Doug Ross on what sitting out means.
For those of you as disgusted as I am with GOP leaders, consider the ramifications of sitting out the midterms. Should Nancy Pelosi regain the Speakership, well, in six words, they’ll be coming for your guns. That’s a guarantee.
Roger Simon with this nugget:
So what should Republicans do? First, as Hippocrates said, do no harm. Stop attacking each other. Follow Ronald Reagan’s prescription about never speaking ill of fellow Republicans. That kind of behavior turns off voters.
That last one goes both ways.
Republicans are in the same dilemma as Ontario’s PCs: no leader, and only a smattering of real conservatives.
Jamie, we have a leader and we better get behind him or we’re cutting off our noses to spite our faces and shooting ourselves in the foot to boot. Attacking the leader we have is attacking ourselves and given the mess Ontario is in at the hands of the Liberal/NDP coalition they cannot be allowed to remain in control. It’s a no brainer at this point. Anyone paying hydro bills, which they are raising even higher on November 1st and taxes upon taxes in Ontar-i-owe who votes for more of the same or stays at home is either on welfare, uninformed or an irresponsible voter.
None of this is the fault of Tim Hudak, he has not been in power, Liberal lies have been embedded since McGuinty’s first term in Office, every promise he made he broke and the dopes in Ontario fell for more of the same for three elections. Look at us now, we’re a broken, have not province, taken from the breadbasket of the nation to a basket case by the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty now continuing under a new leader thanks to their kissing cousins the NDP under Andrea Horwath. Horwath talks loudly and wields a wet noodle, scolds and holds hands.
Both comments offer wise counsel. Disagreeing does not have to descend to attacking. The spectacle of inter-party name calling has not only put off independent voters (and many principled conservatives), it has emboldened elements in the Democratic party in their totalitarian looniness. By all means, challenge out-of-touch Republicans in primary elections, but don’t replace them with inarticulate and poorly vetted amateurs. A good clue might be when, as in the case of Todd Akin in Missouri, Democrats start contributing to the campaign of a candidate, that might be the time to re-think your support.
And on election day, no matter how much you may be repelled by the choice that faces you, consider how much more repellent are some of the “voters” that the Democratic precinct captains will be bussing from poll to poll to elect the people who will most assuredly take away your guns (and most of the other rights you still retain).
Similarly, Canadians should bitch to their hearts’ content at Tim Hortons; that’s why God and Timmy gave it to our nation; but there is only one party currently that even makes an intermittent effort to preserve this country. Give the CPC a piece of your mind, but give them your vote as well.
Roger Simons has good advice. Yesterday on FoxNews I saw RHINOs obliquely attacking Tea Party members. We had the same here when Joe Who openly attacked Steven Harper in the press.
Roseberry;
Bitching about government is standard fair, as you suggest. I am embarrassed to admit that I was caught up in the PET BS back in the ’60’s but that only lasted until I actually worked for a summer.
Standing by the conservative movement sometimes required voting against the status quo. I was with Reform from the beginning as much of the Mulroney legacy was hardly about conservatism. If the Harper led CPC swerves to the progressive side I will again not vote for them. Conservative politics is always under attack from the inside. It is easier for those who prize an elected seat over a philosophical commitment to bend their conviction to attain that seat.
Blind adherence to the GOP does not serve the USA over the long term. I applaud the Tea Partiers who are trying to turn the ship much like Reform did. It does not guarantee success but the Tea Party effort should bring into focus what is important in the Conservative movement.
The bottom line is that the vast majority of citizens in both Canada and the USA have no interest in politics beyond what government can do directly for their benefit. Isn’t that the fundamental problem with conservatism? The message is about denying benefits for today to create more security in the future. This is a tougher message to sell than what progressives can do by promising whatever it takes to gain votes. Sometimes it is necessary to let them proceed so that society can reap the whirlwind and learn tough lessons. The GOP should be positioning themselves with a strong message of fiscal responsibility for the time when the inevitable collapse hits the DEMs. Obamacare is a symptom not the cause.
Worth remembering that in the Regan era the folks at the senior levels of both parties were pretty much grownups. Now the whole show is being run by a bunch of spoiled brats and dumb bunnies.
“…who votes for more of the same or stays at home is either on welfare, uninformed or an irresponsible voter.”
I’m pretty informed, and what the ‘information’ is telling me is that there isn’t a party worth my time to vote for. It’s rapidly becoming that way with Federal politics, also.
You can run interference for Turbo Timmy all you want, but the fact remains that he is incompetent. He and the Ontario PC’s will find a way to lose, and even if they managed to win, you can’t sit there with your crystal ball and state that they’ll ‘fix’ Ontario. They don’t have the stones to do it.
Besides, why would I want to vote for a progressive ‘conservative’ party? ‘Progressive’ policies are what is ruining the province.
I believe that it will be the young left of center and independent voters who voted for Obama that may sit out the midterms and the 2016 elections.
Imagine that you were a young college going liberal (turn half your brain off, I find that helps) in the USA in 2008, 20 or 21 years of age. This is your first Presidential election so you vote for the hip young black candidate with the exotic name who is going to ‘fundamentally transform America’ rather than the weird white dinosaur. You voted for Obama again in 2012 because he introduced ‘free’ health care and that evil Mitt Romney was going to push grannie off a cliff if you didn’t. In 2014 you have a mountain of student debt and if you’re lucky you work 28 hours per week (Obamacare hours) at a job that barely pays the rent. If you’re unlucky you’re unemployed and living in your parent’s basement with no hope of a job. Whatever your situation you’ve passed the magic age of 26 so you’re no longer covered under your parents’ health insurance, so you have to buy health insurance or else the IRS fines you. Meanwhile your parents are being squeezed financially by their high health insurance premiums. Now you realize that ‘free health care’ was a lie from the get go. How motivated are you going to be to vote Democrat?
Mike, I agree with you in that Hudak does not fill me with confidence. Most elections are not about who will do the most good but who will do the least damage. I’ll take an incompetent right-of-center Conservative government over an incompetent left of center Liberal government that is propped up by the hippie-dippie Dippers anyday.
With the PCs in charge there is hope, however slight for a reversal of Dalton’s disastrous policies. If the Liberals retain power, they’ll throw more borrowed money into the bottomless pit of green energy.
“Most elections are not about who will do the most good but who will do the least damage.”
I’m unwilling to accept this anymore.
“I’ll take an incompetent right-of-center Conservative government over an incompetent left of center Liberal government that is propped up by the hippie-dippie Dippers anyday.”
I highly doubt that the PC’s will be ‘right’ of anything. Do you honestly think that they will take on the bureaucracy and unions? They don’t have the stones.
When government controls your healthcare and enforces compliance by using the power of the tax gestapo.
The result is obvious, neither are respected by the citizen, creative citizens drop off of the tax rolls and take away the power the kleptocracy has over them.
If wealth is not there, the professional thieves find it difficult to keep stealing.
What is the benefit of complying with either at this point?
Healthcare delayed by months & years is no different to healthcare denied.
Taxes paid to the klepto’s is the same as totally nonproductive work.
Our canadian governments have all promised more benefits than they can provide, extracted money from us taxpayers by force. Now they “lack the money and manpower” to keep those promises.
I want my money back or those promises kept.
Neither is likely to happen.
This is proof we are governed by liars who openly defraud us, enjoying a free ride on the stupidity of the “average” voter.
Politicians are the least of the parasites in our state of kleptocracy.
Well Mike, then you should join the PC party of Ontario and do everything you can to make it a true conservative party. If that fails then we’re going to have to follow the Preston Manning/Nigel Farage playbook and start a truly conservative party to force the Ontario PCs to come to the right or die on the vine.
We are fixing to start a 3rd Party with or without the Good Ole Boys Club.
So what should Republicans do? First, as Hippocrates said, do no harm. Stop attacking each other.
Because this was such a winning formula in the Bush era. ‘Wisdom’ = running into a brick wall all together! GO TEAM.
Those of us who actually understand politics know that Team Blue and Team Red are not that different although Team Red has some bright lights. It’s because of TEAM tools that we ended up with Obama getting elected and McGuinty getting re-elected.
As any serious person in politics will state, the problem with the Republicans is the rise of the tea party. Sure, the tea party brought great electoral success but now the Republicans are stuck with them. And it is a poisoned chalice.
I appreciate that many readers here think that the Reform party saved the conservative movement in Canada, but it does not take much review to realize that the Conservatives only won when they abandoned the Reform platform. The Reform party did not save the Conservative movement in Canada, it nearly killed it for a while. Harper’s government is nearly identical to Mulroney’s and bears almost no relation to Manning’s Reform party. (I note that many comments here are posted suggesting that Harper is becoming a CINO). For those who say that the Reform party is what saved us, please refresh my memory: were deficits, special status for Quebec and gay marriage part of the Reform platform? The current government is not a socially conservative government and is doing quite well thank you.
The Republicans need to quiet down the Tea Party movement or they will never break out again. Stop focusing on useless fights and fight the fights that really matter to conservatives – like doing something about the budget and the huge deficit and debt that liberals don’t seem to think is a problem.
they need 4-8 more years of democrap south of the boarder, and that may ignite the necessary , actual shooting, civil war, and clean house of all politicians and beaurocraps and then start fresh from the bottom up. McCain, that failed POTUS wanna be, is also a failed conservative. Here in Ontario we have a choice, lefties or a little less lefties. Tim Whodat ain’t a leader and never will be. He could F up the lords prayer if the lord was his advisor, the same held true for John Tory. It would seem that our crop of potential conservative leaders has been hijacked by the liberals. One has to wonder how much the liberals are paying Whodat???
Conservative parties everywhere are infested with liberals.
Many of them have taken over leadership positions in the ridings/constituencies and spend their time making sure that actual conservatives are kept at bay.
Ronald Reagan’s thing was called the 11th commandment, we know now that that hasn’t worked well from experience. As Mark Levin says, 10 commandment are enough.
Clearthinking;
Some of your comments are quite true but if I thought Reform was not alive within the CPC I would not be a supporter. I think you and I can agree that fiscal conservatism should be the prime directive of any government. Harper has pretty much based his re-election on a balanced budget. Accountability does seem to be a driving force. Obviously we cannot be happy with the Senate or the still bloated civil service.
Social conservatism was present in Reform but I never found it to be the driving force. The Liebels and Dippers used it as a bogeyman but I never saw a big core element, irregardless a Stockwell Day.
You seem to suggest that the progressive side of conservatism has re-established itself within the CPC. For me that suggests a gradual slide back to Joe Clarke conservatism which in effect is simply Liebel policy in CPC clothing. Hopefully that is still unacceptable for western conservatives.
I agree. I am disappointed in the leftward move of the Conservative Party and some days think that the progressives have taken over from within. Clearthinking seems to want a return to tweedle dee, tweedle die, and tweedle dum as voting choices where the only differences are the colours of party posters.
“The Republicans need to quiet down the Tea Party movement or they will never break out again.”
I very much doubt that will happen, given the debt load, Obamacare and the coming immigration tidal wave. The Tea Party isn’t a party. It is every thinking adult in the USA with something to lose, having a panic attack as their country comes apart before their very eyes. Its one hundred million voices screaming “OMG WTF are you DOING?!!!”
Canadians don’t really get it about the scope of this Tea Party thing. Your average working American is TERRIFIED they’re going to lose their house, car and maybe their kids too due to economic failure and unemployment. These are people who just watched all their equity in their house disappear forever in 2008. Five years later millions of ’em are still under water on the mortgage. You hear them going off about it spontaneously in grocery stores, at the gym, in restaurants etc. People yelling at Obama on TV in a sports bar instead football.
These people have purchased more guns and ammunition since 2008 than got expended in WWI. They’ve also run up more personal debt than all the national debt in Europe. Student loan debt by itself is over one TRILLION dollars. With no jobs in sight.
The Tea Party already had their “1968 Democratic convention” moment. They’re on the march. They’re not about to shut up. I think the Tea Party is going to sweep every left-leaning RINO Republican office holder out in every seat that isn’t in an Eastern city. They’re going to steadily take over the Republican Party over the next few years and use it like a baseball bat on big city liberals. They aren’t in the mood for compromise.
Phantom;
If so many Americans were smelling the coffee then what happened last election? I appreciate the political action of the Tea Party but still think they are a minority by quite a bit. The scary aspect of all this is as the American middle class slides more into poverty their dependence on government handouts puts them into the Demo ranks.
Yeah well, the Donkeys (Democraps) at a visceral level do not understand the TEA Party……Pelossi calls the TEA Party events astro-turf….because Donkeys simple cannot get folks to show up unless they pay them…..it’s called projection.
Those few Donkeys who do grasp it is not astro-turf, assume the TEA Partiers must be insane and violent….to be feared/dreaded.