[dowcaet]

A good, realistic view of politics. Of course we want someone in every office who is conservative but that’s not going to happen. For those of us who live in overwhelmingly blue states many of our GOP candidates for office are RINOS and it sadly comes down to a lesser of two evils option when we get to vote. We either hold our nose and vote for the RINO or stay home. Not great options and either choice keeps empowering the left.

[Starboard]

Agree. One is only less bad than the other. The “choice” between the two is in reality usually an illusion.

Very good post.

[jjsheridan5]

A good, realistic view of politics.

I couldn't disagree more. The Democrats are doing what their type have been doing throughout history -- capitalizing politically on ignorance, playing to people's natural greed and envy, creating dependencies, etc. There is nothing new about them. What has changed, especially over the last 20+ years, is that we have allowed the opposition to become thoroughly neutered, while simultaneously the Democrats learned how to go from an ineffective political party, to a unified, and at times devastatingly effective one. The cause of the neutering of the opposition is the type of view you are advocating: that a conservatives "realistic" choice is to hold their nose and vote for the lesser of two evils.

Over time, this has strengthened the relative position of those within the Republican party who are hostile to conservatism, and weakened the relative position of conservatives. It has gotten to the point where most of the national and state party apparatus will work actively against conservatives. This is the result of this "good, realistic view of politics."

This is a war, not a battle. And the only way to win that war is to forget about the R/D split in the senate and the house, and focus on the relative strength within the republican party of those opposed to liberalism versus those in favor of it. As long as the balance remains where it is (or gets worse), the Republicans will be token resistance (at best).

The Democrats understood this, and as a result they have a much more cohesive, agile, and unified party, willing to take tactical losses in order to preserve their unified approach (this is especially glaring when comparing today's Democrat party versus that of the 70's, when they were a disorganized collection of disconnected interest groups often at conflict with each other). They question is: when will Republican voters learn the same thing, and recognize that voting for the lesser of two evils isn't just fool's gold, but is actually more akin to allowing known traitors to continue to wear your uniform just because it makes your army look bigger.