by Patrick J. Buchanan
“Sometimes party loyalty asks too much,” said JFK.
For Sarah Palin, party loyalty in New York’s 23rd congressional district asks too much. Going rogue, Palin endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Dede Scozzafava.
On Oct. 1, Scozzafava was leading. Today, she trails Democrat Bill Owens and is only a few points ahead of Hoffman, as Empire State conservatives defect to vote their principles, not their party.
Newt Gingrich stayed on the reservation, endorsing Scozzafava, who is pro-choice and pro-gay rights, and hauls water for the unions.
Scourged by the right, Newt accused conservatives of going over the hill in the battle to save the republic, just to get a buzz on. “If we are in the business about feeling good about ourselves while our country gets crushed, then I probably made the wrong decision.” How Scozzafava would prevent America’s being “crushed” was unexplained.
The 23rd recalls a famous Senate race 40 years ago. Rep. Charles Goodell was picked by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to fill the seat of Robert Kennedy in 1968. To hold onto it, Goodell swerved sharp left, emerging as an upstate Xerox copy of Jacob Javits, the most liberal Republican in the Senate.
In 1970, Goodell got both the GOP and Liberal Party nominations, and faced liberal Democrat Richard Ottinger. This left a huge vacuum into which Conservative Party candidate James Buckley, brother of William F., smartly moved.
Assessing the field, the Nixon White House concluded that, with liberals split, Goodell could not win. But Buckley might. Signals were flashed north that loyalty to the president was not inconsistent with voting for Buckley. To send the signal in the clear, Vice President Agnew described Charlie Goodell to a New Orleans newspaper as “the Christine Jorgensen of the Republican Party.”
The former George Jorgensen, Christine had undergone the most radical sex-change operation in recorded history.
Liberals went berserk, calling on New Yorkers to rally to Goodell, who began surging, at Ottinger’s expense. Buckley scooted between them both to win. Hoffman may also. But even if he does not, Palin, a conservative of the heart, did the right thing.
And the GOP has been sent a necessary message.
For, according to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans now identify as conservatives — only 20 percent as Republicans. If the GOP is not the conservative party, it will never be America’s Party.
But what does “conservative” mean in 2009? And where do conservatives come down on the great issues? For what the right is against — any repeal of the Bush tax cuts, the $787 billion stimulus, Obamacare — is much clearer than what the right stands for.
In 2010, this may not matter, as the Obamakins rule the roost and will be held accountable, and Republicans can unite around what they oppose. Year 2012, however, is problematic.
Then the party must declare itself. And the reality is that the GOP remains a house divided.
What, for example, is the conservative view of the war in Iraq and the Bush economic policies that cost the party both Houses of Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008?
Why did President Bush leave with 27 percent approval? Did Bush policies the GOP once applauded have anything to do with it?
Was Bush free trade responsible for the decline of the dollar and the loss of one in four manufacturing jobs? Is globalization still good for America and NAFTA the deal of the century?
What is the conservative position on reaching out to Russia, as Barack Obama has done, on bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, and on canceling that anti-missile system Bush planned in Poland?
“We’re all Georgians now!” John McCain declared. Are we?
What is the party position on a “long war” in Afghanistan?
For if America has soured on the war and opposes more troops today, will America be enthusiastic about soldiering on in 2012, after 1,000 or 2,000 more American dead have been shipped home?
Do Republicans support negotiating with Tehran, or cutting off gasoline and starting up the escalator to air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities that are today under U.N. inspection?
Will the GOP propose to stimulate the economy with tax cuts after four straight trillion-dollar deficits? Will the Bush line, “They’ll pay for themselves,” still be credible after Bush’s deficits?
If the largest federal outlays are for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, defense and interest on the debt, followed by education, housing, homeland security and transportation, where would the GOP use the knife to balance the budget?
According to Gallup, America is moving closer to the Republican position on regulations, abortion, guns and union power. But half of all Americans now favor cuts in legal immigration. Are Republicans willing to call for a moratorium on immigration to tighten the labor market and force wages up? Or does the Chamber of Commerce still call the tune?
Ronald Reagan arrived with new ideas that fit the needs of his time. Where are the Republican ideas that fit the needs of this time?
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I believe this time Newt got it wrong. It's time conservatives started standing up for themselves an saying enough is enough. I'm personally tired holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. As the case of President Bush and then John McCain. The last time I voted for a President that I really wanted was President Regan, I know there will never be another but a reasonable facsimile would suffice. It's time to elect conservatives wether they're Republican or Dumocrat. If not Obama and his liberal henchman will destroy us. They're already doing a pretty good job after only ten months.
So, Pat, what is your plan? What exactly should the "Conservative Party" do?
"New Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 73% think Republicans in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters from throughout the nation. Twelve percent (12%) are undecided.
These numbers are basically unchanged from a survey in late April."
&3% + 12% = 85%!!! Golly gee, Pat! Do you not think maybe there is a political market for a replacement conservative party?
Puleeze give us your thoughts on what the Conservative Party should look like. Then We the People can decide for ourselves whether the GOP can be resurrected from the dead – or whether We need to move to a credible replacement. Time's a'wasting!
"If the largest federal outlays are for Medicare, Medicaid, Social
Security, defense and interest on the debt, followed by education,
housing, homeland security and transportation, where would the GOP
use the knife to balance the budget?"
PJB
Since the Founding Fathers warned us regarding the use of unfunded paper money, it would seem logical to use the knife(terrible swift sword) on so-called "interest" paid to the Federal Reserve.
The United States of America should use its military might to seize the assets of these central bankers who have robbed the American people of their patrimony, since the inception of this republic.
The founders did NOT authorize any Dane geld to be paid to these robber baron bankers, and the Revolutionary War was fought to ensure debt-free money for this country.
The American people find themselves once again under the yoke of serfdom to a central molesting bank. This has triggered the Second American Revolution.
Any talk of a conservative mind-set or agenda, will follow the original guidelines laid down by our forefathers:
"The system of banking we have both equally and ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction. I sincerely believe, with you…that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did…they always will. They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by the power of government, keep them in their proper spheres."
- Gouvernor Morris, head of the committee that wrote the final draft of the U.S. Constitution
Newt and Sarah are small players in the course of human events; it is the bankers who are the “deciders” behind the scenes, of what role both the Republican and Democratic parties will play in delivering America to vassal state status in Big Brother’s New World Order.
If the question of political survival is to be contemplated, all answers must pivot around the manifest destiny of a nation to control its own purse strings and borders.
Free trade and usury are the bright shining lies, which paved the way for the international bankers to emerge from the shadows, with their unwitting corporate shock troops–and modern-day Hessians–the guest workers.
You are correct about the bankers, free trade, and usury. I also agree with seizing the assets of these bankers as you suggested in a previous post.
“Are Republicans willing to call for a moratorium on immigration to tighten the labor market and force wages up? Or does the Chamber of Commerce still call the tune?”
PJB
Considering the role of the media–most particularly the conservative media–it seems probable that the press will sell our country down the river.
Fox News in particular, has dropped the ball, by refusing to report the constitutional crisis engendered by the Obama birth certificate question, and the numerous lawsuits brought against the usurper president/ illegal alien in the White House.
These Central Banks and Goldman Sacks intities DO answer to a higher intity, through interlocking corporatocracy. This means that everybody is owned by somebody, and at the top are mega International Banksters with NO LOYALTY to any nation.
Newt is a lap dog like all of the rest of our elected officials, commited to ONLY the foreign provider of CAMPAIGN FUNDS! Has he made his pilgrimage to the keeprs of the funds?………….Yes…………..2007 Herzliya Conference in Israel…………..Why did 5 Presidential Candidates all simultaneusly attend in the middle of a Presidential year?…………Why did the msm not cover it?………They didn't show up simultaneusly in Dallas asking for votes from U.S. Citizens, but did show up at Herzliya?…….SEE THE SPEAKERS LIST?
http://www.herzliyaconference.org/Eng/_Articles/A...
WHY?
And why do almost every major talk radio host, TV news commentator, senator and congressman make the pilgrimage? After all, we don’t see them traveling to Sweden, Brazil or even Mexico.
You know, it's funny. For years I've been saying that you should support candidates based on principle, even if they are not Republicans, and "conservatives" have screamed that I'm just "throwing my vote away", and how I "HAVE to vote for the lesser of two evils". Now that Sarah has supported a "Conservative Party" candidate, the Palinites have fallen in line behind her and all of a sudden NOW it's OK to support a "third party"???