Republicans First or Conservatives First?

"Principle over party."

Amen. When I first registered to vote (1975) and joined the Republican Party at the same time, the words Republican and "Conservative" meant the same thing. That was then, this is now as the saying goes. I only recently became aware of the meaning of the acronym RINO. Suddenly I began applying the term to people all around me. Everything suddenly "fit" with them.

I had to think about this when I was recently published for the first time this year in the Miami Herald (I average about six such editorials a year---just enough to keep my fellow teachers seething lol.) and said that if GWB actively pushed the renewal of the AW/mag bans, I would resign my membership in the Republican Party and vote something more in line with my conscience. A man's gotta have basic values or he means nothing to himself. Once a basic line is breached...some form of action must be taken....no matter what. This is my feeling.

he and Buchanan ran against Bush, not Gore, as though Bush were more the enemy than Gore.

You're referring to Howard Phillips. (BTW, Alan Keyes says that Howard "has the right principles." Dr. Dobson spoke openly of the fact that he voted for Phillips in 1996 at least.) They ran against both because both Gore and Bush are Big Government guys. Look at Bush's domestic record. it's everything Howard Phillips (and Pat Buchanan) warned us it would be. He has given in to the liberals on virtually every point, giving them 80-90 percent, if not 100 percent, of what they wanted. Could Gore do worse domestically? I don't see how. When Democrats are in charge, it's as if you're driving off a cliff at 100 MPH. At leasat Republicans drive within the speed limit. But we're still going off the cliff. We need to turn the car around. The GOP shows no inclination to do that, as more and more conservatives are learning. The Constitution Party does. You can check out the party's platform at its website: www.constitutionparty.com

We need to turn the car around.

I couldn't agree more. Good luck trying to do it with the Constitution Party. You're only going to help the Democrats but I'm sick of arguing with purists. We want the same things but we disagree as to the best way to achieve those ends.

We need to work together but I supported the Constitution Party until I saw that Howard Philips would rather have Gore for president than Bush. That did it for me. Never again.

The hypocrisy of what I am about to post will really frost you and should really rally Alabamans around Judge Moore.

"Conservatives, Christians Battle Alabama Governor on Tax Hike Republican Alabama Gov. Bob Riley stirred up controversy last month when he told voters that it is their "Christian duty" to support his $1.2 billion tax increase. Riley's tax package, aimed at erasing budget deficits and reforming an antiquated tax structure, will be decided in a September 9 referendum." (from gopusa.com).

A Christian duty to pay taxes but the Commandments must be removed. It looks like the supporters of Judge Moore near the courthouse are increasing. What is a Christian's duty? Taxes or supporting the Constitution?

I don't recall Howard ever saying anything like that he would rather have Gore than Bush. What the Constitution Party says is essentially that the differences between Republicans and Democrats in terms of their actual policy is minimal at best. The record shows that this is correct.

The two-party system is not sacred. It presumes that the parties are offering significant alternative visions. They are not.

The Republican Party was formed because the Whigs would not take a stand on the critical issues of the day. The Republicans have done such a good job of replacing the Whigs that they have become the Whigs. It is time to replace them, but as long as conservatives continue to hold their noses and create the self-fulfilling prophecy that the Republicans are the best we can do, the Republicans will continue to take us for granted and continue to get more and more liberal, all the while laughing at the stupid conservatives. It is time for conservatives to let the GOP (Gang of Prostitutes?) know that we won't accept their leftward drift anymore, that we will not allow them to transform themselves into a branch of the Democrat Party. We do that by voting for principled conservative candidates.

Now, I don't agree with Phillips or the Constitution party on every single issue. I've never seen anyone with whom I agree on every single issue. But I expect those we elect as conservatives to move things in our direction, as much as they can today and then a little more tomorrow. Unfortunately, Republicans, with full control of the Congress and the White House, are moving things in the other direction.

That is why conservatives should coalesce around the Constitution Party. It is a party committed to conservative principles of limited government and conservative social principles, which is more than I can say for the Republican Party. Howard is right the the Republican strategy is preemptive surrender. They just lose more slowly than the Democrats. But we still lose.

If conservatives in this country would actually vote their principles instead of voting for anything with an Ra after it, we would have a chance to win a significant number of important offices and begin the process of turning the country around. But too many conservatives buy the myth that conservative candidates are not electable, so we have to elect the lesser liberal. That doesn't cut it. That only advances liberalism.

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