Finally!

As an active volunteering conservative, I feel like I finally got a bone thrown my way by the McCain camp. He could have picked Ridge, Romney, Pawlenty, Lieberman or another establishment running mate. But McCain gave conservatives a reason to get out and work for him, not just against Obama.

Palin is an up-and-comer in the Republican Party. She has taken on corruption at many levels and even in her own party. She looks at a budget and doesn’t just cut the fat; Palin takes her lifetime NRA membership trigger figure and blows holes in it.

Palin is just as socially conservative as she is fiscally conservative. She is pro-life and pro-marriage. She has five children, one has Down syndrome and one enlisted in the Army on September 11, 2007.

By choosing Palin as his running mate, McCain has leveled the political playing field. Obama is the first African American presidential nominee. Palin is the first female GOP running mate. McCain’s Achilles heel of age is neutralized by the youth and energy of Palin. Obama’s grey-haired DC insider running mate is opposed by a true change-agent who has changed the status quo.

I can feel the adrenaline rushing through the GOP as our enthusiasm raises with McCain’s brilliant VP pick. On to November!

Lesser of Two Evils...Again

There isn’t a conservative out there who hasn’t struggled with voting for a candidate who didn’t represent their ideology closely enough. In 2004, many conservatives voted for W while holding their noses. We know this is part of the process and we won’t always get our way. In fact, there are only a few elections where I have gotten my way. The most recent of those elections was in 2002 when Congressman Steve King won the four-way primary.

Typically the two party system works, but in any system there are always hiccups. For conservatives, McCain is not only a hiccup, he turns us into bulimics. Conservatives won’t forget McCain’s immigration stance or the Gang of 14. We won’t forget McCain is in favor of embryonic stem cell research and buddies up with Ted Kennedy on “bi-partisan” legislation. It boils down to being confident McCain is going to run harder to the left than he already has and ruin the Republican Party on the way.

We are sick of voting for the lesser of two evils. If we do win, our party, and more importantly our country, will be damaged in the long run. In the past eight years, W and Republican leadership in Congress have stripped the fiscal responsibility mantra of the Republican Party away forever when it was once our badge of honor. We also had our chance to shift the tide of socialism and we actually accelerated it.

Many conservatives voted and worked diligently for W’s election and re-election so we could get back the Supreme Court. We are now faced with the same battle all over again. I’m tired of it, but what can I do? I honestly don’t know the best route to take.

If McCain wins, our party crumbles. If McCain loses, we lose in Iraq and the Supreme Court will be liberal for many future generations. Yet our party may find this the only opportunity to survive for a few more years. Under a Democratic presidency, disastrous as it would be, there is the possibility Republicans will start reading the platform and return to the sound principles which led us to success in 1994 and drained into obscurity in 2006.

Hit the Reset Button on Government

Some guy somewhere said a long time ago that we were like a barrel made of thirteen staves without a single hoop to hold us together. Whoever said it is dead now, so I don’t feel compelled to get the quote exact. Besides, it was probably some guy that thought the Articles of Confederation would get the job done. Or not.

Throughout the decade under the Articles of Confederation, Americans were bitter and quarreling. The government was deeply in debt and business was at a standstill. Eventually we ended up with our Constitution. And 220 later, Americans are bitter and quarreling. Our government is deeply in debt and business is at a standstill.

It wasn’t always this way. The Constitution works. But look at all 10 Amendments in the Bill of Rights. There isn’t one that hasn’t been distorted, misinterpreted, stretched, shrunk, or outright ignored.

We need a reset button. All government programs need to sunset so we can get this ship back on the path the Constitution set. As a little exercise today, please send in your favorite government program. What department or agency do you point to and say that is the perfect example of government that works?

The Reagan Coalition is Dead

I like a good intraparty battle. I’m not opposed to the occasional primary or even a floor fight over a plank in the platform. Actually, I think it’s good for the party to have the battle. Especially the Iowa caucuses. Good stuff.

But, I’m already weary of the current squabbles in the Iowa GOP. I can’t get engaged if it isn’t a battle of right versus left. This is merely a personal squabble about who is in charge.

The right versus left war that has always raged in our party is a result of our big tent. That is no joke, folks. Remember that Reagan coalition of only three decades ago? Middle class union Democrats voted for Reagan in big numbers because the Democrat Party left them on economic issues. All socio-economic levels voted for Reagan because of the social issues, especially abortion, and because Reagan was not going to be a twit like Billy Carter’s brother on foreign affairs.

Conservatives lost the battle inside the party over social issues AND fiscal issues. That caused the losses at the Statehouse and in Congress. The Reagan coalition does not exist anymore.

The current fight is over who will lead. There are good people on the right and left that know what they want as far as policy goes. It is the squishy middle that have no ideological rudder whatsoever causing the rift. They can be given everything they want and they still are not happy unless they are in charge.

The pouting by moderates inside the GOP is embarrassing. “I’ve been kicked out of the party,” or “It’s all about the social issues.” When did we have the meeting to decide who we were going to kick out?

The fact is, the big government, special interest, moderate Republicans have killed the party. They scream it’s all about the economic issues, but then they torch us on those issues, as well. Joy Corning hasn’t been “kicked out” of the GOP. She’s upset because we didn’t vote for her to be in charge. Corning and those like her have taken their ball and gone home.

While Joy et al spread ill will in public, I will be talking with my family, friends and neighbors about the need to defeat terror, lower taxes, shrink government, protect the family, become energy independent, fight voter fraud, and a whole host of other good Republican issues. This current drama is not at all about the issues. It is an elitist popularity contest I want no part of.

Moderates v. Conservatives: Nothing new here...

Since the Republican State Convention, the media has invented a cataclysmic fight between moderates and conservatives of our party. Folks, there is nothing new here. There is and always will be the struggles within our party. And by the way, Democrats have the same struggles. Many portray this as being a bad thing when, in all actuality, it is a very healthy thing for our party and is the intent of a party system.

From our Precinct Caucuses to our National Convention, we are shaping our party platform. You would think after reading the articles moderates aren’t allowed in the debate. We all know that isn’t true. Moderates and conservatives can show up at and have some influence on the platform. Heck, if they want to they can even organize a moderate coalition and work to elect moderate individuals to our party positions and institute moderate ideals in our platform. The problem for them is, by definition, moderates don’t believe strongly in the cause. Without passion for a cause, it is very hard to organize and build coalitions. What would they organize for?

• Less but not all abortions?
• More funding for welfare programs but not complete funding?
• Civil unions but not gay marriage?
• Some gun control laws but not too many?
• English as the official language except in government and society?

The list could go on and on but as you can see, it would be really hard to build a passionate coalition. The only way moderates build a passionate coalition is when they pick a fight with conservatives. Examples would be this year’s State Convention, Woodbury County in 2006, numerous Republican primaries, most notably in recent memory would be Nussle v. Vander Plaats or Ganske v. Salier.

Anyway, this is not a post to get people stirring; this is meant to shed some light on the nature of the beast. Moderates believe strongly in little and conservatives believe strongly in a lot.