RINOs need to take back the Republican party
There are now so many RINOs wandering the barren plains that, banded together, they might even form a critical mass. A base, if you will. If only they weren’t so attractively independent. The individualist nature of those most likely to be drawn to the Republican Party is such that they tend not to gather in groups. Ostracized by their own tribe, they feel alone in their exile.
Why should RINOs hang their heads in shame and be relegated to the fringes of their party? The party is the fringe. Isn’t it time to reclaim the salt lick? RINOs need to be defiantly proud, aggressively centrist and unapologetically sane.
There are a couple of obstacles to this obvious course. First, sane people are too busy Being Normal to organize. No, “normal” is not a relative term. We all know what normal is, and it doesn’t involve carrying gigantic photos of aborted fetuses to political conventions. For example. …
Finally, they lack the necessary grandiosity to recognize how fabulous they are. Ever seen a RINO in one of those silly hats that screams: “I Belong! I Am A Member Of The Party!”? No. They tend to be discreet — strangers in a strange land, keeping a low profile and an eye cracked for signs of fellow travelers. At most, they gather in smallish groups and dine on ironically named dishes such as Baked Alaska. At their most enthusiastic, they form polite alliances, such as the “No Labels,” um, something.
Blowback
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I disagree. All you have to do is win a national primary. Mitt won because REPUBLICAN’s voted for him. You can twist and twirl down the rabbit hole placing the blame for that on everyone else, the media, the establishment, Karl Rove, the stupidity of the electorate, etc…
But if there’s enough of you and even one decent candidate that has a pray of a shot, none of that other stuff matters. The problem is, you can’t get REPUBLICAN’s to vote for a full on conservative candidate in enough size to win a PRIMARY.
That’s hardly “locking out”.
Genuine on February 20, 2013 at 1:27 PM
The problem in 2012 was that our candidate choices were poor, not that voters rejected a strong conservative in favor of a squish. Conservatives openly rebelled against Romney and gave literally every other candidate a shot to take the lead. In the end, those other candidates flamed out because they weren’t ready for “prime time,” and Romney emerged as the strongest of a weak field.
The reason our candidate choices were so poor is that Republicans got wiped out of state legislatures, governorships, and Congress in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles. That’s our “farm system” for POTUS candidates. So, we were depleted.
In 2016, we’ll have a much stronger bench. Mitt Romney would have been a second-tier candidate had he been squaring off against a two-term Scott Walker, John Kasich, Mike Scott, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, etc.
Outlander on February 20, 2013 at 1:33 PM
The 2010 midterm elections actually DISPROVE the assertion.
Mitoch55 on February 20, 2013 at 1:33 PM
Brain dead Kathleen, the GOP does not own our vote. Many conservatives have left the GOP because of the RINO establishment. We have been Indys for a long time now and we did’t vote for GHW Bush, we didn’t vote for Dole, we didn’t vote for McLame, and we didn’t vote for Etch-a-sketch.
How’d that work out for moi? STFU!
Jayrae on February 20, 2013 at 1:35 PM
I swear to God there are people who actually think those that you mentioned are the “fringe” and Obama is a moderate..
melle1228 on February 20, 2013 at 1:39 PM
Romney got the snowball rolling in those stupid states where people can cross over and vote for either party.
Romney got the snowball rolling in those north east liberal states where Republicans tend to be left of center.
Same with McCain , Same with Dole.
That is why the entire primary system sucks, why it needs to be re-designed completely.
LegendHasIt on February 20, 2013 at 1:39 PM
LegendHasIt on February 20, 2013 at 1:39 PM
Why you are such a great thinker.
Schadenfreude on February 20, 2013 at 2:02 PM
We’ll have a much stronger bench, but how many of them will even run? The GOP appears to be planning to do what they did with Romney – get all the big money people behind their chosen candidate early and shut out all potential opposition. My preferred candidates are Scott Walker and Mike Pence, but there’s no way either of them are going to waste time campaigning against Rubio or Jeb or whoever the establishment has picked.
We’ll be stuck with a field of third and fourth stringers and one handpicked candidate like we were in 2012.
Doomberg on February 20, 2013 at 2:06 PM
take it back?! why take what you already have??
Sachiko on February 20, 2013 at 2:09 PM
The GOP (and conservatives also) need a vehicle to disclaim these idiots as being republicans (or conservatives).
There is a lucrative business for people who are clearly moderate dems (at best) who claim to be republican or conservative (a la Parker and Frum) in the MSM to write articles bashing the GOP (or conservatives). So, someone like Parker, who clearly does not adhere to any conservative or even GOP platform policy positions, claims to be “the sole sane republican” and uses each column to bash republicans and conservatives. It is obvious that she lacks talent and would have no job outside of her use to the MSM as a “republican” bashing other republicans. Just read the tripe she wrote here.
The reverse doesn’t happen b/c the mainstream media wouldn’t publish it and would pretty quickly point out the person is no longer a Democrat. So, if Zell Miller started a column calling for sane democrats to take the party back, a) the MSM would not carry it and b) the MSM would quickly label Zell Miller as an ex-democrat to limit any damage.
The GOP needs to disavow Parker as a republican and argue forcefully and continually that Parker, Frum et al do not count as “conservative voices” or “GOP voices”. The MSM claims to put forth competing views by printing 20 far-left liberals, a few moderate dems and then people like Frum and Parker. We have to stop letting them get away with it.
Monkeytoe on February 20, 2013 at 2:22 PM
What “take back”? They already own it, Kathleen. What are you talking about?
Better yet, conservatives in my area are leaving and disaffiliating with the party. I did so about a month ago.
Way to prove you need to get out of DC a bit more often.
batter on February 20, 2013 at 2:25 PM
Who said conservatives “own” anything in the GOP? You squishes own it. And therefore you’re 0 for the past 2 presidential elections. Good going there!
ddrintn on February 20, 2013 at 2:48 PM
When the GOPe works at cross purposes, continues to attack conservative candidates after they’ve won their Republican primaries, I think we can see what matters to them (and you?). Retaining power. Negative ads, negative talking points, etc, work. That’s why they do it.
Fallon on February 20, 2013 at 3:35 PM
That is an absolutely untrue assertion. Winning one house of congress by scaring the crap out of low information voters does NOT equal an endorsement of conservatism as you see it. And as you can see from the last election, only works once.
You sold nobody. You scared them.
Genuine on February 20, 2013 at 5:59 PM
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