Change the Definitions

I have a very good friend who pays relative attention to what’s going on the world and he still votes Democrat. He is a typical Iowa Democrat – heavily pro-2nd Amendment, anti-government, but doesn’t vote Republican because “they’re only for the rich guy.”

He is leaning Obama – not because McCain is a religious fanatic, or because he is hoping for “change.” He hates all ‘politicians’ and the right .vs. left arguing. And unfortunately for the GOP, his default position is the Democrat Party.

So, I had to get into with him. I asked, “If your gun rights are the most important thing to you, then how do you rectify your voting for the idiots that want to trample your rights? He shrugs it off. When I pressed him for a one-word answer on what he is voting for on November 4, he can’t do it. He then squats on the old pain-in-the-ass white flag: “I just want guys that are in the middle.”

I went off.

“WHAT MIDDLE?”

I argued that government has gotten so enormous that there is no middle anymore. We can’t save half a baby. We can’t win half a war. We can’t build half a wall. We already tax half your income, and that isn’t sitting well.

It’s the half-measures that are strangling America. Our rights are negotiated by those in the middle. Our property is only transient and on the table for big government to redistribute. It made me decide that we need new definitions. Right-wing/left-wing only enables slackers in the middle. Conservative and liberal don’t fit for ‘independents.’ We need to erase the labels and start calling the issues what they really are in 2008 – “Yes” or “No.”

This same friend thought the GOP was a little too spastic over Jim Leach’s cute snuggle with Obama. Folks, there are two parties. Each has a platform. These are not random thoughts written in pencil. Every important issue facing America, indeed, America itself, is drawn out for the entire country to see.

The middle is going to have to make a choice. There should be no middle, Mr. Leach. The middle brought us half-government/half-greedy bastard outfits like Fannie and Freddie. After yes and no fought out Wall Street regulation, the middle negotiated away anything resembling effectiveness. The middle brought us a health care system that no one is comfortable with. The middle fought a war with one hand tied behind our military’s back.

I ask again, what government department, agency, or program do you point to and declare that it’s the ideal all America should emulate? There is none. And these are the hyenas you want in charge of your health care?

But what about guys like my friend who doesn’t care if gays marry, but would do handstands over a national sales tax? They don’t fit in either party. No they don’t, but Republicans like me, just like the commies on the other side, are held hostage by these undecided, fence-straddling, independents. We must be patient. They’ll make up their mind somewhere around the first weekend in November.

‘Independent’ is another term that we must erase. They are ‘inconsistent.’ They are inconsistent in their world view, inconsistent on social issues, inconsistent when it comes to how far government can reach into our private lives.

There are your three new brackets: “Yes”, “No”, or “Inconsistent.” As Iowa Republicans facing only weeks before a very big vote, we must be in the face of every inconsistent voter and force them to make a choice between yes or no. Win the war or not. Raise taxes or not. Gun rights or no. If we Republicans stay consistent, we can bring Iowans to the Party that best represents their stances on the issues.