No doubt that there is angst in the ranks and at the top as to how to rebuild the Republican Party given the losses we have taken lately. "Do this, no do that, hey, stop doing something else" seems to be the words that ring out often and loudly as everyone seems to be trying to convince everyone else that they have THE answer (or, at least a part of one). One of those arguments is that we have to move the Party to the center to go to where the voters are – and to do that, social conservatives have to give up their issues and causes.
Er, note to those folks with that argument: umm, while the bailout bill is in the "fiscal" arena, look WHERE our political enemy is taking the first shots! I think the headline at Michele Malkin’s says it best:
“It seems the era of Hope is to be inaugurated with a slaughter of the innocents.”
Sometimes, the battles are drawn not where we want them to be, but where the enemy forces them to be. In this case, Obama has detected "the weakness in our line" and is attacking at the greatest point of confusion and division – social issues. His signing of one of the FIRST Presidential Executive Orders was to lift the ban on the so-called Mexico City Policy on using American taxpayer money in funding foreign ABORTIONS. Our money now can legally be used to kill innocent babies anywhere in the world, and there isn’t a thing we can do to stop it.
And as I blogged here, signing FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act, which is anything but!) will virtually make abortions available anywhere here in the US and NO ONE can say boo about that. Can we had this to the quickly lengthening Obama expired list of promises (in this case, his campaign promise to help make abortions more rare)?
So now my question to those centrists in the Party: what is the next issue (target) that you are going to gin up to hand over and cede to the Democrats? Make no mistake about it – while you are planning, they are attacking. And a smart foe will always attack whereever and whenever they can. This will not be the last social issue in Obama’s docket – the Republicans cannot rely just on fiscal restraint and more limited government as issues as some would want us to. As each social issue is commandered, dealt with, and DECIDED upon by Obama, the range of issues left to pick from grows less and less. And your opponent is determining the battlefield. At least the Vatican called Obama "arrogant" for doing so – what ARE you, our Republican leadership, Congresscritters, and Senate seat holders, going to do about it? What leadership are you going to display in defending our ideals?
Yes, I understand that because of a lack of resources, one has to pick and choose the battle. But you, our Party leaders, have squandered the resources we ordinary folks gave you, and until you straighten up, you may find that we are less likely to replace them…
until we starting seeing you grow backbones and start really fighting for what WE believe in!
And that may require that some of you start falling on your swords in the good fight instead of protecting your sorry behinds!
After all, for we ordinary folk out here, there is more to life than just money and power…
