Posted on 01/03/2013 10:31:45 AM PST by Perdogg
I can comment on only two of them.
I was once a reporter in New Mexico. I heard Rep. Pearce speak for some events. Hard-right unapologetic conservative. Seems like a good guy who won't be bullied, both from what I saw firsthand and from what I heard from others. But I haven't followed him recently and can't say more.
Rep. Amash is a different story.
I'm originally from Grand Rapids. My roots in Republican politics in that city go back many, many decades. Those who are supporters of Israel and those who have problems with Ron Paul need to stay away from Amash, at least for now. I may have a different view in a few years, because I cannot see how Amash can survive politically if he doesn't change.
On the positive side, Amash is very open about explaining his positions, he's quite internet-savvy, and part of his “problem” is that because he's open about what he believes, his enemies have more ammunition. I can respect him for being honest and upfront and I don't want to hold that against him.
Long-term, I can't see Amash being able to keep his seat in a socially conservative area like Grand Rapids unless he's able to cut a deal with Christian conservatives or with the Party establishment — which in West Michigan were once closely connected but not identical groups before the religious wars that badly damaged the social and political clout of the Dutch Reformed church world.
Amash won his seat after a badly-divided Republican primary in a district where it's extremely difficult for a Democrat to win. If the Democrats had been able to effectively promote a strong socially conservative candidate, I am not convinced that Amash would not have lost to the Democrat because a lot of Republicans were **REALLY** unhappy with him as the nominee. If Amash keeps up what he's doing now he's going to be in big trouble.
I'm guessing he won't be around much longer.
Bingo! We have a winner! Now lets see if Boehner gets the warning. I'm at least cautiously optimistic.
119 posted on Thu Jan 03 2013 14:24:09 GMT-0600 (Central Standard Time) by hummingbird: “Waiting Until the Last Minute is code... If it looked like there was going to be close to enough support to put someone else in, i.e., a last minute surprise, they held out so they could make the difference. That's kind of what I've been thinking. IMHO, too.”
Hummingbird is probably right. Some kind of deal took place. My guess is that Boehner was within a couple of votes of losing the speakership and several people got on board only after 1) it was clear he would win anyway, or 2) they were given some kind of promise that made them agree to vote for him.
That's fair. This is politics, after all. Now we need to demand that Bachmann and others hold Boehner’s feet to the fire.
“Who Knows,” I'm not really trying to pick on you here. You've actually made the best case yet for a third party and I'm going to say more about that at the end of this message.
But I seriously wonder if most of the people complaining about the Republican Party have actually tried to fix problems locally, where their firsthand personal actions could actually help, or if they're giving up without much effort.
Are people here aware that we have a Freeper from the Class of 1998 who got sworn in this week to a county with a $250 million budget, defeating a Republican incumbent during the primary and fighting against a county board of supervisors that likes insider financial deals and doesn't like public input?
I can't post the full text because it's an Associated Press article, but what appears to be a great profile piece on Hildy Angius and how she got active in politics appears here:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/19/takes-action-tea-party-backers-explain-journey-enraged-engaged/#ixzz2H1CQ95ij
Scroll down past the initial section and you'll find gems like this:
“Her accent screams Long Island and she seems better suited for an episode of ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ than the Chaparral Country Club in Bullhead City. Yet here she is, Hildy Angius, holding court with three older gentlemen who've just finished a round of golf in this retirement community in the far northwest corner of Arizona... Spotting an opening, Angius launches into the speech she delivers these days to friends and strangers alike, whether at tea party rallies, the local coffee shop or on Facebook. The upshot: Don't gripe, do something. Vote. Volunteer. Knock on doors. Do, in essence, what she's now doing: Whatever it takes to move the Republican Party, and the government, to the right... An avid Rush Limbaugh fan, she's called in to his show on any number of occasions.
Still, she acknowledges she did little more than complain until September 2008, when she realized Barack Obama was likely to win the presidency, bringing to office a far too liberal agenda that would mean the kind of changes Angius vehemently opposes. Never before a ‘joiner,’ she went online, learned about the Colorado River Republican Women, went to a meeting and found an outlet for her dismay.”
That, fellow Freepers, is a model in miniature of what we **ALL** need to be doing.
Here's the link to my post: http://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2974438/posts?page=133#133
Activism on the local level is what wins elections.
Words can change minds. Debating is not useless by any means.
But words without actions **ARE** worthless.
If you don't like your local Republican leaders, get involved in your local party and try to change their minds. If you can't, run for office yourself and try to get rid of them. If you can't do that, then go look at third party options.
But try the first steps first before jumping ship.
For those conservatives who are serious about trying to form an alternative party, the Constitution Party is the best option now out there. Missouri Right-to-Life endorsed their lieutenant governor candidate this year, a former Republican legislator.
I am not prepared to abandon the Republican Party, but for those who are, go out and get active on the local level in working for the Constitution Party or some other alternative party in deep-red districts where your vote actually can count and won't just elect a Democrat. CedarDave is dead right about how third party candidates can siphon away votes in close races.
Rand Paul?!?! LOLOLOLOLOL.... :(
Sen. Rand Paul voted yes for the $650 billion 2013 NDAA, enough said there.
Senate Unanimously Passes 2013 NDAA; Power to Arrest Americans Remains
Just after 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, the Senate did it again. By a vote of 98-0 (two senators abstained) lawmakers in the upper chamber approved the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Not a single senator objected to the passage once again of a law that purports to permit the president, supported by nothing more substantial than his own belief that the suspect poses a threat to national security, to deploy the U.S. military to arrest an American living in America.
I’m NOT happy. But they MIGHT have gotten some kind of concession from the bastard. Let’s hope for the best and prepare for the worst and support the Tea Party.
Oh sorry. I didn’t mean to add Rand in there.
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