Good question: how to get the conservative message across
Now here’s a good question:
How do we restore integrity to the republican causes of fiscal responsibility and limited government?…
The present crop of republicans has discredited the message by their short-sighted and greedy actions from the president on down. The only spot they seemed to get it right on was on the War on Terror. Their lack of credibility harms that cause too.
I would love to see you post on and begin a thread about how we begin to remedy the situation. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m up for some good ideas.
So am I, and I welcome suggestions in the comments section. But first, here are my thoughts on the matter.
I am not expressing a wish for things to go wrong for this country and/or the world during the next four years; au contraire. But if things do happen to go poorly during the Obama/Pelosi/Reid administration, people will be more ready to again hear about some hope and change—only this time the change could be towards the back-to-basics of conservatism. But even then, if conservatism and its principles are not well articulated, that’s not likely to happen. And this needs to be done no matter what happens in an Obama adminstration, if conservatism is to have a role in the not-too-distant future.
More often than not, it used to be that certain basic principles were taught in the school and in the family: reverence for the country, respect for the office of the Presidency, responsibility for the self, devotion to individual liberty, understanding of the principles expressed in the Constitution, a time for war and a time for peace, how the economy works, and fiscal responsibility both on the personal and the state level. When this was the case, conservatives didn’t have to work so hard to communicate to the public what conservatism stood for, because the ground had been prepared and many of the basics were already in people’s minds.
Now conservatives have to swim upstream against a fairly strong tide that already says: the US has been a bad actor for most of its history, trashing the President is a wonderful sport, morality is relative, the state will take care of you, war is always the worst thing, the economy is a magical gadget that involves no bad consequences for bad decisions and everyone can/should strike it rich, and people can get anything with credit.
One of the most unfortunate characteristics of President Bush was his utter lack of the ability to communicate. At times the words were there—some of his speeches were rather good—but he couldn’t deliver them in a way that resonated with the people he needed to reach. Bush and the Republican Congresses under him were not really fiscal conservatives, either, and so that message was diluted not just by a failure of words but by actions.
McCain was another very poor communicator. Not everyone can be Ronald Reagan in that regard, but Republicans need to find more charismatic spokespeople who can better convey what Republican principles are and why they make sense. One of the problems with conservatism is that it doesn’t have the obvious kinder-gentler-touchy-feely-do-goodism of the liberal message. Even though conservative ideas do have the goal of benefitting all segments of the population, and may be more likely to do so than liberal policies, in order to understand how this would actually work requires some basic understanding of economics and constitutional law. And yet the message has to be clear, simple, and intelligible.
One advantage is that more Americans still describe themselves as conservative (60%) than as liberal, according to the Battleground Poll. These figures have been stable since the mid-90s. What people mean by the words “conservative” and “liberal” is another question, of course. But the figures favor the idea that conservatism is hardly dead—just sleeping, misunderstood, and without the right champions.
Some might think that the superiority of conservatism speaks for itself. It most assuredly does not. It needs spokespeople, and those people need to be charismatic, personable, articulate, and preferably young (we may not like the latter requirement, but I think it is a necessity. Sarah Palin would fit the bill except for the fact that, so far, she has not been nearly articulate enough.)
These Republican leaders need to rise to the forefront of a responsible and reasonable opposition to actions of the Obama administration with which they do not agree. However, it will be a formidable task to get the press to cooperate in spreading the message of that opposition, since the MSM has become—to an extent unprecedented in my lifetime—a partisan shill for the Democrats.
Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.
–George Orwell
The first thing is to STOP APOLOGIZING! This inevitably leads to conservatism/libertarianism lite which cannot get respect from friends or foes.
I started out my career as a Nuclear Engineer (> 30 years ago) and from that moment on I learned to watch my speech in polite company. I’m still in the power business and I’m much less polite. If people ask my opinion on Energy I tell them bluntly what needs to be done with no bowing and scraping to the Environmental Church. (I’ve been in countries where most people don’t have power or have to steal it, so I don’t accept that what I do is a bad thing.) Since I’ve started doing this I find I get listened to more, and I feel a John Galt like freedom.
I noticed a few GOP candiates here in CT starting to do this in the last days of the campaign regarding budget deficits and union practices. I’m sure they wished they had started earllier.
I used to fret about that until I realized that I’ll outlive 9 out of 10 drivers of cars with Obama stickers on them….
neo:
“…conservatives have to swim upstream against a fairly strong tide…”
Cause we dont own the 24 hr narrative generation machine: “http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ayerssplashpagemf1.jpg
You see, Ayers is only a terrorist because McCain & Palin say so and McCain & Palin can easily be dismissed.
Sorry about that. My links never go through. I have no idea how to work this thing.
Try AOL.com. It will show up on the revolving splash page.
I honestly think the pathetic state of knowledge regarding economics among the general population is to blame. I consider myself pretty good at explaining the principles of free markets to novices, but only if they have an open mind. I can’t count the number of times I’ve explained the principles of free trade and private industry to someone, only to get eviscerated as an evil capitalist. Sometimes, people actually have to experience something before they understand it – in the case of economics, lots of people have to experience awful things before they’ll believe that nationalizing health care/instituting protectionist trade policy/progressive tax policy is a bad idea.
It took MSM 9 weeks to trash Palin enough till incredible misperceptions about her infiltrated the sound bite consuming public.
I don’t know what the answer is. Sorta like pondering the prospects for your football teams season knowing 80% of referees are unabashedly against you.
Palin has the potential to be that conservative voice. People respond and connect with her. Not only are the Dems trashing her, so are the established elite of the Republicans… further evidence that even the RINOS are afraid of her. Which for me, makes her perfect 🙂
“How do we restore integrity to the republican
causes of fiscal responsibility and limited government?…”
Maybe by pursuing policies of fiscal responsibility and limited government rather than profligate spending and an intrusive state?
“Now conservatives have to swim upstream against a fairly strong tide”
Wait, I thought the US was a center-right country?
billy: that’s what I mean when I say “Bush and the Republican Congresses under him were not really fiscal conservatives, either, and so that message was diluted not just by a failure of words but by actions. ”
I’m not sure that actions always speak louder than words. But they certainly speak.
We can start by giving copies of PJ O’Rourke’s Eat The Rich as presents. Very funny, very good exposition of the free market internationally.
We have to teach again. We’d rather not, because people could get it on their own if they chose to. But reality is like that. We can’t get out of the job by pretending it’s not there.
oh, and billy: the tide against which they swim is the decline of the educational system and the values of which I already wrote, as well as the strongly pro-Democratic message of the MSM, plus the afore-mentioned hypocritical actions of the recent Republicans, especially in the fiscal sense. Enough to constitute a pretty strong tide, even in an electorate that seems to define itself as conservative.
Also, as I wrote—I’m not sure what most people’s definition of “conservative” actually is. It would be instructive to find out.
Assistant Village Idiot: I wish that Sowell’s Vision of the Anointed was required reading in every school.
Here’s what I’m getting at: fiscal integrity and small government may have been principles of the Republican Party in the past, but they’re not any more. You can’t speak of them anymore as Republican principles; there is not some Platonic Ideal Republican Party that exists in the ether, resting upon principles of fiscal integrity and small government, but instead a Republican Party in-the-world, a party that exists as it is. Republican voters choose Republican leaders that are profligate spenders and big-government nannies; the principles of the modern Republican party are just those. Bush and his Congress didn’t sneak into power behind the backs of the fiscally responsible; they were chosen by people who wanted profligate spenders and big government nannies while deluding themselves into thinking they somehow stood for different ideals and a party that doesn’t exist anymore.
So, long story short: get a new party. If you want the Republican Party to stand for principles other than those it stands for now, you have to rebuild it.
My recommendation: nominate Palin in 2012!
Agree with Billy. GOP is in a death rattle. It should have a “Do Not Resuscitate” note atop the chart. The only thing which would make me change my mind is a long, loud, bloody revolution starting now. First thing, complete exile from the party and utter disdain for the likes of Buckley, Parker, Noonan, et al. The rest starts with party members – new chairman of the Republican Party? Oh to hell with it, it’s not going to happen. GOP RIP
I don’t think there are any easy answers to the problem that neo refers to. Right now the cultural Marxists have taken Antonio Gramsci’s theory and applied it ruthlessly (“the long march through the institutions”) and put into practice another Communist’s theory, Saul Alinsky. I used to be on the inside of this movement thirty to twenty years ago, as an aspiring academic Marxist. I have seen how thoroughly they have penetrated what are called the “transmission belts” of society, right on down to the lowest levels of the education system. They control the media and have made very substantial inroads into the legal profession.
They have fostered a kind of intellectual torpor in the products of our educational process. And people have a sense of entitlement that would shock our forebears. Reversing that process is not going to be easy, since the people now in charge of it assiduously weed out anyone they suspect of holding traditional, conservative views. We do have people who hold these views in the academy, but they cover up and hide, staying under the radar so as not to fall victim to this whack a mole machine. It take a very brave academic or teacher to come out and champion views that run counter to the socialist consensus. In all likelihood their lives will be hell after wards. And if they don’t have tenure, they WILL be fired.
Taking back these institutions is not easy and would take decades. And it isn’t like us to want to purge out the other people. We just want an environment where we will not be purged, ostracized, or persecuted for our views. We believe in true academic freedom for everyone, even those we disagree with. Free debate. And no penalizing the kids if they don’t parrot our views. The goal is to purge the idea that we have to INDOCTRINATE kids.
I think the first step should be to foster alternate institutions of learning, encourage the organizing of people and groups who share these goals, and to get involved in local politics, especially school boards. I’m not saying that we organize witch hunts for Communists in the school systems. What I am calling for is greater accountability for the money spent and the way the kids are taught, because the public schools are failing for a lot of reasons – some of which have to do with a dumbing down of curriculum and indoctrination being substituted for solid learning.
“Right now the cultural Marxists have taken Antonio Gramsci’s theory and applied it ruthlessly (”the long march through the institutions”) and put into practice another Communist’s theory, Saul Alinsky.”
From the November 2 New York Times:
“…a handful of new studies have found such worries to be overwrought. Three sets of researchers recently concluded that professors have virtually no impact on the political views and ideology of their students.”
I guess we can dismiss those findings, though, since they were reported in the New York LIES and were produced by professors themselves, who are probably practicing the intelligentsia’s version of taqiyya to deceive the public. In fact, I think a great strategy for the Republicans to adopt to reach more Americans would be to continue rejecting things like facts and studies and reality as having a liberal bias.
The problem here, Neo, and this has always been what I’ve argued on your site, is that, while you keep saying you once were a liberal, I can’t believe that you once actually believed all these things:
“the US has been a bad actor for most of its history, trashing the President is a wonderful sport, morality is relative, the state will take care of you, war is always the worst thing, the economy is a magical gadget that involves no bad consequences for bad decisions and everyone can/should strike it rich, and people can get anything with credit.”
Or did you? I certainly don’t believe these things, and no liberals I know do either. What I believe would be much closer to this:
“The US has been a force for good, overall, but has done some terrible things, as well. Criticizing the President is a free speech right of all Americans, but should be done with respect for the office. Morality is not captured by the codes of any single religion, and standards of morality evolve over time, and rightly so; but morality is also not entirely arbitrary, and there is some objectivity to what works and what doesn’t work, what is good and what is not good, for people and for society. War is something one ought to enter into very reluctantly, and only as a last resort, for absolutely compelling national security or, in rare cases, humanitarian, reasons, but if one does go to war one ought to go in with overwhelming force and fight it to win. The economy works best when short-term optimizations are left to market forces, but when government also provides some regulation and oversight, to improve stability and overall efficiency.”
Mitsu: of course I didn’t believe those things. Nor did most other liberals, back when I was forming my opinions. But way too many of the liberals I know today believe exactly those things.
Well, I’ll take you at your word on that, Neo, but I certainly don’t know any. Even the leftists I know only believe perhaps half of the things on that list.
What I believe would be much closer to this:
“The US has been a force for good, overall, but has done some terrible things, as well. Criticizing the President is a free speech right of all Americans, but should be done with respect for the office. Morality is not captured by the codes of any single religion, and standards of morality evolve over time. waffle waffle waffle….
Hahahahaha!
Exactly. I think she nailed it with her description.
The only think she left out is that it is anathema for a liberal to actually believe in anything but the broadest platitudes.
So, by your own admission, you do believe the liberal tropes she cited, but only in that tepid liberal wishy-washy fashion.
PS: Where’s my check? The wealthy have been living off the middle class too long (as you say). Now is your chance to make amends.
For those who are down on the GOP (billy and Geo),
We can reform what we have as a party.
The Republican party votes (if you look at the Citizens against Govt waste website) consistently for less spending by FAR than Democrats.
McCain in the debates called for a freeze on spending except veterans benefits and national security.
The people need more reforming than the Republicans do.
The people vote constantly to take MORE from others. The American people think that you can get something for nothing I guess or take more from the rich without having an economic downturn.
That’s ridiculous.
The American people are getting what they voted for:
1) Divesting from the markets
2) People buying less and bracing themselves for the economic downturn and more taxes
3) 50% of the people paying no income taxes and actually getting rebates from the government.
4) Less employment
5) More dependency
6) Higher government spending
7) More debt
We have a lot of educating to do. People like Mitsu believe things about history that aren’t true. They won’t open their minds to the truth. But it is possible. Both my friend and I were converted from liberalism. It happens.
For 60 years we’ve had a government that has taken about 20% from the GDP.
Unfortunately we’ve had Congresses (except from 1996- 1999) who have spent upwards of 23% – 24% as a percentage of GDP.
That is the reason for the defecits and growing debt.
Congressional spending. and specifically Democrat congressional spending.
Sure we’ve had Republicans in Congress spend more than we conservatives would like. But LOOK at the Citizens for Government waste reports on the vote tallies and what dollar amounts each party votes for!!!
It’s a clear choice.
We educate the people to stop having the preference for spenders!!
Stop allowing political terrorism to be normalized and be a valid means to what you want.
in a democratic republic (we dont have a democracy), everyone gets to say or discuss things, and reach some sort of end.
however, since socialists… their way of getting what they want is political terrorism. which is why they like political terrorists all over the world.
what else is it to have a vote… in a democratic way… then have violent protests and attack people and institutions to change the vote?
nothing less than one sides refusal to have any other answer than the ones their leaders want.
marxism is favored because marx created a handbook on how to create a dictatorship/totalitarian state from a free one (because marx was a loser in a free one, and could be a winner in a totalitarian one).
socialism is a dictatorship government… marx, engels, and all the other socialists, know that..
useful idiots believe the ad copy…
we have no way to fix this… we have no way to stop them if we cant stop them. we have no way to stop bad ideas, if all ideas are equal. we have no way to decide on a best culture, if there is no best.
its all about power… and power is about whose genetics gets into the next round.. and how much stuff you have, has little bearing on this (very wealthy people who are not in power games tend to have few children. but pwoer people tend to advice people to put off, yet have 5 children, like pelosi).
this is the game of dynasty… there is no way for you to live longer… there is no way for what you acquire to mean antything…
so going into the future, the only thing of real value you have is your children… we forgot that, and now we self suicide in favor of the top..
the game is dynasty… and either they share the future with us, or they knock us out, and everything in the futre is for them and their own
what is needed is a move like sukarno did when he found out he was tricked by the communists…
but we are too pasifist (yes we are warmongering pacifist) to rid our selve sof cancer.
so there i snothing to do… we will have to follow through since we wernet born yet and our parents sold our future off to get laid, stoned, and not much else (since they got less out of life than their parents got)
i guess half a millinium has to pass after its all totalitirian, for birth demographics to change it, and for the leaders who are strong and willing and remember their purpose to get lazy.
just because you cant feel an event horizon, doesnt mean you avnet crossed it.
the soviets were chess players. you can have a win many moves before it happens.
checkmate in 10 moves…
as long as you continue to try to find a win inside the game they are playing, you will lose.
My Definition of Conservatism
1) Strong national security
2) Strong safety net for the non-able bodied and elderly (not diluted by handouts for others)
3) Government making decisions with emphasis on personal responsibility, equal OPPORTUNITY and private ownership in mind
On item 1:
In the 1960’s the defense budget was 50% of the federal budget. Over the years it has gone down to 19% of the federal budget as the big 3 entitlements and other discretionary spending have taken up the slack. We should group national security and space exploration and not have that budget be under 20% of expenditures.
On item 2: We have over 200 programs for the poor. A bunch for food, reading, health, education, etc. We need to consolidate and figure out how best to serve the philosophy, “it’s better to teach a man to fish than give him fish”. We need to stop diluting our safety nets for the edlerly, children and non-able bodied. We owe it to those groups of people as a whole to take care of them and not treat everyone as needing a handout. I have worked HARD for what I own. I paid for my own college, all of my own cars and I never got anything more than public schooling. Anybody in America can make it if they eat right, educate themselves and make good decisions.
Item 3:
Social Security should’ve been transformed as Bush wished. It was a small token transformation towards and ownership society. African American men receive less in social security than they pay into the system because the benefit is lost when you pass away and African American families suffer for this. African Americans would benefit from the philosophy of people who pay into social security now – paying into an investment like a CD, bond or diversified fund that is able to be passed on to family members when the beneficiary passes away. The system was set up with current workers paying for the elderly now so a transition has to take place. EVERY program can have these ownership and personal responsibility goals. American politicians discourage saving and making good personal choices.
Well, I think teaching economics is the conservative strong point / the lefty weak spot.
If people had a firmer grasp of economics it would be a place for non lefty arguments about policy to connect with them.
Nothing is free / everything has costs / is a trade off.
Greedy capitalist CEOs don’t cause all your problems. Even public run systems have similar problems as our private systems. If we took all the CEO money and divided it by consumer of the product it would equal X per consumer (which while low is also inflated as even public systems need management… LOTS of it). Et cetera…
Baklava, “The people need more reforming than the Republicans do”.
Who’s going to do it?
The Republican Party is now in the same position as the Mensheviks in 1920 – superfluous and of no use. The moderate road to socialism they represented was swamped by the Bolsheviks, the revolutionaries. Republican moderation on the way to American socialism has been swamped by the revolutionary wing, the Democrats. You want to beat them – how, promise the unreformed electorate MORE? A previous commenter, FredHjr, mentioned the institutions now belong to them. They do.
Now the fatted electorate belongs to them also. The moderate have once again lost out to the bold.
billy:
“I think a great strategy for the Republicans to adopt to reach more Americans would be to continue rejecting things like facts and studies and reality as having a liberal bias.””
Billy; Do you believe that “Global Warming” is a real man made and potentially catastrophic climate concern? If so, what scientific facts and studies can you cite that is most convincing to you?
If you do not believe “Global Warming” is a real man made and potentially catastrophic climate concern, might it be a fair to consider that the issue might be ideologically driven?
What must the GOP do to get itself back on track?
Well, for a start we must separate out principles, policies, and messages. Then we must take them in proper order.
There are several ‘branches’ of conservativism, and they will differ somewhat on which principles are most important. But most will put freedom or independence of the individual, strong defense, and a civil society that will perpetuate itself near the front. Most will put the traditional family in there, serving the first and third principles. Almost all will agree that power in the hands of government is a necessary evil; although it can do good, it must be carefully circumscribed and therefore minimized.
With this in place, we can examine policies to see how well they support or undermine the principles, and whether the effect will be limited to the term of the policy or self-perpetuating.
And then we can work on the message. It must be principled; it should resonate, and it should be felt. It should warm when warming is called for and it must sting when it addresses a supporating evil-on-the-left. Such evils include falsehoods (big lies), sanctimony, and rank hypocrisy in public morals (think Michael Moore, Code Pink, and Political Correctness).
No one person or cadre can do this all. We have work for Newt Gingrich, for Fred Thompson, for Bobby Jindal, for Sarah Palin, and for many more,
I thought the comment upon which the post was based is a little flawed. I don’t think President bush was greedy. He came to Washington for his first term with the idea he could work with both parties (in his campaign he had pointed out how he’d done that in Texas). Unfortunately after working with The “Tedster” on No Child Left Behind” they turned around and stabbed him in the back and fought him every step of the way. I do admit the house and the senate republicans just acted like it was their turn at the trough and Pres Bush never vetoed any spending bills laden with earmarks by both parties – and the government grew.
And Neo you are right. Not only did he not know how to convey his ideas to the American people he never (until the last year) ever go to the people and explain what he was trying to do how he was being stymied by the democrats. If he had done this with the whole Fannie/Freddie situation when the White House and some Republicans (like McCain) tried to pass some additional oversight legislation it would have taken that weapon away during the campaign and possibly gotten something done to avert the worst of it. So I lay those things at the Republican’s feet.
I am irritated with my Senator Mel Martinez. After the loss on Nov 4th he said the party had to move to appeal to a larger segment of the population. Totally wrong. They need to do exactly the opposite. As Neo pointed out they need to return to the core values of reducing the size of government (and so it’s intrusion on our daily personal and business lives) as well as making it run more efficiently. McCain had some great ideas about how the government needed to get away from cost -plus contracts, etc. but this just flew over the head of most voters.
Now I am going to – over the next couple of months – try to put together a movement to petition the republican senators and congresspersons. I will call it “Vote Present”. Though you can’t vote “present” (only abstain) the name is a tribute to Obama’s time in the Illinois Senate. What I think should happen is that the Republicans should fight tooth and nail on any kind of entitlement , Judicial nominees (and I pray the dems don’t get a filibuster proof senate), and any legislation which cannot be reversed. Other than that they should speak their peace and make their views known. However since they won’t be able to stop passage of diddly-squat I think they should say “we don’t think you are right but since you (democrats) think you have the plan to save America and we don’t want to be seen as obstructionist we will not cast Nay votes – instead we will vote “present” (abstain).”
The biggest part of this is that they MUST, MUST, MUST make this known to their constituents and the American people.
If anyone says “Hey you are collecting a government paycheck for not working.” They have the perfect comeback – “That was a large part of Obama’s platform so we are getting on board with the program”
Geo asked, “Who’s going to do it?”
Palin and Michael Steele seem to be able to get the message out. I like Michael Steele and have followed him for years. His message yesterday on Fox News MENTIONED ownership and personal responsibility and an end to the bailouts (subsidizing the weak companies).
Enough messaging will work. You have to have faith.
Please excuse the grammatical and phrasing errors in my above post. MY Polish side is often like Dr. Strangelove’s arm – sometimes it can’t be controlled.
Neo Neocon’s suggestions are all good ones. Here’s a few disconnected additions:
1. Read and understand the power and wisdom of the Constitution and related documents. Then develop a one-page Vision Statement that fleshes out this wisdom for the XXIst Century. Responsible, limited government supporting a dynamic, growing private economy will sell. Use it.
2. Prepare a Business Plan, modeled on the theory of business planning for company start-ups, with time specific action plans. The idea is to then communicate with the public from a clean script. Oppose the big government plans of the Dems from this script. Stay on message at all times.
3. As an earlier commenter noted, develop your farm system. Recruitment at the local level is paramount. And I also agree the school boards should be a primary target to serve as launching pads to de-politicize the education of our children.
4. Get young and, yes, diverse. The inability to have representatives who can talk in the language of what must be key target groups – youth and minorities – is a serious weaknesses. All these old white guys make it easy to be tagged as apologists for the rich and big business. And, of course, new leadership.
5. The entitlement debt of unfunded liabilities (depending on how you define it at least $40 TRILLION) will be here in a few years. The first Baby Boomer retirees arrive in 2010. Something has to be done, although it’s probably already too late to avoid much pain and suffering. The Republican Party must prepare a comprehensive reform plan.
6. The next two will be controversial, but I am convinced that the Republican Party must find a way to secularize its moral values. One tactic might be to attack the Dems when they try to put the USG in charge of abortion, marriage and end of life decisions. Support state and local delegation of authority in these matters.
6. I have struggled with the issue of national security. We have spent enormous amounts of taxpayer money to defend “allies.” I frankly don’t care about allies any more, i.e. what have the Europeans done for me lately. We must let the globalized economy, in large measure, take care of itself. Be ready to respond to attacks, but the standing military under current conditions must be reformed and downsized.
7. Finally, remember Reagan was President beginning 28 YEARS AGO. That’s a long time. While he is still worthy of respect, to try to return him from the dead is a waste of time. Get new, get real, get dynamic.
Some ideas. Have at me.
Baklava, “You have to have faith.”
I am not without faith when I have something (someone) to have faith in.
Neo said “It (conservatism) needs spokespeople, and those people need to be charismatic, personable, articulate, and preferably young”
I would add courageous and bold. The craven need not be heard from and that includes every one of the ’08 Republican primary wannabees. The “more but less so” crowd are losers — ethically, morally, and politically. Before you reform you need to inspire. Reagan was an example of that.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. — George Orwell
We need revolutionaries! I am not convinced Palin and/or Steele meet the requirements.
I reject the notion that this is still a “center-Right” nation, because I think a lot of people who describe themselves as conservatives are not, in fact, conservative. If it was a center-Right nation, then center-Right candidates for office would win out, on balance. But this is not true. It goes all the way from the top down to local politics. The people who don’t pay any taxes salivated over the idea of getting a check from the government. Is that a conservative attitude? No, it is not.
On national defense, they voted to weaken our posture and our military, not strengthen it.
On energy policy they vote for the candidates who would base energy and economic policy on flawed science, thereby crippling the nation and putting us in a very bad position. All because wealthy constituencies want government money for their “green” startup companies that really have no viable products. This is clearly not a conservative approach.
They voted for a candidate who has no problem with just after birth babies being put to death. That is not a conservative way of looking at things.
My experience as an academic and a former Marxist intellectual convinces me – again I cannot match the so-called scientific study the NYSlimes reports about – that the crypto-Communists DO in fact have an influence over the political views of the kids. Any of you who have exposure to young people know this. To reject what our ears and eyes grasp is simply not an option. billy, I’VE SEEN IT AT WORK IN THE CLASSROOM! I have to regard your snarky post as the product of an intent to simply be a bothersome troublemaker. I don’t believe you are really the conservative you pose as. I think you’re from the other side and you are looking for ways to lampoon conservatives because they don’t live up to their principles. That’s a classic Alinsky tactic, by the way. Use the enemy’s goals and ideals against them when they don’t live up to them, thereby destroying their credibility.
Folks, I know the Left intimately. Not just how their obstreperous, ambitious activist types operate, but I know the philosophical sources of their vision – which most of the activist types are not generally literate with.
One more backhand at billy. If the kids are not liberal-Left, then why did they OVERWHELMINGLY vote for Oobonga? Over 60% of the 18-30 year old demographic voted that way. Single females voted well over 70% for Oobonga. They all want something from the government teat.
When the majority of the country keeps sliding ever more towards a collectivist/parasite view of life, to call it a center-Right nation takes some sleight-of-hand.
We must not apologize for Conservatism. Conservatism is the solution, i.e.
Democracy is the best antidote yet invented for human misery.
Free markets are the best antidote yet invented for human misery.
Opportunity is the antidote to human misery.
We must stop apologizing for conservatism. Conservatism is the antidote.
National strength is the antidote.
Prosperity is the antidote.
Personal responsibility is the antidote.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-MI, defines conservatism thusly:
1. Our liberty is from God not the government.
2. Our sovereignty rests in our souls not the soil.
3. Our security is through strength not surrender.
4. Our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector.
5. Our truths are self-evident not relative.
This is raw and crude, but the populace needs to be shown what is happening in Socialist Europe and Canada. How expensive is the fuel there? The media was mostly silent about the higher cost of fuel in Europe compared to the US – for a reason. Talk about the medical system in Canada and Britain. I never see the horror stories on the MSM. Talk about how the British are fleeing Britain. Cal Thomas had a good article a while back about “Vanishing England.” I found an online site last year that asked those who fled why they did. Very intriguing- and depressing. Talk about how Russia is getting Europe over an Energy barrel now. Talk about the people being drug up in front of “Human Rights Commisions” for saying politically incorrect things.
What I am saying is, people need to be shown what Socialism and out of control Environmentalism will do to a people.
Also, at the grass roots level, Pastors need to talk about personal financial responsibility. One of our local pastors just finished a series about getting out of debt and how debt enslaves. He said the only “good” debt was for a house (not a mansion) and possibly school loans. He kept saying how if you use credit cards they need to be payed off every month. He talked about the difference between “needs ” and “wants”.
boqueronman,
I don’t think your #6 should be controversial. Even if people start with a religious belief, most would probably accept the fact that their understanding of that belief grows with life experience and rational thought. Otherwise there would be no need for seminaries or theology courses. It certainly should be possible to discuss those experiences and thoughts in a way that is less dogmatic without denying or relativizing your core beliefs.
On Palin:
She is instinctively conservative but as yet hasn’t shown her ability to articulate a conservative philosophy. She could turn this into a plus. Suppose she had a web site for young people and said, “This is what I believe, but I can’t say it as well or as completely as Thomas Sowell. I really recommend his book ***. Try reading it with a group of friends and see what you think of his ideas.”
She would retain her connection with a broad base but also encourage them to develop their own thinkng and communication skills.
We gave away the store, ever so gradually, to the Left. We funded the hell out of education-now $14,000 per pupil in NYC- and failed to demand accountability and productivity. So now we have Bill Ayers as a tenured Professor of Education and Howard Zinn and tens of thousands of their ilk educating our chilluns, and FredHJr and I know that this Ship of State will not be turned on a dime; in this context a dime is 4-8years. It will take my grandkids to do that, and that’s a huge maybe.
So the answer to Neo is: we’re done, finished, kaput, unless the Obonga crowd utterly drives the USA into a ditch….and they are not that stupid. They are many things, evil even, but not stupid.
1. If we want to change the country rather than just win elections, we all have to become better advocate of conservative principles. This is not the same as advocating party politics or politicians (as we all know how far from the tree they can fall.) My ideas of conservative principles are:
2. Weaken the MSM. I have decided to boycott some of the more liberally biased media. I will no longer post link or follow link to the NYT, LAT, or CNBC/NBC. I am contemplating CNN, FN, and WaPo as well. Everytime anyone goes to one of their web page, they gain in ad revenues. I cannot support that. I encourage all of you to boycott them as well. Since they have no idea whether I am watching their TV network, this naturally does not affect that medium.
Huan,
I am already there with you in boycotting the Big Media outlets. Been doing so for quite awhile.
Go to schools, to colleges and universities, form chapters here, organize lectures, disputes, fraternities and all possible forms of discussion clubs. Make your own long march through institutions.
I don’t see “teaching” conservatism or attempts at elbowing it into institutions as an efficient approach to our problems. This is a hallmark leftist approach. Not to mention it requires a bureacratic bean counter mindset with the patience of Job that simply doesn’t exist among conservative ranks. Our ideas are out there and ready for the pickings, only waiting for the right conditions to be embraced.
So what are the right conditions? The smart money is on exposing liberalism for the mind control through propoganda process that it is. No human being likes to feel force fed and manipulated. Which is exactly whats going on.
Conservatism shoved down someones throat isn’t conservatism at all. I’d even go so far as to say a conservative movement manned by thought control consultants and narcissistic whiners would be equally, if not more scarier than modern liberalism is today.
No. We don’t need to arduously ponder how to dismantle liberalism brick by brick. We simply need to hasten the day for it to burn itself to the ground. Leaving behind a more discriminating citizen who’ll gravitate to the side that respects his individual autonomy. The side that recognises his unique individual talents and contributions for the bulwark of a productive and free society that it is.
Great post! My suggestion? Two words:
Michael Steele.
I hope the RNC will come to its senses and elect him Chair.
“Our ideas are out there and ready for the pickings”
This simply is not enough to be really picked. General public is astonishing illiterate in civics, economics and history, and without education in these matters all your ideas will fall on deaf ears.
Trying to educate anyone with regard to conservatism or conservative principles is a waste of time. I am not against it in principle but as a practical matter those doors have been barred to “us”. The best way to start taking our country back would be the teaching of the Constitution — line by line, paragraph by paragraph, article by article, section by section. Mandatory! (Is the Constitution taught anywhere, any public high school or State U?) It isn’t going to happen. The relativists have so indoctrinated the students that these same students would deem it an affront to have to read/study what they already know, civics or government (racist patriarchy), American history (racist exploiters/despoilers), the Constitution (a living document, can be deconstructed to mean anything you mean it to mean).
I hate to put it this way but the right needs a “messiah” (there I’ve said it). Not in the manner of the most recent example who externalizes to others his own internal victim-hood but someone Reaganesque. Someone who won’t deaden the mind and soul with tax rates. Someone who believes more than just “better me than him”. Someone who’ll inspire people and tell them they’re better than the liberals say they are: that they’re generous, caring, industrious, color blind, courageous, sacrificing, and tolerant, no matter what the left says. It may sound schmaltzy but it works if the person preaching it believes it.
Problem with strong national defence, in one word: technology. As technology advances, the potential to build more effective weapons increases, as does the connectedness and interdependence of society, which makes the effect of a single attack greater. Only the strength of materials remains unchanged: it took the same force in newtons to break a human femur in Caesar’s day as it does now. As a result, wars have grown steadily more disruptive, and steadily less conclusive.
Problem with retailing “horror stories” about places such as Canada and Britain: facts. Canadian health care, for example, works. It covers everyone, at least for the basics, it costs considerably less than the US system (at least 5% of GDP less), and it produces better measurable outcomes: lower infant mortality and longer life expectancy.
Conservatives perform a valuable service when they point out that you can’t just order up change and decree it shall work. But the same logic that holds you can’t just order up the change you want and expect it to work, when the technological environment changes, you can’t order things to stay the same. Effective conservatism means adaptation.
Geo wrote, “I hate to put it this way but the right needs a “messiah””
Nope.
There is one truth I try to stick to.
In politics, I ‘try’ to stay away from personalities and I don’t put my faith in a ‘person’.
The principles, issues, policies, ideas is what I try to stick to.
For instance, As much as I agree with Newt Gingrich, he is fallible and will have leftists dogging him for the way he griped when exiting a plane or did whatever to his wife.
Right now, I’m excited about Michael Steele being RNC chair.
But even if Michael Steele dissappoints – it does not discredit conservative values that have been outlined in this thread.
While liberals (as I was one in 1991) do not understand economics, undermine national security, and do not respect personal property rights, there are Republicans who do this too and we need to stick to the issues.
All of the bickering back and forth about personalities is sick. While I was highly outraged about the left’s treatment of Palin, there is one constant, they will do it to whoever speaks conservative principles and she did.
Persuade on!
What the Republican Party really needs is to champion a Constitutional Amendment in a non-partisan drive to promote “Cap and Trade”! It should be a drum beating issue that identifies the Party. Certainly not for CARBON EMISSIONS, but for capping TAXATION and costly MANDATES at all levels of government. Only through limiting the size/growth of the economic influence/burden of the public sector can American freedom survive.
Open spirited public debate about what is the acceptable level of aggregate government spending as a % of GDP, and addressing what truly belongs to individuals and groups in private sector is necessary. Educating the public about the history and growth of taxes in aggregate will be key.
Liberals swear that they are not socialists and believe in the Bill of Rights, so some cap should be able to be established that defines the limits on the tyranny of unfettered politicians under the guise of democracy. For all the productive taxpayers to be sharecroppers on government turf without even knowing how much of our current and future wealth is going to be confiscated is outrageous. This concept could be the rally cry for a revitalization of the American Dream and the Republican Party should own it.
John wrote, “Problem with strong national defence, in one word: technology.”
Having served in the Navy, I know that the problems are:
1) will
2) people
1) Do we have the will to do what it takes to neutralize the enemy quickly – or do we take the approach of ‘surgical’ attacks which take longer and spare more civilians
2) Do people become negligent and fail to do their job? Or will people stay alert and make good decisions.
For example, an example that illustrates that you John are wrong about technology being the issue, the 9/11 attackers used our planes and box cutters, the people in the 4th plane did not let the terrorists succeed into turning the plane into a 4th missile.
We will not turn back the clock to a day without planes.
We recognize that technology allows more power to be projected faster.
But we can remain superior and responsible with that superior power.
While liberals want to turn the cheek (offer another building), conservatives know that passage was about personally turning the cheek. Leaders must act to protect it’s people and the passage did not apply to leaders.
I noticed how you were defensive about Canada’s rationing… I mean health care system..
I’ll give you that there are pros and cons to your system. But it’s interesting how you attack others and other countries ‘systems’ and then you see fit to defend things of your own.
Open your mind up. See that yes, we recognize that our health care system has problems:
1) Cost – Why is the cost going up? Lawyers, Government and other reasons
2) Outcomes – Mostly this is the decisions of people. People making poor choices and eating too much, exercising little, engaging in risky behavior.
3) Illegal immigrants – A large part of our ‘uninsured’ is illegal immigrants. Another large part are ‘healthy’ people who save money by not buying health insurance.
What is the answer? The answer is an injection of market forces into the mix. There is more than one answer of course.
But it defies me to understand how government owned health care would do anything but introduce inefficiencies and rationing or more DEBT.
Canada’s system is not more efficient.
Canada’s system does ration.
Canada’s system would increase our government spending by 7% of GDP or more as that is how large our health care sector of the economy is.
Baklava wrote: In politics, I ‘try’ to stay away from personalities and I don’t put my faith in a ‘person’.
Mea Culpa! I should not have used “messiah”. I went against my better judgment. I was certainly not hoping for some cult figure we could all follow blindly.
This is more of what I had in mind. By way of example: Henry V at Agincourt and the St. Crispan’s Day Speech.
In his speech to his men, just before the battle, Henry did not appeal to their reason. He did not speak of his right of succession to the French throne (yeah, that’d get them fired up). He didn’t try to sway them with England’s claim on French Normandy. He charged them to fight because they were men, honorable men, and because they were soldiers, honorable soldiers.
Any Republican candidate who opens up his yap and starts spewing taxes or other Republican planks will lose, and deserves to.
Mr. Spragge,
How long would I have waited in Canada for the necessary two hip replacements that I have? Or for the equally necessary three right knee arthroscopies I had? Or the right should labral tear repair I had?
I have a pretty good idea about this, but I’d like your take on it. Just curious.
Fred,
As long as it took to get a plane ride to America.
🙂
Conservatives will win when they muster the courage to ridicule the ridiculous ideas of the left. When has socialism ever built a successful society? If it has not, then why is it considered a legitimate point of debate? Conservatives should make the same fun of those who espouse liberal ideas that scientist make of creationists.
If you think the government should provide universal health care for its citizens, then provide one example in the world where it’s been successful. If you think that taxing corporations makes sense, then provide one example of a corporation that does not pass its taxes on to its customers in the form of higher prices.
Republicans don’t even have the guts to call the liberal’s on their lies, much less their ridiculous ideas. Now we have this meme beginning that elites should run the government, because the average person is too dumb to know what to do. People who vote for Republicans are poor and dumb. The list goes on and on and not one Republican calls them on it.
To John Does there is but one conclusion. Liberals must be right. Until someone on the conservative side grows a pair of gonads, nothing will change.
For those of you like the above commenter…
It isn’t up to ONE person or a someone.
It’s the collective us voting right and educating others.
For goodness sakes, we had 20% of self-described conservatives voting for Obama in some states in this election.
McCain spoke of freezing spending and pointed out the spreading the wealth socialist nature of Obama.
We, Americans keep voting for a plurality of Democrats in the Senate and House. We keep voting for more goodies and making poor personal choices of our own. After this credit crisis I don’t know how every one of the Democrats weren’t thrown out of office for voting against Fannie and Freddie refore 2 years ago.
We can put some of the blame on the fact that journalism is dead.
But we can stop looking to that “someone” and start teaching our children right.
My $.02 worth:
2) Get a handle on how to deal with the MSM.
This past election, in spite of the mountains of questionable issues regarding The Chosen One, the MSM either sat on it, ignored it, or I believe in the case of the LA Times actually obstructed the release of pertinent information – all in the cause of getting The Messiah elected.
Heck – even Rolling Stone was a shill for The One!
So, first order of business is to figure out how to get the Right’s message out above the filter of the media.
This means using the latest technology – internet, bloggers, message boards, forums, etc., as well as maintaining the tried and true communications systems such as radio and tv.
There should be more *conservative* type magazines out for general consumption by the public. If there aren’t enough – figure out how to grow these types of publications.
These types of communications need to be mainstreamed into public thought – yet without being considered “conservative” by the general public.
3) Clean house.
There are a lot of politicians the country would be better off without who still hold office. Can’t do anything about those on the left – but the ones who claim to be on the Right should be thoroughly culled.
Nobody’s perfect, and the occasional slip up is going to occur – but requiring congress critters to be generally decent and honest while also being competent is not that high of a hurdle.
Find candidates that can fill that description.
Also, there are a lot of RINO’s in the ranks – McCain comes to mind immediately.
He could not have run a more mediocre campaign if he had tried! And there appears to be nothing more enjoyable to him than to stab his own party in the back at every opportunity.
To hell with him – send him over to the democrats! Maybe he’ll stick to his old patterns of behaviour and start stabbing THEM in the back instead!
I would go so far as to suggest the republicans start supporting a McCain opponent in the primaries just to get rid of him.
Anyway, if there is a candidate who is not helping the party – and is instead hurting the party at every turn in some strange need to appease the opposition, then they are not someone you want on your side because they are unreliable and the base will not come out to support them.
It also means the republicans need to fight. There were so many opportunities on the table this past election – and without a single exception McCain did his best to not take advantage of these opportunities that were offered to him on a silver platter.
It’s almost like he really didn’t want to win.
Any republican left in office today needs to start thinking of playing to win, and fighting for the ideals their base holds to.
Replace the deadwood with reliable, honest people that can be counted on.
4) Fix party turnover.
One reason the power of the political right became eroded over the years since 1994 is because Republicans tended to hold office and then retire – or hold to an artificial self imposed term limits system when the other side did not do the same.
The republicans need to get good people elected, then keep them there.
When their careers are coming to an end, the republican party needs to acknowledge that and start vetting good candidates that can be seen by the general public as a good replacement for that congress critter when they retire or lose an election.
Nothing is guaranteed – but it at least begins to grow a new crop of potential candidates as an ongoing effort so that there is always a good pool of people to draw from for elections.
5) Forget this generational thing. The party needs both young AND old.
Remember, Reagan was one of the older presidential candidates – yet he managed to invigorate the passions of much younger generations who went on to vote *conservative* for much of their political choices.
Ideally, you have the wisdom and experience of the seasoned citizens – yet also the free thinking and original ideas of the younger generation – all working together for a common goal.
I’m not saying the party should nominate a 90 year old for president – just saying that this talk of generations should be all encompassing, not exclusionary where the subject of generations is concerned.
6) Get out the vote.
Forget the election day turnout – elections must take into account early voting.
Get the vote out early. Organize buses to transport those not able to get themselves to the polling places. Organize individual drivers to take the elderly to the polling places early. Do everything possible to eliminate the excuse to not vote.
Get the military absentee ballots in early. Get them counted. There is a huge source of votes for the right that seems every year to have a problem being counted.
7) Find a candidate for the presidency that actually looks like, thinks like, and conducts themselves as a leader!
I’m not talking about propping up an empty suit that is only able to deliver lines he’s given – we’ve got that already starting with the next administration.
I’m saying that out of over 300 million citizens – surely the republicans can find a candidate who has experience and the personal skills to stand up and be counted as a leader, and who people will follow.
Last but not least, and placed at the end of this list deliberately even though it’s #1…
1) Go back to the roots and determine exactly what it means to be “conservative”.
This doesn’t mean wasting time with flag burning laws (though I would strongly suggest no one try such a thing in my presense), nor does it mean wasting time with marriage amendments (leave it to the religions to figure out what a *marriage* is and get the government out of it entirely).
Reagan was possible because he was also a populist. This didn’t sit well with the bree crowd – but it worked and it was good for the nation.
Reagan had that ability to lead by getting people to WANT to follow him because they identified with him and his ideals, not because he spoke down to them about how he was going to rule them – or attained his position because of some strange personality cult that developed up around him.
Reagan’s ideals were the ideals of freedom. Personal freedom, financial freedom, freedom from interference by the government.
Reagan led from the level of the people. Even though he as quite wealthy – he still was able to connect and understand the common man.
He had that ever elusive common touch.
Those ideals will still resonate but the republicans have done everything they could (starting with Bush the Elder) to turn their backs on those ideals.
Yes, this means standing firm on some things the party may consider not worth fighting over, and it means getting out of things that would infringe on personal freedom for no other reason than people decided they didn’t feel other people should be able to do certain things, and it means taking a pass on enabling certain government activities of questionable utility and constitutionality (bailouts, anyone?).
So, go for the maximum personal freedom possible without infringing on the freedom of others and you will find it resonates with the general population’s sensibilities.
If an action is warranted, couch the language in terms of explaining the problem, offering the solution, and buttressing that position with how it squares with our Constitution.
At the very least, this will begin to draw a contrast between the positions of the right and the positions of the left, who seem to conduct themselves as if power is absolute and limitless.
Regardless of this past election’s results, the American people generally still have a mistrust of an overly large and powerful government.
It’s time the republicans started acknowledging that and conducting themselves accordingly.
Neo,
I wrote this the other day:
In short, we need a Happy Warrior who doesn’t concede the legitimacy of the liberal agenda.
Baklava: The 9/11 atrocities prove my point perfectly. Aviation has improved our lives in immeasurable ways; it also permitted 19 fanatics with box cutters to turn three planes into missiles, and the interdependence of our economies allowed that one attack to wipe a trillion dollars in value from the industrialized world markets. Our society offers us considerably more scope for shaping our world that it ever did before, but it also suffers from unprecedented vulnerability to a violent attack. As we continue to develop new technologies, we will discover further vulnerabilities.
FredHjrMaximum wait times for hip replacements run from a month and a half to about six months in the area where I live.
There were several good posts here but I’d most like to DITTO Antimedia’s.
Conservatives will win when they muster the courage to ridicule the ridiculous ideas of the left.
Yes!
Republicans don’t even have the guts to call the liberal’s on their lies, much less their ridiculous ideas.
I can’t be anything but a conservative and I love other conservatives, but honestly I sometimes find myself wondering why I have to be on the side of all the pansies. 🙂
And I promise that “pansies” thing was said with love.
McCain and Palin – and especially Palin – made a valiant effort.
Their message was a good one and we have missed a golden opportunity for two things, two people who really were about fiscal responsibility and economic growth, and two people who had proven records of working with people from all sides of the spectrum. Not partisans.
Leaving aside that McCain had pissed off the Republicans by doing just that – the Democrats have built a superior machine.
It isn’t just the top layer you see on the news either. Look in any paper in a college area and read the adds – there are solicitations for ‘change agents’ – targeting especially those in poli-sci – but any young people, there are training camps, pay, they are trained to assist the cause – they are in every community. They build databases, and they work tirelessly. ACORN is a big one, but not the only one.
Example: PAID activists-in-training.
“Two hundred student leaders converged on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol to put Congress in the `hot seat’ on global warming through peaceful protest. The rally was the culmination of a seven-day grassroots activist training program called Change It, led by Greenpeace and sponsored by Seventh Generation…”
ALL EXPENSE PAID GREENPEACE TRAINING. Seventh Generation & Greenpeace are training and empowering dedicated student activists to become the next generation … Selected students will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington…
Then there are the revelations in Newsweek about the Kennedy machine’s involvement with Obama, which explains the media far more than the Chicago machine which is also in there…
The Republicans need a bigger, meaner, more dishonest, more cutthroat machine if they are ever to win again. Because they can’t even get a word in – as soon as the R after their name is announced the demonization begins, and it sticks.
***
More examples:
New York Times Thursday June 7
ACTIVIST Summer jobs
Restore our Constitutional Protection
$5,500 – $8.500/summer
Work for grassroots campaigns on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union
Stop Executive Abuse of Power
full time/career call Sam (212) 219-1502
******************************************
Huh? I don’t know about you, but to me, grassroots means VOLUNTEER.
So who is (212) 219-1502?
It’s not the ACLU. It’s
Grass Roots Campaigns
53 W 36 St
Manhattan, NY 10018
******************************************
There’s more:
Grass Roots Campaigns (local advertiser). Employment Placement Agencies, New York, NY 10018. (212) 219-1502 | 53 W 36th Ste 602 New York, NY 10018 …
New York Office
Address:. 53 West 36 th Street, Suite 602. New York, NY 10018. Phone:. 212-219-1502, Ask for Alex. Email:. nycstreet@grassrootscampaigns.com …
http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com/NYoffice.php – 39k – Cached – Similar pages
Summer Jobs to Take Back the White House: $5500-$8500/summer
Help put the country back on the right path! Call Steve at 212-219-1502. Compensation: $5500-$8500/summer; Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact …
newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/npo/342585496.html – Jun 6, 2007 – Similar pages
Summer Jobs to Defend Civil Liberties: $5500-$8500/summer
The ACLU is fighting back against illegal laws allowing warantless wiretapping and torture. Call Stephanie at 212-219-1502 …
newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/npo/344469819.html – Similar pages
Summer Jobs – Campaign to Help the Democrats Take Back the House …
Call Rachel at 212-219-1502. How To Apply:. Please contact an office near you, or call our central office at … Phone:, 212-219-1502. Email:, New York …
test.summer.ahoy.com/do/details/5597 – 18k – Supplemental Result – Cached – Similar pages
Help the Dems take the White House Call Greg : 212-219-1502 · http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com
Grassroots Campaigns is hiring to work with MoveOn.org Political …
To Apply: Email your resume to Diane: jobs@grassrootscampaigns.com or apply online at: http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com/. Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. runs …
http://www.jobsthatareleft.com/?q=node/1110 – 12k – Cached – Similar pages
Upon receiving your resume you will be contacted with more information about the specifics of the
positions, and opportunities to interview.
seattle@grassrootscampaigns.com, denver@grassrootscampaigns.com, and on and on and on…We will also be on campus Monday December 11th …
******************************************
So, who is grassrootscampaigns.com?
Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. is a national firm specializing in building grassroots support for progressive causes, political candidates, public interest campaigns, and non-profit organizations.
Winning campaigns in America now means finding new voters, new donors, new bases of support, and building long term movements for political power and political change. Grassroots Campaigns brings together an experienced team of organizers and campaign professionals to provide the progressive community with grassroots fundraising and organizing strategies that can help build a powerful and winning progressive majority in America.
We continue to partner with the DNC to run canvass operations, get more people engaged in the party, raise as much money as possible, and build on the successes of 2006. We’re continuing to work with MoveOn.org Political Action to run Operation Democracy, working with local progressives to make sure that Democrats step up and make changes on key issues.
*****************************************
So, they’re a special interest group paying out all this money for pretend “grassroots” people and THEN –
they have the nerve to post this inspirational quote:
“The people of this country, not special interest big money, should be the source of all political power.”
U.S. Senator and grassroots organizer, Paul Wellstone
ACLU? grassrootscampaigns.com? DNC? MoveOn.Org?
I’d add that Romney would have been savaged as much or more than Palin, because of his religion. It’s ok for Bill Clinton to go to church and carry a bible, and for Barack to go to church because wink wink, it’s only to get elected.
Look what the Prop 8 activists are doing to Mormons, they’ve declared they are going to destroy Utah’s “brand.”
Regarding the Republicans – they should have backed McCain en masse rather than allow the activist/community organizer mentality to gain power in- it comes down to Country First! and Republicans failed that test. The PUMAS passed it.
Believe me, Republicans would rather Hillary had won than Barack – there’d still be disagreements, but there’s be reason for respect. Not so with Obama.
Given what was against him, and her, McCain and Palin did an amazing job! Give them credit. If they weren’t such absolutely good people, Barack would have gotten 70% of the vote. He eked by, but only because of the media and the machine.
Folks keep referring to “the Republicans.” Well, exactly who or what are those folks talking about? Seriously, I want to know. Somehow “the Republicans” never include those folks themselves, as if casting most of ones votes for partisan office for Republican candidates, chatting up and arguing for votes for Republican candidates with others, registering ones party preference as Republican, voting in Republican party primary elections doesn’t make oneself part of “the Republicans.”
Maybe, in their incoherence, those folks are trying to refer to some centralized Republican party apparatus. Heh, that makes such folks doubly incoherent because there isn’t any such organization. There’s the Republican National Committee which, authority-wise, is little more than the sanctioning body for and organizers of the quadriennial national presidential nominating convention, to which largely autonomous state and territorial Republican party organizations send delegates. And what are those state Republican party bodies? (Does anyone here know the name of their state party’s GOP chairman without looking it up?) The state Republican committee may or may not be responsive to the wishes of Republican activists organized at the county central committee level and politicians along with their campaign organizations are often not at all responsive to the locally chosen central committees that operate in those politician’s districts.
So, again, who exactly are “the Republicans”?
I don’t see “teaching” conservatism or attempts at elbowing it into institutions as an efficient approach to our problems.
Try vouchers. They really can’t stand that.
Micha Elyi
GODD POINTS!
GOOD, I mean! dang typos!
Is there any way to keep this thread alive Neo ?. Perhaps in another post by yourself? I think this subject needs to be gone over and over.
The Dems were a shattered, incohesive mess after 2004 but came back to put all their differing factions together. They really didn’t even like each other. (think blacks, gays, and prop 8 in Ca.) and certainly didn’t come together under one political philosophy, just the bumper sticker mentality “hope and change”.
Can we ever expect to get pro-life social conservatives and historically pro family conservative hispanic voters to rally to the banner of smaller government and free markets that defines us?
We’ve got alot of work and we need to keep it out front and focused upon.
Oh, and like you I hope Obama’s administration will somehow be good for the country. I doubt it, and the chances are we will be given a gift, an opening where the American people will be disgusted with them, much like the gift GW gave to the dems.
And we need to be ready.
boqueronman, we all need to read Alinsky’s book, understand what we are up against, and read their other bible – Lakoff’s Don’t think of an elephant (a really crappy piece of work in my opinion, but one they swear by.)
You have to stop believing that the voters will see the truth, see through the propaganda, and make the right decision for the country – they won’t – they want someone who will entertain them like WWF – so, it will take a smackdown kind of show.
Pulling punches certainly isn’t working.
Palin was good – great even, able to do it all with a smile on her face. We’ve never seen anything like that.
If watching Ayres crowing now doesn’t convince people they were lied to – if realizing they are now going to allow that murderous bastard into the White House as an FOB doesn’t shock people, nothing will.
Rose: I will be very, very surprised if Ayers is a guest at the White House. I think Obama is much too canny for that. Ayers has served his purpose, anyway.
Rose: I will be very, very surprised if Ayers is a guest at the White House. I think Obama is much too canny for that. Ayers has served his purpose, anyway.