Redstate

and running....I am for a conservative party because this election has proven to be untenable for me.

When I am forced to look at McCain surging I cannot help but be distressed. I don't care what anyone else thinks...I just know I feel about him the way I feel about Hillary when I see them speak....that is not about to change anytime soon.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion

I think conservative Republicans need to stand up and let their voice be heard by writing letters to the editor in their local papers and calling in to local radio stations. I think they need to insist on a slate of conservative candidates in every race local, state, and federal.

I think we need to stand strong together. I don't think this is a time to give up or split the party. I am just one "Mother of Twins + 1" with a strong opinion that is willing to stand by my principles, what about you?

I'm ready for a conservative party. The republican party seems to have left me.

I actually came up with that name last week (not that it is patented or any kind of Rocket Science)

In reality, I would love to see this, but the question is whether it could ever compete with the GOP and dems? While I love the idea, I think it could best serve as a strong separate wing that the GOP would have to court.

"What would Reagan do?"

______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

This is really great news. Those that think they are being ignored, holding their breath, throwing tantrums and all the rest will have somewhere to go. Such a deal.

Does your party have a name yet?

How about Theocratic Majority for telling people how they should live their lives because we know best?

Goodbye, don't let the door hit you on the way out, you won't be missed.

______________________________________
Proud member of the Barry Goldwater wing of the party !

And it takes a majority to achieve things in American politics.

So this little effort is doomed to irrelevant failure.

HTML Help for Red Staters

In some states you already have a Constitution party and/or a national taxpayers party. You also have a libertarian party for those on the right who are liberal on some social issues. (Full disclosure: I condiser myself somewhat of a libertarian. But I am affiliated with the Republican party and am "traditional" on issues like abortion and marriage.)

Forming a new party isn't going to solve the central problems we have.

(1) Disagreement over what is and what is not "conservatism."

If you get 10 conservatives in a room talking long enough you might get 5 different definitions of conservatism. Some will say, "You can't be a conservative unless you are pro-life." I disagree. But I understand why one would take this position. Others would say, "You can't be pro-union and be a conservative." I tend to agree with this. But others do not. The Iraq war and the War on Terror has divided conservatives with Robert Novak opposing the Iraq war and David Frum supporting it.

(2) Too few conservatives.

I'd say that about 35 percent of the country is conservative based on one definition or another. But, again, to some people a conservatives supports prayer in public school but isn't too concerned about the capital gains tax rate or the minimum wage. So, this 35 percent isn't a cohesive group by any means.

(3) Lack of influence.

The media is dominated by liberals. Acadamia is dominated by liberals. Entertainment is dominated by liberals. This makes it much harder for conservatives to get coordinated. This is why Huckabee did well in Iowa and South Carolina. He had good organization in a disorganized race. I don't like Huckabee's politics, being a more libertarian-style conservative. But that's where we are.

Changing the name of the party to which we belong doesn't change any of this. In fact, it could result in less influence, since our electoral system is not based on proportinoal representation.

You either win or you lose in our system. If party A gets 30 percent and party B gets 30 percent, party C can win with 40 percent even if party A and party B are closer to each other in ideology than with party C. If conservatives divide up into separate political parties, we will be doomed.

If I decide not to vote for the GOP presidential nominee (if it's McCain), I will not vote for the libertarian candidate or a right or center political party. I will leave the ballot blank on the presidential portion (while voting straight GOP for all other races).

Why? I don't want another right of center political party gaining legitimacy in the eyes of voters. I don't want to see elections where a Democrat wins with 47 percent of the vote with the Republican getting 46 and the remaining 7 going to the Libertarians or the Constitutionalists.

If we can't vote for a particular Republican candidate, don't. But don't set up a situation where conservatives end up dividing their vote among several parties.

This wouldn't be a problem if we had proportional representation (which I don't think is a good system, by the way). But it is a problem given the system we have.

---
Beth

Well, the New American Conservative Party should go ahead and get behind Hillary or Obama while they can still get some play out of the endorsement, because that's who they're gonna elect.

(-2.75, -4.92)

With its flaws, our two-party system is vastly superior to multi-party systems. The coalitions & deals needed to govern in multi-party countries give much more power to party power brokers, with the individual party members basically having to toe the line when told. Looking at the spectrum from total statism to complete lawlessness, our system is good. I've been worried that the democrat party would veer so far toward statism that they would become irrelevant. Our party is not in that shape - certainly, McCain (about whom this is) is imperfect when it comes to conservatism & has engendered enmity with his jabs at conservatives. Most republican legislators & elected officials are somewhat conservative, with more conservatives coming up through the state & local ranks.

The better idea is to work within the party, from the ground up, to elect conservatives. This is from the local school board through the county commission to state reps & senators & governors. Splitting the party over disagreements with a couple of presidential candidates would do much more harm than good. Any "conservative" party would only - only - take away from the republicans. Even if Hillary is the nominee, we can't count on the "kos kidz" to create a far left alternative.

Is there a way that we can try to have changes made to the way Primary elections are held ? Such as a one day primary that followed once a month debates running up to it? That way everyone would have their candidate available to be voted for, and their vote would count twoard their chosen canidate.

I do not get to vote till April 22st, Why should my vote ( I am a Conservative, a Vet and a Citizen) not be able to count as much as a vote cast by an early voting state? In this day and age this makes absolutely no sense to me? Does anyone know of any groups I can contact or help to adjust this issue? If you can turn me on to one it would be Much Appreciated!!!