Conservatives vs. the GOP in Georgia
By Erick Posted in 2008 — Comments (29) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
If you weren't around yesterday, you’ve probably missed the news that the Republican Party is out to conduct a purge of conservatives. Witness the re-election campaign of Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA). Congressman Broun is one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is extremely pro-life, extremely pro-free market, and extremely endangered. Why? Because he is conservative.
Broun won a special election to fill Congressman Charlie Norwood’s term in 2007. No one thought Broun could win. The entire Republican establishment was opposed to him, he was out fundraised, out spent, and out campaigned. Painted as a fringe Christian whose only support came from evangelicals and home-school students, Broun went on to trounce the establishment’s candidate with a narrow 50.4% victory.
The day after Broun’s election, the party establishment set out to find someone to run against Broun. Since that time, Broun has shown himself to be exactly what the GOP needs. Broun has managed to re-forge the Reagan alliance between evangelical social conservatives and hard core fiscal libertarians. Opposed to the drug war and in favor of allowing parents to get their kids out of government schools, Broun has consistently fought to restrict the federal government’s incursion into our lives and, most troubling to the GOP establishment, Broun has worked to turn off the earmarks spigots that have caused so many of his fellow Republicans to go on a perp walk.
Read on . . .
Broun’s consistent conservative cannot stand in the GOP. Rumors are swirling in the media that Tom Cole (R-OK), the Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (“NRCC”), is privately backing Barry Fleming, Broun’s major primary opponent. This past week, Georgia State Senator Nancy Schaefer also decided to run against Broun. Some Georgia political pundits view Schaefer, whose re-election to the State Senate was in doubt, as helping split the conservative base to help Barry Fleming. Fleming, more loyal to the party than his alleged conservative principles, is the GOP establishment’s favorite.
If Paul Broun goes down to defeat this year at the hands of the Republican establishment, it will be nothing short of embarrassing. The party that once stood for fiscal conservatism, individual liberty, and small government will have rejected him in favor of someone who’d rather go along with the party’s rudderless drift than fight to get it headed right again.
Conservatives should not let Paul Broun go without a fight. Of course, you won’t hear about any of this in the media. They're happy to watch the GOP purge conservatives from their midsts.
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Conservatives vs. the GOP in Georgia 29 Comments (0 topical, 29 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
They simply do not know how to “Shut up and do as their told”.
Anyway, this is the NEW and “improved” GOP! We’ve grown beyond those useless conservatives.
*snark off*
I believe that 09 will be the year of the conservative purge for the GOP as loyalty will be a one way street. Maverick party disloyalty good, conservative party disloyalty bad.
The pendulum has swung the Rockefeller wing's way for now...it will swing back to us after 2 years of an Obama/Clinton Administration!
I've pretty well decided to drink the Kool Aid and vote McCain this time unless he does something stupid like picking Graham or Ridge, or some such creature for his VP. That having been said, I hold no illusions about his chances this fall given the lack of enthusiasm I see among my circle of friends and the fund raising numbers I've seen.
--"Faith is a free work to which no one can be forced. Nay it is a Divine work, done in the Spirit."--Martin Luther
The national pendulum started swinging away from conservatives in 1932, but didn't start coming back until 1964, and didn't GET back until 1980.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
How to you "trounce the establishment’s candidate with a narrow 50.4% victory"?
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
It was my question, too...
"Guns don't kill people...
"...But they sure help!"
-Paul Giamatti, Shoot 'Em Up
Anyone paying attention to the presidential politics this year already knew that the GOP establishment was doing this. The horse left the barn quite awhile ago.
I do assume that the official Redstate line is going to be to support the eventual winner wholeheartedly, and shush anyone who disagrees? After all, one must be consistent, no?
I think it's perfectly honorable to fight the good fight and then close ranks to defeat the greater enemy.
So, silence! Ve vill not tohlelate any ov ziss insubordination any furzer.
"The most dangerous form in which oppression can overshadow a community is that of popular sway" -James Fenimore Cooper
Especially from 1968 - 1980, when the party nearly purged all conservatives from its ranks.
Lets not forget that conservative Andy Harris knocked liberal Republican Wayne Gilchrest in MD-01 earlier this year.
But this is a reason why I am sometimes leery about giving to the RNC and/or NRCC - because they often times support party-line moderates over princpled conservatives. I prefer to give directly to candidates I support.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
ground level at the grassroots...those Republican groups cannot be depended on to support conservatives.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
And this is actually something I've pondered at great length recently. The Republican Party is not, historically, the party of conservatives.
It certainly wasn't the party of conservatives in the time of Lincoln at its birth. It was birthed by the progressive wing of the Whigs joining with the abolitionist wing of the Democrats. The Conservatives were run off, and mostly ignored by both parties until significantly after the Civil War and the resulting political realignment. And then after that, both parties had conservative wings, but neither conservative wing had a dominant position.
The party of Teddy Roosevelt was not a conservative one. Teddy Roosevelt himself was a leader of the progressives, and the party followed this.
The party of Eisenhower was not the party of conservatives. Eisenhower pushed what he called 'Dynamic Conservatism', which in retrospect was really socialism. Most of what he pushed through in his 8 years is antithetical to the beliefs of modern conservatives.
It was only with the coming of Reagan that the Conservative Movement truly found a home in the Republican party, and it was more or less a historical accident that caused it. Reagan appealed to the conservative wing of the Democratic party at the same time they were being alienated by their own party heads, and basically in one fell swoop converted the conservative south to the Republicans.
And since that time, the party establishment has been uncomfortable with this and has tried to reverse it. And I fear that they may, finally, have succeeded.
The moderate wing of the GOP was a lot closer in 1972 & 1976 than they are now.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
And since that time, the party establishment has been uncomfortable with this and has tried to reverse it. And I fear that they may, finally, have succeeded.
The thing to remember is this...they can't win without conservatives...They've had their way with earmarks, corruption and runaway spending in 2006 and they've gotten their candidate for the White House this time around....They'll come back to us when this is over with their hats in their hands like they did in 1996 after shoving Bob Dole down our throats.
Nothing brings clarity to your vision like a walk in the desert without water!
--"Faith is a free work to which no one can be forced. Nay it is a Divine work, done in the Spirit."--Martin Luther
Offering up Bush is what you call "coming back to us with their hats in their hands"?
Ok.
"Guns don't kill people...
"...But they sure help!"
-Paul Giamatti, Shoot 'Em Up
but does not particularly surprise. Alas.
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This too shall pass.
Conservatives are no longer needed in the party, so why stay? I say become an Independent and vote your conscience. I don't see it as a big deal. Nothing in the Constitution that says you have to be affiliated with any party. Why not let them have their tent to play in. Aren't we the folks who preach "vote with your feet" and "vote with your money"? I'm sure some will claim pouting or sulking, but that's not the case. Let them go their way and we will go ours - no hard feelings.
--roxer
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
For me it would be "vote for the candidate who will be the most net-positive long term or do the least long-term damage to the country". We're clearly having to do the latter calculation for this election - damage is coming.
I supported President Bush on that calculation. I had zero expectations that he would do positive things, but I didn't really expect a lot of negatives. And on the whole, he's been a wash. He did much good after 9/11, and has basically just about completely offset all of that with other things. On that calculation he was clearly better than Gore, and clearly better than Kerry. This election, where both sides will probably do great damage? It's not nearly so cut and dried.
The next best 'homes' for movement conservatism are the Libertarian, Constitution, or the regional Conservative party. The Libertarian party, like the Green party, is barely a factor in US politics. The Conservative party is only a factor where it is allied with the GOP. The Constitution party is practically a joke.
For the time being, consigning the conservative movement, or, at least, the bulk of its members, to life in a third party, whether new or old, is to consign to electoral irrelevance. There does not, at this time, seem to be a likely sea change that would result in the death of either major party.
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This too shall pass.
my comments yesterday not withstanding.
If Cole is really going after a fellow Republican in a primary then he should be removed from his post.
I got it loud and clear when we were all told to fall in line with McCain. My position on McCain is pretty well established elsewhere on the board. But I'll offer you a deal. I will not only fall in line on McCain, I will actively back his campaign if you or anyone else can get McCain to tell the RNC to back off on backstabbing conservative Republicans who've successfully won office. Full RNC press for Broun the same way the RNC put on the full press for Specter, because Broun is the incumbent who can win GA just like Specter was the incumbent who could win PA. I'll even give you an out. I haven't seen the numbers for Broun's general election. If he didn't have better than a 10% margin, deals off with no fault to either side. I'll go back to not actively bad-mouthing McCain and the party line can go back to we all need to fall in line.
I know, I know. Who am I to demand this? Well the truth is, nobody. And I'll even grant that you won't really get much out of my conversion, because there's no way McCain wins the People's Republic of MD even if I actively support and vote for him. But I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Last poll I saw said 40% of Republicans think this way about McCain. That's not a number anybody anywhere in the Republican party (or here at Redstate) should be comfortable with. And it will take more than words and promises to convince that 40% they shouldn't just bunker down because its going to be a long painful 4/8 years. Backing another maverick who won't back down on his beliefs just might be the way McCain can change that number.
GOP Old Blood Line is no better than Liberal Line of the Dems. It is all about Power, not America.
Conservatives know this and we are not going to "get in line" anymore. If the Old Blood Lines want to lose, they can do it withour our support. They just seem to not want to face the truth of their lies.
As a conservative, I understand they do not like me but that is their problem not mine. Just as McCain is not doing anything more than talk AT us instead of TO us, the Country Club Blue Blood GOP's want us only when they can tell us what to do.
Lets face it, they think they are better than the rest of the party and we have not been "trained" well enough yet. So they quickly attack conservative pundits as being "Intolerant" (McCains own words). They are fully aware of what they are doing and just can't stand the fact that we THINK for ourselves.
Good Luck GOP but you need votes more than luck, both of which they are running short on this election cycle.
I heard part of Glenn Richardson's tax reform plan calls for re-imposing sales tax on food. I'd like to know if this is true and why he thinks it's such a great idea.
This is also the GOP majority that brought us the statewide restaurant smoking ban. You might argue that issue many ways but it really doesn't allow freedom of choice for businesses or consumers.
when local races were decided in August because everyone running was a Democrat. I remember it being that way through most of the 1980's.
...then I say support Broun. Erickson has a lot more credibility with me than the NRCC. At least he writes his own stuff.
Of course, the NRCC can try to manipulate the game. But then we can always have a lovely talk later this year or next on whether this Republic is a parliamentary democracy with the emphasis on the national parties picking their team players(people ruled indirectly), or a Representative-based democracy with an emphasis on the people of a locality picking that reprensentative who to them will best reflect their views on major issues and use his/her prudent judgement on more minute concerns(people rule indirectly).
...Had Mitt run against JM mano a mano with out the Huckster siphoning off valuable conservative votes from Mitt, you can make a pretty solid argument Mitt would of won the primary. So the conservative base of the party is in tact and looking for love. Why would the GOP move away from that?
"Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich." ~ William F. Buckley, Jr.
As (loose) analogy, there seem to be a lot of (R)'s who dislike Jeff Flake and his habit of calling out porkers without partisanship, but he seems to have established himself with his constituents despite the lack of intra-party admiration... perhaps we might see the same thing happen with this guy.
in Georgia is political suicide.
The drug war is a cash cow for Georgia law enforcement with I-75 running through the state from Florida. Also, our gov was elected to his first term in large part because angry teachers defected democrat ranks and voted for him after Roy Barnes. Since then, he has tried to court them (at one point he gave ALL teachers in Georgia $200 gift cards to buy supplies.
Broun doesn't fit the failed big-government conservative paradigm (NCLB) that so failed us in 2006. Georgia, as usual, is a little behind the curve. I love our senators, but there isn't a whole lot of difference between democrats and republicans once you go south of Atlanta. They all loved ROOOOSEVELT.
"The most dangerous form in which oppression can overshadow a community is that of popular sway" -James Fenimore Cooper