Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Cat Fight

Ah yes. Little has the appeal for the average man as a good cat fight. I came across this little piece via AOL and really didn't think this fight was still ongoing. That McCain chick is feisty.

But she isn't the only one who feels as she does. Michael Medved also believes that "moderate" Republicans are important in order for the party to regain power.

Well, I won't say that we need to reduce the "Big Tent" to pup size, but I think that to dilute the message to something less than conservative serves us poorly. We've always made the best gains by standing for conservative principles, not by rejecting them. Indeed, we saw that over the last couple of elections, beginning with the 2006 midterms, where Dems took power in Congress after Republicans showed themselves to be less than fiscally conservative. Even more so, Dems typically move to the center in order to get elected before exposing their truly leftist selves.

For myself, I believe that we do need as many people on the bus as possible. But that doesn't meant that just anyone should be driving. We need to lead with our strengths, and that's done by defending and articulating conservative principles. That's best done by those who have actually worked as if they truly understand and believe in those principles and have enacted or supported them when they had the chance.

For all of us, that means paying attention and rendering our support, whether by donating time or cash, to those who have proven themselves to be the type of conservative this country needs. Since those midterms in '06, America has taken major steps backwards. As righteous fear of Democratic policy proposals swell amongst even their own, now is when we should be involved. Now is when we should be in touch with the party demanding they act like Republicans.

We can welcome those who do not agree with every little point or plank. But if we end up looking like another version of our opponents, why should anyone bother with us? Illinois is now considering people for the senate seat Burris will be vacating. The party is backing Mark Kirk. I say, vote Democrat rather than let this boob pretend he's a conservative any longer. Get on the horn and get yourselves heard.

5 comments:

Vinny said...

It does my heart good to hear that you feel that way about Mark Kirk since I think that he is one of the few Republicans who is a genuine threat to attract progressives like me who are disgusted with Illinois' corrupt Democrats. It is nice to know that you right wingers will torpedo him.

Marshal Art said...

Any Republican who can attract progressives or independents is considered the best Republican by the party. But they are not the best candidates for that reason alone. They must attract those people for the right reasons. I'm betting you see Mark Kirk as "less Republican" than others and that's exactly what's wrong with the guy. He's attracting you by being like you. What a good candidate will do is attract you because of the strength of his arguments and positions, by his ability to articulate the benefits of siding with him rather than the lame bastards for whom you usually vote.

Yeah, I'd love to see him torpedoed. He's no conservative, that's for sure. Our country doesn't need any more "progressives" no matter what letter is in parenthesis next to his name.

Cameron said...

Republicans don't need more "moderates", whatever that means. What they need to do is what candidate Obama did, ie. look like a moderate, talk like a moderate, and then go out and do everything a good progressive would want. In terms of winning over independents and even some from the other side of the aisle, politics is about PR and perception.

Marshal Art said...

Engaging in lefty tactics would serve the libs right should we win by doing so. But I'd prefer a true statesman who could convince others to follow based on the logic of conservative principles. It really shouldn't be that hard considering how conservative most people really are on many issues. That is, when people get down to really thinking things out, when they have to face issues head on in real life circumstances, they can see that many, if not all conservative principles make the most sense.

Anonymous said...

Amen, MA. Not that I'm making any comparisons, but compromising with the devil is never good. mom2