RE: RE: RE: Of dreams and fairy tales
Steve responds: "If we assume Democrats and Republicans evenly split the electorate and that movement conservatives are overwhelmingly Republican (not true, but for the sake of argument...), they only make up 40% of the membership of the GOP."
Being an optimist, I don't see why we can't make an effort to get that 11% we need for a majority.
"The only time the GOP wins is when movement conservatives form a coalition with either the libertarian Republicans or the country-clubbers. The libertarians are pretty much done with the GOP, I doubt they'll ever come back. I also doubt movement conservatives will team up with the country-clubbers again since that resulted in the rise of the neocons."
I agree with your first sentence but I disagree with your last two just for the fact that I don't know what issues will pop up down the road to where forming an alliance will be necessary.
"There is no doubt that conservatives can do things within the GOP on small, local levels. There is also no doubt that local pockets of the GOP still remain very conservative. Unfortunately, the national party in engaged in a swing to the left and there is nothing the few remaining conservative local organizations can do to stop it."
Since I believe elections are won on the local level, maybe that's where us conservatives should focus our attention...
"Why? What is so special about the GOP that makes it the only home for conservatives and libertarians? Remember that the GOP has never remained true to Republican principles. Every single Republican President has run on libertarian principles and then behaved in opposition to those principles once they were elected, from Lincoln to Reagan."
I think it would be easier for conservatives and libertarians to change the GOP than to start a party from scratch.
"The idea that an agenda can only be advanced inside a major political party is a myth. Partisanship is a fraud, designed to keep an oligarchy in power. No more, no less."
The problem is you have to be a member of a political party to try to advance anything... Again, I'm not saying one should drink the political party kool-aid, but the only way I see conservatism advancing is through a political party. Take Ron Paul for example: If he was running as an independent, people wouldn't be paying any attention to him, but with him running as a Republican, look at how much publicity he has received.
Being an optimist, I don't see why we can't make an effort to get that 11% we need for a majority.
"The only time the GOP wins is when movement conservatives form a coalition with either the libertarian Republicans or the country-clubbers. The libertarians are pretty much done with the GOP, I doubt they'll ever come back. I also doubt movement conservatives will team up with the country-clubbers again since that resulted in the rise of the neocons."
I agree with your first sentence but I disagree with your last two just for the fact that I don't know what issues will pop up down the road to where forming an alliance will be necessary.
"There is no doubt that conservatives can do things within the GOP on small, local levels. There is also no doubt that local pockets of the GOP still remain very conservative. Unfortunately, the national party in engaged in a swing to the left and there is nothing the few remaining conservative local organizations can do to stop it."
Since I believe elections are won on the local level, maybe that's where us conservatives should focus our attention...
"Why? What is so special about the GOP that makes it the only home for conservatives and libertarians? Remember that the GOP has never remained true to Republican principles. Every single Republican President has run on libertarian principles and then behaved in opposition to those principles once they were elected, from Lincoln to Reagan."
I think it would be easier for conservatives and libertarians to change the GOP than to start a party from scratch.
"The idea that an agenda can only be advanced inside a major political party is a myth. Partisanship is a fraud, designed to keep an oligarchy in power. No more, no less."
The problem is you have to be a member of a political party to try to advance anything... Again, I'm not saying one should drink the political party kool-aid, but the only way I see conservatism advancing is through a political party. Take Ron Paul for example: If he was running as an independent, people wouldn't be paying any attention to him, but with him running as a Republican, look at how much publicity he has received.
posted by Andy W. Rogers | 5:45 PM
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