Conservatives and Republican Victory

American Thinker ^ | July 20, 2010 | Bruce Walker

[neverdem]

Republican victory at the polls is only the start of the fight for conservatives.

The Republican Party has a real chance, because of the unusually good composition of the 2012 and 2014 Senate elections, to acquire something that Republicans have never had before:  a filibuster-proof Senate.   It is probable that Republicans will actually gain House seats in the 2012 elections, because Republican state government gains in 2010 may, for the first time in a very long time, mean that the redistricting process before the 2012 election will actually favor Republicans, increasing their House numbers by twenty seats or more.  If a conservative Republican wins the White House in 2012, the Republicans will be able -- for the first time ever -- to actually enact their agenda over the united opposition of every Democrat.

Does Republican victory mean conservative victory?  Of course not!   That is why it is so important for conservatives to vote in primary elections, attend party caucus meetings, and otherwise push the Republican Party, every day and in every way, toward limited government, traditional Judeo-Christian moral values, states' rights, lower taxes and other conservative positions.   That is why I strongly favored the independent conservative Doug Hoffman last year, even though that might cost Republicans a seat in upstate New York. 

But it is a big mistake to view Republicans and Democrats as ideological clones.   Consider this startling fact:  in every congressional delegation of every state of the union, every single Republican member of that state delegation is more conservative than every single Democrat member of that state delegation.   The two keys to a real revolution are fairly straightforward:  (1) select conservative candidates and conservative leaders in the Republican Party, and next (2) ensure that Republicans have the muscle to enact, in a brief period, long lasting and revolutionary changes.

Conservatives are doing an outstanding job in gaining strong control of the Republican Party.  Not a single Republican House member supported the stimulus package or ObamaCare.  The primary season so far has been an almost unbroken string of more conservative Republicans pushing out less conservative Republicans.  Rubio pushed Crist out of the Republican Party.  Toomey did the same to Specter.  Perry defeated Hutchison in Texas.  Utah's veteran Senator Bennett was denied re-nomination.   While conservatives have not jelled around a presidential nominee yet, that is because until the dust of 2010 settles, no one can know who the strongest candidates will be.

Will Republicans win the muscle to pass laws over the objection of the entire Democratic Party?  Only if every conservative grasps that this is the first chance that conservatives have had since the New Deal to roll back secular nanny-statism -- and that it may be the last chance, too.  ObamaCare, for example, will only be repealed if Republicans do not need a single Democrat vote in Congress.  If ObamaCare is not repealed soon, then it will become one of those indestructible "entitlement" programs which gobble up huge chunks of the economy. 

Conservatives should also enact, in narrow window of real power, reforms that dramatically devolve control over education back to families and which encourage the rapid growth of small business, which is not only the economic dynamo of American enterprise, but also the only counterweight to the corporate fascism Obama is trying to force on America.   There are several critical reforms which, if passed in a single session of Congress (assuming the GOP has the numbers), would permanently move our republic back on the course of ordered liberty, modest governance, and moral society.  It would be extraordinarily simple to prevent Democrats from repealing these reforms: while Republicans have never had this carte blanche power, Democrats have only held this sort of power for a few brief years, separated by several decades.  

I know some conservatives do not trust the Republican Party.  I too, think too many Republican elected officials are in this for the game, and not the principles.  But we have no power to change the warped structure of federal power without using elected officials.  We do not, and should not want, to live in a democracy.  If conservatives control the Republican caucuses in Congress -- if House and Senate Republican leaders are true conservatives -- then conservatives can get their agenda passed. (Witness how relatively inept Democrat leaders, because they controlled the White House and the leadership positions, passed very unpopular legislation.)

I care little for the private motives of particular elected officials, which are secrets known only to God, than I care for what they actually do, and if Republicans gain this temporary superpower, a million watchful, knowing conservative eyes will examine what these politicians actually do.  If we can, for one brief Congress, enact a true conservative agenda, we will have won, very likely, forever.  Worth the risk, I would say.

Bruce Walker is the author of two books:  Sinisterism: Secular Religion of the Lie and The Swastika against the Cross: The Nazi War on Christianity.

[neverdem]

We can dream! It could turn out to be true!

[Erik Latranyi]

But we have no power to change the warped structure of federal power without using elected officials.

I wish more posters on FR would understand and accept the above rather than constantly see the glass half full and tear down our side.

[Hieronymus]

I wish more posters on FR would understand and accept the above rather than constantly see the glass half full and tear down our side.

---

I wish articles were better researched. I clicked on the link to the conservative ratings, and it seems that the author of the article didn’t bother to read through them. By my reading of them, NJ has a democrat in the 7th who is more conservative than two members of the state’s Republican delegation. Griffiths, who became a Republican in Alabama, is more liberal than at least one, and maybe two, democrats who are still in the party. There were several other cases where things were darn close, and I didn’t bother reading beyond NJ, as I was curious more about the quality of the article than researching to write a better article. Liebrerman ran to the right of Lowell Weiker, and gained Bill Buckley’s endorsement.

It is easier to tear down than build up, but it is also easier to look at one easily identifiable characteristic, party affiliation, than to analyze the whole package.

There are Republicans out there who aren’t very good, and sometimes a Dem may be better than they are even permanently, and in many cases having a Dem for one term and a better Pub for the long haul could be a better solution.

[Hieronymus]

Note: the ACU had mis-identified the party affiliation of the gentlement in the 7th. My apologies to them, but this should have been caught by the author of the article.

I would still hold that one needs to think, at that some Republicans are too far left, and most ought to contemplate my tag line.

[Erik Latranyi]

It is easier to tear down than build up, but it is also easier to look at one easily identifiable characteristic, party affiliation, than to analyze the whole package.

You missed my point.

There are conservatives, liberals and politicians.

Reagan was a conservative.

Obama is a liberal.

Bill Clinton is a politician.

Politicians will always exist and they must be used to move the agenda. To stop and throw a tantrum because they are not "perfect" or do not adhere to the ideology 100% of the time is self-defeating.

If your movement is strong enough (Reagan in 1980, GOP in 1994) you will bring the politicians with you, for a short time if you are radical (like Obama) for a long time if you are successful (Reagan).

The author's point is to use that time wisely. That is what Obama is doing right now.

[Hieronymus]

There are conservatives, liberals and politicians.

---

If you want to break it down into three groups, I would say that the overwhelming percentage of the members of congress are politicians. In an elected system such as our federal system, where to be elected one usually must have great ambitions tends to favour the politicians far too much.

Smaller units, where people may personally know the candidates, are more manageable for non-politicians.

Was it Reagan who said “The reason why none of our people are in Washington is that as soon as the get to Washington, they cease to be our people.”

[hyperconservative]

I suggest Bruce Walker put down his crackpipe and his
cognac and whutever else he’s inhaling.

[ballplayer]

To this Point I have seen Plenty of Reasons to Not Vote For Democrats ,but I will be Damned If I can find One reason to vote for the Feckless Republicans either,They are the Biggest bunch of Cowards and Incompetents I have ever seen.

[Inwoodian]

“We can dream. It might turn out to be true.”

I dream that the Witches of the (North) East get hit by a falling house.

[Cacique]

The GOP has an unmatched talent for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[neverdem]

I dream that the Witches of the (North) East get hit by a falling house.

There's a Tea Party guy as governor, and the legislature flipped to the GOP in November. Primary Snowe in 2012. Maybe Collins in 2014, if 2012 works out OK.