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April 25, 2006
Rethinking my political independence
Kim Du Toit has taken a look at what the Stupid Party has done with its mandate since retaining power during the 2004 elections, giving a letter grade in each area of interest.
Kim is not -- how shall we put it -- pleased with the GOP, which receives somewhere between an F-minus and F-minus-minus-minus in most categories.
Take a minute and read the GOP's report card. Kim also posted his thoughts on disgruntled conservatives pushing for a third-party alternative to the Stupid Party.
No. The net result of conservatives doing this will be to hand the White House, Senate and HoR to the Democrats.
The Dems did this to themselves with Nader, and may still with the Greens, and look at the results.
The problem with “third-party” dreaming . . . is that it’s a “magic bullet” solution. There is no “magic bullet” solution in American politics (Lincoln, McKinley and Kennedy notwithstanding).
Grassroots. We have to get involved in the process—locally, statewise, then nationally. It’s not easy, it’s a huge PITA, it’s going to take some time, but it’s the only way.
Look, the tide is actually rolling in a conservative direction nowadays, and the Democrats/Socialists are aiding the process with their moonbattery. It’s far easier to effect change in the Republican Party now than it was when Goldwater tried it in the 1960s, and Reagan in the 1970s.
Splintering the Republicans (a la Teddy’s Bull Moose Party) will just give the country another Woodrow Wilson or a new Hillary Clinton.
The Presidency is a popularity contest, the Senate a bunch of poltroons. The best determinant of the will of the people that we have is the House—and yet you and Al are prepared to “lose it for a couple of years”?
You NEVER hand over the reins of power to the socialists, just “to make a point”. Never. Never. Never.
And particularly not at this point in our history.
Socialists understand power, they love power, they hold onto power, and they use it ruthlessly to further their aims.
Conservatives distrust power, use it gingerly, and try to avoid it wherever possible.
Now… who would you prefer to wield that power?
He's right, of course. As much as the GOP sucks, the alternative is worse. I've always known in the back of my mind that the key to fixing this party is the primaries, but participation in them requires membership in the Stupid Party, and my distaste for their business-as-usual games resulted in me dropping my party membership a long time ago. I've been a registered Independent ever since, able to shake my head and say, "Hey, don't blame me; I'm a Conservative, not a Republican."
Kim has made me given me yet another reason to rethink that position. Better than standing with my nose pressed against the glass, watching the party hacks screwing things up, I should be on the inside, trying to correct the course of the only political party with even a chance of doing the right thing. It's an exaggeration to say I've never thought about this before reading Kim's posts; every time I had to sit on the sidelines during the primaries, I wondered if preserving my restored political hymen was worth it; the virtues of being unsullied by disgusting electoral party politics may have felt good in a Church Lady superiority-dance sort of way, but it came at a significant cost: irrelevance. I think Kim has finally pushed me from my comfortable seat on the fence.
I'm going to register as a Republican and see what we can do to help save the GOP from its own worst instincts -- and protect the U.S. by keeping the America-hating Moonbats from getting their hands on the levers of power.
Posted by Mike Lief at April 25, 2006 06:35 AM
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