NY-23: politics, power; party, grassroots - all miss the point. Part 2
The 'Grok's motto:
Thank'em when they're right and spank'em when they're not!
I don't think that Doug and I could ever be called anything other than hard-core conservatives; we joke that we are just to the left of Attila the Hun. Yet, knowing our principles, we realize that a pragmatic look must also be used when evaluating candidates for a given district. I can accept the Reagan "70-80%" axiom provided that the principal pillars are adhered to: fiscal frugality and limited government. Enacted policies, historical voting records, speeches, and writings that advocate that transgress them SHOULD render such a candidate as ineligible as Republican one. Let them run - but from another party.
For instance, during the last election, Doug and I supported Jeb Bradley in the primary and again in the general election for US Congress. Although the perception of Jeb prior had been that of a moderate, and more than a few like minded conservatives gave us grief over that support, I can point out with pride that Jeb's voting record since the special election for NH Senate has been spotless as judged from a conservative standpoint. Thanks, Jeb, for sticking to a conservative voting line (see - we're watching!). People can change - but will they?
Remember what I wrote here? And Doug, here? Now, one of the protagonists in NY-23, Doug Hoffman, has written an Op-Ed that nails the REAL issue (emphasis mine, with a bit of reformatting for spacing):
Ask yourself AGAIN - did our Founding Fathers risk their lives, families, and fortunes, for "security and stability"? Or for "Freedom and Liberty"? I dare say we all know what the answers are for those questions. One way of looking at these is that the latter requires self-responsibility and hard work, the former dumps off the responsibility onto others. Freedom, by definition, requires self-actualization - by definition, allowing Government to help you requires that you follow Government's rules which means giving up that self-reliability, often limiting one's freedom. The nexus to be watched is when the tipping point of government over-rule vs individual freedom arrives - and it seems to be rushing at us like a train wreck in process.Taxes, the deficit, red tape and regulation are breaking the back of the nation, mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren. Americans have had enough and are vocalizing their anger in town hall meetings and on the streets of Washington. They are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore! That’s why I am running. I am one of them!
Freedom is what Americans want. Economic freedom to reap the rewards of the free enterprise system, personal freedom from the intrusion of big government in our lives, freedom from the nanny state that is being forced upon us.
I know that the Left will disagree, saying that I oversimplify, but it does come down to the concept Freedom. Without freedom, nothing else that matters. Benjamin Franklin was right - trading freedom for security will result in neither being obtained. Mr. Hoffman continues:
...It is a battle that has been joined by current and former elected Republican officials, conservative activists and members of the ever-growing Tea Party and 9/12 movements. And if the GOP picks liberal candidates for the midterm congressional elections next year, they may find that there are a lot more people out there like me who won’t go along. We are not going to win by becoming more like the Democrats. We’re going to win by standing up for our beliefs.
It’s principle over party.
He is exactly right. As with most Parties...
What does his opponent, Dede Scozzafava, the FAR LEFT Republican (does anyone else enduring a case of cognitive dissonance upon reading that) stand for?
- 46 Democrats vote, on average, more in line with Republicans in the NY State Assembly than her
- Supports and has a history of voting for higher spending, more taxes
- Supports gay marriage
- Won a award from Planned Parenthood
- Supports tax payer funded abortions (just like my Democrat Senator, Jeanne Shaheen)
- Will vote for "Card Check" - taking away the private ballot vote and putting the Feds in charge of writing labor contracts if agreements between companies and unions cannot be completed (husband is an AFL-CIO union organizer)
- Supported Obama's Stimulus bill
- Trial lawyers like her,
- Has support from ACORN (and has run as a member of ACORN's political party, Working Families Party - can you say Socialist?)
- Daily Kos has endorsed her.
And has threatened to switch parties in the future.
In short, a traditional and conservative Republican's nightmare! Yet, in the calculus of power, the local GOP County Chairs decided to pick her as the Republican nominee, and the National GOP Leadership have gotten behind them to support her. And this is what folks like Charlie Bass (e.g., more moderate) want here in NH? Did moderate McCain win? It certainly shows that the Rasmussen poll showing that 73% of Republican voters believe that Republican leaders are out of touch with the base.
Look, I understand the traditional theory:
- extend the tent
- gather more votes from extending the tent
- conservatives will vote for Rs because there is no where else to go
- retake the majorities in NH and in the US
- Rs then get to make and set the agenda
The problem that I can never seem to get answers to are:
- What then?
- Have Rs shown adherence to the Twin Pillars lately?
- How WELL have the Rs advanced a Republican agenda vs a Democrat-lite one?
- What good does it do when the liberal Rs vote against the Party Platform?
Here's a great point that Andrew Hemingway had on the show yesterday "what good is it to have a majority of moderates"? Especially the real squishy ones! Why have a majority when the tenents of the Party can not be moved forward (and the power of government moved backward)?
I keep hearing from long-time Party folks that the time to get the candidate you want is in the primary. Fine - but in NY-23, there isn't one. What else TO do? In this case, the Party voted for Power over Principle.
Unlike years past, however, the TEA Party movement is starting to be the "disruptive element" that we in the technology field oft look for in EVERY thing - the transistor, the PC, spreadsheets and word processors, the Internet, et al. In the world of politics, THIS year, THIS election, with THIS President, the game is changing.
No longer is it difficult to communicate. No longer, given the communication ability of email, blogsites, chat rooms, Twitter, con-calls, Talk Radio, is it impossible to have a movement that has no one leader (or a few leaders). Instead, this is a decentralized, self-motivated movement driven by a sense of fear (to a degree) of what is happening to the ethos of the Country with a large dose of outrage at the political leaders that have allowed it to happen.
I would also be remiss if I failed to mention Glen Beck. Yeah, that former rodeo clown who, at times, is quite clownish and emotional on FOX. Yet, this former alcoholic has done something that the Republican Leadership has failed to do - uttered the words that have rung SO true with SO many:
"You are not alone"
THAT alone (along with his 9/12 movement) has done more to unite Conservatives - a feeling of belonging to something bigger than self.
Contrast that with what the Republican Leadership has just done. They have only themselves to blame.
The split has started - The Party vs the Principle. Now, to be sure, many of the By-Laws absolutely prohibit Party officials from endorsing candidates from in other parties. In this case - they have forced the "match up", and it has started in earnest!
For the Liberal Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava:
- Local NY GOP County Chairs
- RNC
- NRCC
- Newt Gingrich (as Doug posted)
- Big Abortion: Planned Parenthood (who gave her the Margaret Sanger Award, New York Choice
- Big Labor: International Longshoreman Association, IBEW
- NRA
- Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
For the Conservative from the Conservative Party, Doug Hoffman:
- Sarah Palin and her PAC (which then ignited conservatives across the nation, which also sends a message to the GOP Leadership and the talking head pundits - it spurred a money bomb of $116K in a single day for Hoffman)
- Rick Santorum (R-NJ, former Senator)
- Club for Growth
- Fred Thompson (R-TN, former Senator)
- Mark Steyn and most of the rest of the gang at NRO
- Dick Armey (former Majority US House Leader)
- Michelle Bachmann (R-MN)
- Steve Forbes (former Republican Presidential Candidate)
- Republican strategist and pundit, Mary Matalin
- Susan B. Anthony list
- Campaign for Working Families
- Eagle Forum (Phyllis Schlafly)
And yes, for what it is worth, GraniteGrok. Being a co-founding member of the NH TEA Party Coalition, the following fits well with being a "disruptive force":
You can donate to Doug Hoffman's campaign here.
Eric Odom, a friend I met via the Sam's Adams Alliance group said it well:
"...the liberty movement is not going to tolerate liberal Republicans anymore. "
Bill Quick adds this:
“Here’s the nut of it: The GOP establishment sees their problem as being that they are out of power. People like me see the problem as being that they are out of power because they have turned their backs on the principles those who once voted for them believe in.”
This, I believe, is the rapidly growing lens of politics of the Right and of the TEA Party movement - how is what you are standing for and doing, as an elected or appointed official, doing to advance the notions of individual Freedom and Liberty?
We're watching....
