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There is a wind blowing throughout American politics and that wind is indicative of a shift in the prevailing wisdom of how to win in DC. The good news is that this burst of fresh air is coming in with new blood behind it, the bad news is that the establishment of the GOP has every reason to want to bar it’s door against it. Why you ask? Because it would require them to do something that they consider dirty-to embrace the concept of compromise. Now before start screaming at me through your monitor, hear me out.
The wind of change that I see taking place in Washington is a unification of the establishment GOP and the Tea Party. This is something that needs to happen and should have happened prior to the 2012 election-maybe if it had we could have been proceeding towards a real economic turnaround over the coming five years instead of the current death spiral we are in. This does not have to mean that we compromise on the core principles that we as Republicans and many of the Independents in the Tea Party’s ranks share. Valuing freedom, constitutional controls on government and personal responsibility are things that Republicans, Indepdents and Libertarians can all agree on.
Today’s establishment GOP is far from those principles-many of them vote themselves pork every chance they get (yes Mitch McConnell I am referring to you), as many Democrats do. So far one candidate seems to embody the unification trend very well. He is from Nebraska and his name is Ben Sasse. He is a former Bush appointee who should know a thing or two about overspending since he worked in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which is the country’s largest federal agency. He also crusaded against overspending when he was there and fought against false promises in government.
He also understands the importance of bringing the two sides of the party together to create a unified, and unstoppable, force. Imagine if we could unite the passion of the Tea Party and their understanding of how to build an effective grassroots movement and the establishment GOP’s fundraising prowess and connections. WOW. We could get so much done. If we simply listened to what Barry Goldwater cautioned us against back in the 1960’s about the rise of the social conservatives in the GOP:
“And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of “conservatism.”
~Barry Goldwater
Now before you think I am aiming to get all the social conservatives out of the GOP, let me explain that is not my point at all. I simply crave the day when all Republicans, Independents and Libertarians can find their happy medium and decide to unite and win in the name of freedom. Imagine what an incredible force that would create! This doesn’t require anyone to sacrifice their convictions, merely to stop screaming at people who don’t share them and find the common ground that they share. What a concept. Perhaps we should all look into it.
The issue is moot since the GOP leadership is ideologically identical to the Democrat Party. Republicans accept the Democrats’ core belief that government is the one true god, and that our self-anointed moral and intellectual betters should be running our lives for us. The difference is one of price tag: Republicans claim they can run the fascist welfare state more efficiently and cheaply than Democrats. It’s no wonder they are losing the bidding war with Democrats with the low infos.
So, yes – if Republicans, Independents and Libertarians found common ground they would be a powerful political force. But the chances of the GOP kicking its nanny government habit are exactly zero, and there are no other major political parties waiting in the wings that will willingly take up the challenge. You will see Barack Obama endorse Sarah Palin for President before you see the Republican leadership turn their collective backs on the bungling behemoth welfare state.
I simply crave the day when all Republicans, Independents and Libertarians can find their happy medium and decide to unite and win in the name of freedom. Imagine what an incredible force that would create!
As long as the Party is populated by those who get angry when they can’t take the votes of conservatives for granted and would rather call them hobbits for their unwillingness to clap like a trained seal for a mavericky willingness to be the other side of the same coin as the Dems, it isn’t going to happen.
Sorry.
Jennifer says: While I certainly appreciate your feedback gentlemen, I choose to continue to work to create the kind of party at the local level that we need. If more people would become involved (my county alone has 1600 empty PCP spots) instead of sitting out the process and complaining instead of producing results, imagine what that would look like! I know it sucks right now folks but unless we are all willing to do the un-glamorous grunt work we will continue to get the party we deserve. Sorry.
I’m not sure where you get the idea that I’m “sitting the process out”, or that pointing out the blatant inconsistencies and illogic that characterize the party members who continue to marginalize us “for our own good” isn’t a contribution in itself.
People will only lie to you and take you for granted as long as you permit them to, and some of the anger that we see from John McConstipation and his human suppository Lindsay Graham (and others) is a direct result of the fact that some of us are quite vocal in questioning those who ostensibly work for us.
Purdue Dad says: The Repub establishment won’t fight. They cave at every critical juncture. They are falling all over themselves about the Hispanic vote/amnesty. While we need to solve the problem, and no, I don’t think bussing 13 million illegals back to the border makes any sense, they will end up letting the Dems have everything they want, including voter registration and Medicaid. My limited donations will go to SarahPac; Matt Blevin; Freedomworks and Rand Paul.
Fear the Same says: Reading this post several times, I am puzzled why William Jacobson reccommened this drivel. 1) A “unification” of the Tea Party and the GOP establishment is something that should never happen, even if the GOP establishment is reformed. The true role of the Tea Party is as a grass-roots correective to the K Street values that have corrupted GOP establishment. A true “unification” would mean a co-opting the grass-roots nature of the Tea Party. Many of the members of current Establisment were genuine grass-roots conservatives at one time but got corrupted. “Unification” is at least the wrong terminology. The Tea Pary needs to be independent. In fact the flaws of the Tea Party becoming a third party is what if it succeeds and becomes the main conservative party. The party would then attract many the same hangers on and opportunists that afflict the GOP. 2. Your title unintentionally invokes “Brave New World” Aldous Huxley’s satire of top down social enginerring. Presumably a Brave New GOP is somethng We should at al coost. 3) There are too many problems with your Goldwater based assertion, to name. a) The Reagan Revolution probably could have never happened without the religous right. b) THe staunchest opponents of the Religious Right have generally much more Statist then they have. c) The page you cite Barry Goldwater not has no citation as to when and where Barry Goldwater actually said these. A quick glance at other articles show it’s obviously a left-wing website opposed to Tea Party goals. It’s article on Fox News is especially dubious. It cites such authorities as Larry King, Jon Stewar, and Anita Dunn know for her love Mao Tse-Tung whom she compared to Mother Theresa. He claims “Fox News has never broken a Story.”, which seems a dubious claim since people like him usually attempt to discredit any news they don’t like getting out by saying only FOX News is covering this. 4) In 1964, Goldwater actually had the help of cultural conservatives who helped him win the nomination. Phyllis Schlafly wrote “A Choice Not An Echo” Godlwater’s campaign biography. “A Consience of a Conservative” was ghost-written by L. Brent Bozell. Goldwater may have had a personal antipathy to the more traditional minded but it didn’t surface untill later in his career. Many believe largely due the influence of this second wife who was very active in the ultra-statist Planned Parenthood.
ALman says: @Fear the Same
You present yourself as a learned person. What benefit is all the learning in the world if it doesn’t keep one from being a horses ass?!
Prince Benjamin says: Unity over Purity, because if we let the Dems divide us, they will ride to victory over and over again.
Jennifer says: @ALman, thank you for your comment to @Fear the Same, and to Mr. Fear the Same I would say this-I am hardly an establishment Republican but I can tell you that I agree wholeheartedly with Mr . Goldwater’s assertions that we should all be wary of those in the GOP who cloak themselves in religion. Frankly I feel that way about ANYONE in politics since that is how many totalitarian political systems get a foothold (see Islam’s historical record) and perhaps you would like this site better for Goldwater quotes: http://www.conservapedia.com/Barry_Goldwater
And finally @Prince Benjamin-can I get an AMEN! Thank you sir for providing the truth in a beautifully succinct and clear fashion.
Jennifer says: Also @BlackisWhite-not saying that YOU are sitting out the process, but I know many who are in multiple counties around my state. Its tragic.
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