This past week, I’ve heard a number of people complaining about Republicans and Conservatives criticizing Republican candidates (did you notice that I separated “Republicans” and “Conservatives”?). I am guilty as charged as one of those Conservatives who has been “kicking up the dust” against a few candidates.
After the disaster that is Barack Obama, America has a chance to reset, start over, change direction, and work towards recovering its greatness, which is clearly at self-imposed risk. Yet some of the Republican choices we are presented with are just rehashed versions of candidate’s we’ve seen before, fitting the mold of Republicans who helped us to this distressed place. My concern with these candidates is that if one of them were to win, they would quickly fall back into old GOP habits, failing to exploit the opportunity to make real change when we need it the most.
So when I am presented with such candidates, you can be sure that I am going to kick and scream all the way to the primary, to ensure that we select the best one and that they all hear my message. Reagan’s 11th commandment means nothing to me, and never will, thanks to the many Republicans who lost their way over the past 20-30 years. If a risky, rehash-candidate gets the nod, I will support him or her over Obama only when I cast my ballot next November, but my criticism will reengage immediately thereafter – and everyone is fair game.
Conservatives now find themselves frustratingly sandwiched between the unrepentant statism of the socialist-liberals on the left, and fiefdom of hypocritical, inner-circle establishment Republicans on the right, many of whom rode the Tea Party wave into office, now supporting their presumed nominee in waiting.
As a result of this, I predict a long period of a reinvigorated, burgeoning Tea Party, of equal-opportunity political examination and criticism, and of extreme self-government. If the Republican party chooses to ideologically mark time at this critical junction in American history, so be it, but it will signal the end of the party as they know it, and will fuel the current growth of disgruntled, independent-minded voters. The heat is on and it is theirs to win or lose.
