Yeah, and try as I might, I just can't square that circle.
Apostle Claver tells the world how the real party of racism is the Democrats
Posted on 09/08/2010 10:58:06 AM PDT by Kaslin
The announcement by former congressman Tom Tancredo that he'll run for governor of Colorado as a fringe party candidate follows a familiar pattern: established politicians turn to protest campaigns only after they've been disgraced, defeated and rejected by the mainstream. Their minor party dalliances represent a desperate, pathetic bid to keep the media spotlight, more than they reflect any practical agenda or commitment to ideological purity.
In Tancredo's case, he remains tainted by his embarrassing 2008 presidential race. A full three years before the Iowa caucuses, he became one of the first Republicans to announce his intention to run, and managed to waste $1.5 million on his campaign, never reaching double digits in national polls and formally withdrawing just days before Iowa voted. (He ended up with 5 caucus votes— not 5,000, but 5 — out of 119,000.)
Similarly, Alan Keyes joined a minor party (the Constitution Party, the same angry outfit that has now drawn Tancredo) only after his third failed GOP presidential campaign, plus three landslide defeats as a Republican Senate candidate. Adding insult to injury, he even lost the meaningless Constitution Party nomination in 2008 to a little-known preacher, then left that fringe operation to launch his own fringe party.
In similar spirit, former Republican Bob Barr suffered a crushing 2-to-1 defeat in his 2002 congressional re-election bid, then left the GOP to become the Libertarian Party presidential nominee in 2008. Pat Buchanan, another formerly influential figure, abandoned the Republicans in 2000 in the midst of his third failed presidential campaign, enlisting in the Reform Party (created by former vanity candidate Ross Perot) for a catastrophic campaign that drew barely one-sixth the votes of fellow fringie Ralph Nader.
In the 19th century, two rejected presidents established this sad pattern of crushed, embarrassed public figures seeking redemption, revenge or just continued attention. Martin Van Buren lost the White House in a landslide in 1840, failed to win renomination by the Democratic Party he had helped to build, then ran in 1848 as a "Free Soil" spoiler candidate. President Millard Fillmore also lost the nomination of his own party (the Whigs), and four years later campaigned as the "Know Nothing" standard bearer of 1856, promoting a radical anti-immigrant platform that would embarrass even Tancredo.
Only once in U.S. history did a politician abandon his major party base while still popular and successful: former president Teddy Roosevelt re-entered politics in 1912, narrowly lost the GOP nomination to incumbent President Taft, and then, openly angry at this perceived betrayal, ran under the banner of the Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party. After his strenuous campaign fell disastrously short (Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the electoral vote by 5 to 1) Roosevelt quickly returned to the Republican fold, strongly supporting its 1916 nominee and considering the GOP nomination for 1920 before his sudden death at age 60.
Misinformed zealots may insist that Abraham Lincoln offers another example of a successful politico taking chances on a third party, but by the time that Honest Abe reluctantly abandoned his long-standing Whig affiliation, that party had collapsed and Republicans had already taken its place. The new GOP dominated congressional elections of 1854 (electing a new speaker of the House) and 1858, while finishing second in a close 1856 presidential race — all before Lincoln won election as the first Republican president in 1860.
Politicians with the winning touch almost always shun fringe parties because chances of success are so small. The most admired American leaders take their place in an honorable pragmatic tradition, counting practical results as more important than showy gestures. The sad truth, so dramatically illustrated by Tancredo's egotistical campaign, is that third-party candidacies seldom demonstrate courage or commitment but almost always amount to illogical, revenge-fueled reactions to disgrace and failure — reactions that naturally ensure continued disgrace and failure for the deluded narcissists who pursue their self-indulgent efforts.
That sums up Tom Tancredo pretty well.
But remember - “revenge-fueled raction to disgrace and failure” = “principles”...
This analysis is not correct for Tancredo in the Colorado governor’s race. The problem in Colorado is two flawed candidates for governor in the Republican primary. The Denver Post hyped an incident involving Scott Mcginnis to send the primary race into chaos. The other candidate (Maes) misrepresented his background before the primary.
I believe that Tancredo should not have entered the race but he was trying to force both Republican candidates out. He was not trying to force the Republican party to nominate him as a substitute candidate. If Dan Maes had dropped out last week, Tancredo would have dropped out also. Dan Maes is the problem, not Tancredo.
The sad truth is that Tom Tancredo is the only viable option for Colorado conservatives. The GOP could do a hell of a lot worse and just did in the form of the ass clown whom they nominated last month.
—the ones who come my mind immediately are Teddy Roosevelt, who gave us Woodrow Wilson (IMHO the one who led us to the ruination of lots of the twentieth century and much of the world) and that fellow from Texas-Perot , remember him?—who got us Clinton-—
Exactly,
but it never fails that the RobertKennedyLover Medved will always attack and dissemble about any conservative... he HATES them all while parading as a moderate middle of the roader. he’s always been a double crossing RINO loving progressive at the microphone and isn’t worth the listening time... but that’s just Medved all the time, useless and doing damage to the conservative cause
ymmv
Yes, the three Presidents who have done the most to damage our country were Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and LBJ.
Jimmy Carter was a rotten president who got inflation up to 19%, but he did far less long-term damage.
The jury is still out on Obama. He may be remembered as the guy who put the finishing touches on destroying our country, depending on whether the Republicans are willing to bite the bullet, repeal Obamacare, and follow fiscal responsibility, which will cause a good deal of suffering before this mess can be straightened out.
Huge measures are needed, such as abolition of several Federal departments entirely. Will they have the guts to do that? Will spoiled and deluded voters allow them to do it?
The Constimatooshin Party? ROFL!
And, he believes in bigfoot but hates the birthers.
I stopped listening to both him and Hannity. There is no substitute for El-Rusbo.
I believe Dan Maes is now considered the ‘minor candidate’,
with Tancredo out raising him in donations more than 4 to 1.
Dan Maes has also lost the endorsement of almost all the influencial GOP Coloradoans.
Meanwhile, liberals are thanking Maes for staying in the race.
Yeah, and try as I might, I just can't square that circle.
Apostle Claver tells the world how the real party of racism is the Democrats
How are Republicans going to reverse anything? To do that they would have to cause hundreds of thousands of government employees to lose their jobs. They will not do that. No. They will not do that. They will try to “defang” and defund the worst of it but they will leave the structures and the bureaucrats in place which will then grow slowly at first but exponentially so that with another Bush or Democrat in the White House we leap way ahead to irremedial Socialism in a year.
Yeah, and the truth of the matter is, a vote for Tancredo helps the Democrat.
I guess the real truth of the matter is that a vote for a non-conservative is only helping non-conservativism.
Dang shame so many willingly stab themselves in the back when it comes to voting.
Medved is a RINO, conservative hating dolt. It seems you share his views.
"The Denver Post reports Maes had nearly $18,000 cash on hand, compared to more than $141,000 for Tancredo."
Full article:
And out of that $50,000 raised, Maes paid a $22,500 fine for election violations and $2,300 in reimbursements to himself. Maes currently has $19,800 in his coffers to run the race.
I heard a clip of Maes on the radio yesterday. He said that if the elderly woman, Frieda Poundstone, wanted a seat at the table, she needed to come up with some money - which is why he took the money from her. Looking at his fundraising, not too many folks want a seat at Maes' table!
Tom Tancredo has no principles. He’s all ego. It’s all about HIM. He had no loyalty to America, he only has loyalty to himself. And yes I share Medved’s views on this issue.
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