper is debating with us (or us with them) we could just go to their home page, check their score on that issue & others, and realize “Ohhh, this is a Ron Paul supporter” or “ohh, this guy is a small l libertarian” or “ohh, this guy is a Big F FISCAL Conservative and a small l social liberal.”

It’s okay for FR to be inundated with RINOs or have a bunch of liberals posting here, as long as they’re up front about it.

[Prokopton]

Rush is right, regardless of who gets the Oval office, if the Democrats gain enough seats to have a fillibuster proof house of Representatives we are in big big trouble

Filibuster in the House?

[rhema]

I respectfully disagree. A vote for McCain is a vote for more of the same. I can survive 4 years of grief if Hillary / Obama get elected (but I'll definitely encourage opposition to their liberal mandates for those for years). A vote for McCain reinforces to the GOP that we'll bow our heads and toe the line for the sake of "Republicanism" over "Conservatism". I'm tired of that. Take a stand now. "If not now, when?"

There is a precedent: Moderate Ford runs against Carter, followed by four years of malaise, followed by 1980

[Rodm]

I hear what your saying, but Hillary or Obama are going to appoint the absolute worst judges to the Federal Bench and the Supreme Court.

You have to take the chance that we can press McCain to appoint better judges.

You also have to think about the world situtation, with Hillary or Obama, China may think they have permission to invade Taiwan and rest of the axis of evil feel they can attack the rest of the world with impunity.

[Yosemitest]

We need one page of these that are fronts and, one page of these for the backs, that we can print and cut, to fill the prepaid envelopes from the RNC and the ACU.

There will be a price to pay for supporting McCain.

We can vote conservative on Senate and House primary seats, and vote for anyone other than McCain one the Presidential seat, including a democrat in the general election.

[rhema]

I agree...I heard Rush say that to and he is right. Let’s focus our efforts on taking back the House and Senate, something we can help to do....

Michelle Malkin offers this counsel:

If you can't stomach John McCain, channel your support and energies to Republicans who do represent your values and who have treated the conservative base as allies instead of enemies. There is a new generation of combat veterans running for office who haven't made a career of trashing the base. Check out staunch economic, social and national security conservative congressional candidates like Iraq/Afghanistan veteran Eric Egland in California's 4th district. Check out the Vets for Freedom (vetsforfreedom.org) group for their endorsements.

Opposed to the amnesty bill? Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and John Cornyn of Texas all fought the McCain-Kennedy-Graham-Martinez-Bush open-borders disaster. All of those senators are up for re-election this year. Send them some money. Then send a few more bucks to the enforcement proponents on the House side, as well.

[so_real]

"A conservative-leaning congress could go a long way in acting as a counterweight for the liberal garbage we’re about to see."

I agree completely -- it's time to switch focus to the Congress. And, ironically, perhaps the most effective means to *guarantee* a conservative-leaning swing in Congress is to permit a Hillary / Obama in the Whitehouse ... The backlash from all non-libs would be deafening.

[Mamzelle]

I'm talking about the congresscritters, the governors, the state reps....all kinds of elections where Real Republicans are running for office.

McCain will keep a lot of conservatives home, which will hurt the other elections. That's why we need some means of protest voting that will attract those disgusted with McCain.

[cripplecreek]

I have a feeling that the democrat ticket will be Clinton/Obama and even if John McCain does convince conservatives to vote for him it won’t be enough anyway.

[Yosemitest]

Here's a link to U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) Congressional page contact information, so you can donate time or money.

I hope you like it.

[TigersEye]

I can’t argue with not giving up. But if we fail to defeat Amnesty it’s over. Not the Party, the Republic.

[Eva]

I’m forgetting about national politics, I’ll probably leave the presidential spot blank (unless we can extract some serious concessions and promises from McCain, like reversing himself on global warming, carbon credits). I don’t hold out much hope of that, though, especially after McCain sent Charles Keating as his spokesperson to the Hannity and Colmes show.

What I am going to do is start working hard on state and local issues which will affect my family and community a lot more directly than the POTUS. They don’t want us anyway. We didn’t even get a chance to vote in the primary before it was all over. I think that all states that have not yet voted should just withhold their delegates until the election.

[ovrtaxt]

Focus on Congress, absolutely- but I’m not voting for a liberal.

[NucSubs]

a Hillary presidency with a conservative congress and a rebuilt GOP for 2012.

[gitmo]

Do states still allow write-in votes?

[cripplecreek]

Mine does. Seems like there was a list of laws dealing with write in votes the other day. If I recall only two states don’t allow them.