Breaking: Scozzafava quits after Siena poll; Update: Hoffman campaign asking for endorsement?

A principle that conservatives must address satisfactorily to be successful in the 2010 midterms and to take back the country:

THE BIG TENT

When a self-help group advertises its ability to help folks cure their addictions, alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, weight etc it is first done with the understanding that its expertise is confined to a certain addiction and by extrapolation cannot be expected to cure a malady that one does not have expertise in, second that it will charge a fee for its service, third that participants agree voluntarily to participate in certain improvements or cures recommended by the representatives of the group and fourth that it will welcome and embrace all participants who harbor such an addiction.

Political parties, in this case the Republican Party (GOP) are no exception. Since its founding the GOP has traditionally been a party whose underpinnings included a fidelity to individual liberty, private enterprise, low taxes, smaller government, and a strong national defense. If you entered the Republican “tent” this is the minimum that the greater majority of its members past and present should expect.

Now here are the two problems as I see it: first Republicans no longer wanting to seek new members or keep old members under this umbrella and secondly some members, commonly called RINO’s want to infliltrate the party and become members to refocus the party and change its mission statement away from its traditional hallmarks and become more like the opposition (Democratic Lite) in viewpoint and it’s rhetoric more milquetoast and PC.

Quite simply “the big tent” argument is a bogus argument. Whether you are a revival meeting, self-help group, or political party, your goal is NOT to convince individuals or potential participants to avoid your organization but in terms of “truth in advertising” make it abundantly clear that if you join us there will be certain expectations and one of the major expectations is that we continue to subscribe to the mission statement that has always served us well. As members you have every right to expect that from the high muck-a-mucks; from each individual is expected a membership fee and an adherence to these long-standing principles; members then should be committed to relying on the good judgment of the leaders of the party to conduct its affairs to adhere to these principles and to further the mission statement of the party which is to first win elections, second to find potential candidates who will wholeheartedly support the principles of the party and not forget them once they are elected and third promote these principles in the public arena on behalf of its members and fourth to keep the party vibrant and dynamic through fostering new membership.

In all these four objectives the GOP hierarchy including the members of the House and the Senate and the Presidency of both Bush’s has been found to be woefully inadequate in the last 20 years in representing the party’s core beliefs, and its viewpoint in the public arena on behalf of its members who after all are the reason the party exists in the first place.

Let me get this out of the way. The GOP does NOT exist in order to pays the RNC members a good salary, the GOP does not exist to curry favor with the media, the GOP does not exist to give prestige to members of Congress while they do the cocktail circuit and the GOP hierarchy does not exist to ignore the traditional philosophy and principles of the GOP so it can practice sophisticated elitism that does not act on behalf of or represent the thoughts and ideas of the greater majority of its members.

Why is Sarah Palin so popular with the base of the GOP?

1)She is not in politics for personal gain; instead she wants to reshape the GOP so that its well-paid hierarchy understand they are primarily in office or appointed to positions to serve its members and to fulfill the mission statement of the GOP and not to feather their own nests or establish fiefdoms.

2)Sarah believes the principles and ideas of the GOP take precedent over how they are interpreted by the MSM and should never be compromised by the RNC hierarchy, Washington politicians or pundits in order to appear more “diverse” or “inclusive” or get better press coverage from the Beltway scribes or news anchors. It is what it is. If we are accused of being close or narrow minded so be it. We believe what we believe and we are proud of it

3)Sarah believes GOP members of Congress are not sent to Washington as she said in her convention speech “to mingle with the right folks” and compromise their principles. Sarah understands the frustration the grassroots of the GOP have with the GOP when it cares more about pleasing Obama, catering to the MSM or finding bipartisan solutions by working around the edges of bills than to be standing up for its membership across the country. For Sarah you are sent to Washington to stand up for certain (conservative) ideas and principles. That should be your #1 priority. Everything else is secondary.

4)And the GOP does not exist so that RINO philsophy (Democratic Lite) is promoted as “the revisionist version” of GOP philsophy. The majority of Republicans are not RINO’s but conservatives. And Sarah represents this great majority of members who have felt that the GOP hierarchy and politicians have sold out the party and with it its ideas and principles. Sarah wants the GOP to stand up for what it stood for in the past and let the chips fall where they may.

The “big tent idea” needs to be explained differently. The GOP needs to go back to the roots of capitalism to explain as I alluded to earlier that as a political party it offers a specific service with the full understanding that it is fully aware that it may not attract every American citizen, some citizens may be completely apolitical or choose to remain independents and some may simply not agree with the ideas, philsophy, and principles that the GOP chooses to bring forth and propound and thus choose not to enter your tent. There is nothing evil or sinister here. This is not a deliberate attempt to exclude anybody from being a potential member. Nobody is told by the GOP “to take a hike” that we don’t want you as a member.

If you want to join the GOP you pay your membership dues and you become member, simple as that. But as a member you should expect a certain commodity to be furnished and delivered; you are entitled to it. If you do not receive it, it is simply a breach of contract.

The big tent does not mean you have to sacrifice your ideas and principles just for the sake of recruiting new members. That does a disservice to existing members who expect a certain “return on investment” for their dues and this creates cognitive dissonance in new members who have a hard time figuring out what the GOP really stands for. The big tent should definitely not be an invitation to anarchy, division or dilution of conviction. You are welcome to come to the tent but you have no right to raise a fuss or claim narrow-mindedness if what you hear within the tent is alien to your way of thinking. You were told what the GOP core beliefs were before joining the party or at least you should have been. It is what it is.

If you don’t agree with the GOP, form your own party or join another one but don’t resort to condemning the GOP for not being more inclusive or more willing to embrace members whose worldviews are completely at odds or alien with the core beliefs of the party.

Those who attend revival meetings go to get a dose “of that old time religion”. They are under no illusion why they are entering the “spiritual” tent. And neither should anybody who voluntarily enters the GOP political tent either. There is no difference.

technopeasant on November 1, 2009 at 7:07 AM