…

Whoever has his enemy at his mercy &
does not destroy him is his own enemy

step by step, inch by inch.

Republican Party…

A Hard Political Lesson

“But, during this campaign, I have also heard and seen many things within the Republican party establishment, both nationally and locally, that have been a cause for great concern and even, at times, indignation. I have witnessed things that are meant to be kept in the shadows, away from the ears and critical thinking abilities of the populace.

These things, especially how some of the best people I’ve met in this process are viewed by the higher-ups in the party, must be brought into the light of day, sooner rather than later, so that the battle for the soul of the Republican party can be waged, AND WON, before the next election cycle.”

I have followed Mr Rees since last January and find it very sad that he could no longer continue to run as a Republican. I hope that he finds in VA-5 that the person with the R after their name in 2010 is a Conservative but as of his statement to the press that did not appear to be so. I as everyone realize that politics is hardball and it not for the feint of heart however it shouldn’t be a BATTLE within your own party for what are fairly standard Republican ideals.

The GOP has lost its Conservative Principles and I do believe President Reagan would be horrified at the party today. I look forward to the day when the GOP no longer looks like it is Democrat lite but holds itself to a higher standard and is indeed the standard bearer of the SHINING CITY ON A HILL!

Whoever has his enemy at his mercy &
does not destroy him is his own enemy

I intend to work within the GOP. Already Democrats are salivating at the thought of a third party conservative movement and are intent on fostering it to hurt the GOP. I will not cooperate with a third party movement.

This is something that comes up here on Redstate fairly regularly. Be reminded, folks, that this is a conservative AND GOP blog site. The idea is to support conservatives as much as possible, but once the primaries are over and the people have chosen their GOP candidate (and that DID NOT HAPPEN in NY-23), then 99 times out of 100 we are going to be supporting the Republican. Not a third-party. It would take a pretty weird situation for that not to happen.

Cornyn, Pete Sessions, Michael Steele - Erick is right. Pay very close attention here. You need to listen to the PEOPLE of the GOP, not your insider buddies. Or you will be overruled.

we still have others such as the NRSC support for Crist, and Fiorina. The thing that makes this NY23 race so big and so important is the fact that it is an off off year, and there are only 4 races in the country getting this much attention. It makes the smackdown that much bigger, as it is not diluted by races for the entire House and the 38 Senate seats that will be up in 2010. I suspect that as of Nov. 4th, the 2010 campaigns will start, and I have faith that we will have the momentum going into those races.

is open. Although a high powered shop vac is called for, we can still all sweep with our conservative brooms.

smells ahead, such as Sarah-the-good-egg brings–vs. the rotten Hucka-Newtered yolk aroma left behind?

Erick

Why not a call for Primaries, always?

If there had been a primary and Dede had been elected and not selected, would you have been calling for scalps? I would hope that the people of NY 23 would have seen her for what she was, a Democrat in Republican costume, but it is up to the people who actually live in NY 23 to decide is it not?

The Florida Senatorial race is a primary and you have legitimate bones to pick there in terms of outside influence and money involved in a primary, but the only real answer would be a level playing field with a moratorium on all outside money in primaries. NRSC money, PAC money, keep it out of the primaries and let local people decide who they want to represent them. I’m not sure that is a real answer ether.

Call it a CYA if you like but at least ego didn’t get in the way.

Senators to be shunned. I would trade my Senator for either one of them in a heartbeat. Neither are “Conservative” in any stretch of the imagination, but neither have done the kind of damage to the Party or the Country that McCain has. I would much rather agonize over one vote - TARP - that in reality made no difference than look back a McCain’s Senate career especially over the last 10 years.

After a Hill and we know that one hill is the Floridsa primary and the other one at the moment is in California and there will be more.
Fortunately NY23 has shown us the way.It was the exception that makes the rule.
It is time to reconstruct the Reagan Conservative majority within the GOP.As Cold Warrior says,¨From the ground up beginning with precinct committeemen.¨
Above all remember the words of Ronald Reagan, ÏF NOT US, WHO? IF NOT NOW WHEN?

Who is to be purged? Does Redstate have a list? If not, it’s probably not a bad idea to compile one and publicize it. Quickly.

Very, very soon, we need to start pulling together for 2010. We can’t do that if party operatives are standing by nervously, checking Redstate daily to see if they’ve been denounced as RINOs.

I fear that we’re about ready to see a feeding frenzy of accusations, as commenters nominate “RINOs” who should be purged. (If I were a DKos sleeper troll, now would be the perfect time for me to “get involved” in the discussion.)

If there is to be a purge, OK. Please publish the list ASAP, so we can get this over with. My two-year old son needs us to take back the House in 2010, so he won’t be totally bankrupt before he ends kindergarten.

Need to go badly.

These are the fools who made Geroge Bush & Obama possible.

They continually have proven themselves incompetent and out of touch with what they have not just allowed to happen in this country, but helped bring about.

Do we really need the race baiting from useful idiots like Newt & Graham in the Republicrat party too? These two in particular have more in common with Obama than they do Goldwater or the oft invoked Regan.

Erick-

If I were running the campaign of Doug Hoffman, the last thing in the world I would want to do or have done on my behalf is what you do in this post. Hoffman now needs to be gracious to Scazzafava. Was she perfect? Of course not. But now that she’s out, stomping on her political grave only looks like those far-left wing Paul Wellstone loons after his death. You’re acting like a shark here after it senses blood in the water.

But Hoffman still has a race to win! Now, all ammo must be aimed at Owens.

Erick, you can resume your circular firing squad after Tuesday’s Election. Please wait until then, and then I will join you in ripping all of those who made the terrible decision of throwing in with Dede. (Gingrich can be the one exception because he had no reason to endorse her.)

The NRCC did exactly what it was supposed to do once a Republican candidate was picked. It supported her. The RNC did the same. If they don’t support Republican candidates because of political philosophy, that would be the real problem. Yes, if it was the NRCC that pushed Scazzafava on the voters of NY-23 before she was made the nominee, those elements of the NRCC need to be held accountable. But seriously, HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE CAN WAIT 4 DAYS!

I despise the NRCC and have ever since I worked on one of their most notorious intra-party contest in modern history, the Randy Graf for Congress campaign here in Arizona back in 2006. What the NRCC did in this Scazzafave race pales in comparison to what they did to Randy. For those of you who don’t know, Randy was a conservative running in an open primary and around 20 points ahead in the polls for the nomination against a liberal pro-abortion politician supported by the national, state & local party establishments. The establishment didn’t want a conservative, especially not a conservative who opposed President Bush’s plans to give amnesty to illegal aliens.

Not only did the NRCC spend $250k in attack ads during the open primary against Randy Graf, its own eventual party nominee, the NRCC decided that it wouldn’t spend a dime to help defend Graf after attempting to destroy his name during the primary. It was like they actually spent that money to help the Democrat since the NRCC knew that Graf was going to win the primary in the first place. Yes, we were able to mount a very good general election campaign for Graf. But with the very short amount of time in Arizona between the primary & general election, plus the weeks it took us just to overcome the NRCC attacks that we had to endure, we didn’t have enough time to pull off the victory. It didn’t help when the national, state & local party establishments made it clear that they didn’t care if Graf won & we couldn’t get their support. So, Erick, I am fully aware of how the NRCC is an imperfect organization.

With that said, we need conservatives to win elections. Doug Hoffman can & will win if conservatives can rally wisely behind his campaign. But spitting on Scazzafava’s grave will not help Doug’s cause.

The Republican establishment may never learn. They haven’t yet. We need to continue to work hard for capable conservatives when they run against liberal Republicans in party primaries. The situation in NY-23 was an exception where it was necessary to support someone on the outside. But let’s hold the establishment responsible on Wednesday morning after Hoffman wins & hold our fire on them until then. Plus, there is zero reason now to attack Scazzafava anymore. She is not in the race anymore, so don’t stomp on her grave as you appear to have done in this post.

Al Capone is still hoping everyone shows up at the garage…ACORN remains a factor in every election —

Tuesday will tell the story as to whether the future of America includes freedom.

http://www.jeannie-ology.com

If we let them off too lightly, they’ll think that they can continue on in the way they’re going and they’ve been going that way for a long time.

with the show trials? I love a good show like most everybody, but we have more important stuff to do than faking evidence and torturing suspects. Apologies, excuse my levity.

“I don ‘t know about you, but I am impatient with those Republicans who after the last election rushed into print saying, “We must broaden the base of our party”—when what they meant was to fuzz up and blur even more the differences between ourselves and our opponents.

It was a feeling that there was not a sufficient difference now between the parties that kept a majority of the voters away from the polls. When have we ever advocated a closed-door policy? Who has ever been barred from participating?

Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?”

…

“A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.

I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.”

Take THAT Gingrich and your big tent.

I am not an advocate of purging people like Susan Collins or the typical “RINO” as there are some races where a conservative really cannot win.

—

Relationships between the Republican establishment in Washington and the conservative movement are in rubble. Thanks to Pete Sessions NOT Doug Hoffman, there is new inspiration for a third party movement to challenge the GOP — a movement that will only help the Democrats.

—

Conservatives are willing to make compromises and choose lesser Republicans who can win in races a conservative most likely cannot.

All points that need to be kept in the forefront of our considerations. We should never put ourselves in a position to be accused of expelling anybody from the Republican Party. We should, however, have party leaders who recognize that our candidates need to be the most conservative candidates possible for a given race.

If Republican leadership can’t respect conservative members, how can they expect the members to follow them so far to the left?

Cold Warrior has the right idea.

Having a bill in NYS law where special election nominations would be done by caucus or a primary instead. The party members in each constituency like NY-23 would be able to make their choice to prevent future problems like this again.

And for the NRCC and NRSC if there is more than 1 challenger with the same amount of funds, be neutral until the general election. Maybe that would prevent a Graf type situation. Maybe the NRCC thought since the district elected Kolbe, they need someone similar in political ideology, but we should let the voters decide instead.

They are coming perilously close to endorsing Carly in California instead of Chuck DeVore. A serious attitude adjustment is in order. Living in California, we are constantly offered Republican liberals or moderates, and they lose every time (not speaking of Arnold here). People here want a real choice, not some creepy Dem-lite person - they are a real turn-off to voters. Chuck DeVore has a really good chance to defeat Boxer and I would encourage the NRSC to endorse him and not Carly.

“How much did the NRCC and RNC spend to elect a leftist? Roughly $900,000.00 of your donated money.”

The donation solicitations go into the trash for this every reason.

There are many of us who supported Hoffman in this race, yet are not looking to start a third party. We are just trying to clean up the Republican Party that has lost its way. Hoffman wanted to run as a Republican, but was denied the opportunity because he was not the “chosen one” of the elite. I agree that there are districts where a moderate Republican is our best shot over a Democrat, and I can stomach that. Most of us do not expect Republican candidates to agree with conservatives on every issue. However, when a Republican candidate is supported by liberal extreme groups as Ms. Scozzafava was, it’s time to find another candidate.

It is true that Republicans will start sending their money directly to candidates rather than the national Republican organizations. I have already done that. Conservatives are not asking to totally take over the party. However, we would like to be heard once in a while.

No third party!

Get inside as fast as you can. Don’t blow your cover wide open until you’re in.

Like they say, if you’re still at the rope line, don’t tell the bouncer he’s fat. Wait to yell it from the dance floor!

Join the RedState Strike Force

With the “Scozza-why-oh-why” debacle, the RNC & it’s dysfunctional brats shined their hiney to a high lustrous gloss and conservatives handed it back to them with boot-prints all over it. For that, I tip my hat and applaud.

What now?

Presume a high muckety-muck in the NRCC/RNC steps up, fires some NY staffer(s) and issues a bunch of heart-felt mea-culpa’s and otherwise starts “pitching woo” our way? Why should anyone trust them?

How many times do they have to kick conservatives in the groin before we learn the lesson they are so desperately trying to teach us — that they will do anything, say anything, be anything as long as we keep sending them cash. Then they will nominate another Scozzafava anyway and beg forgiveness later. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I don’t want to rain on the current victory, but dang. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reigning in the RNC and it’s irresponsible children.

What is everyone going to say/do the next election cycle when the RNC deploys “Hyoooge-Bags-O’-Cash” to support Snowe, Collins, Graham, etc? Amounts that combined will likely make Scozzafava’s “investment” seem laughably paltry.

Purge? I’m sure they have plenty of sacrificial lambs they can offer up relatively painlessly.

You should try thinking “wholesale replacement”. Turn the RNC box upside down and shake vigorously until nothing else falls out., Then replace the contents with actual conservatives. We’ll still have a two-party system and conservatives once again can support the national org without co-mingling their donations with RINO support efforts. Until then, I’m not dropping a single dime into that bucket. I’ll follow your previous suggestion to go direct-to-candidate and starve the RNC.

During the 90’s I was a big Rupublican contributor and often was invited to Washington at my own expense of course to discuss and help craft the direction of the party with real grassroots input.

Every time Newt showed up at these sessions though it was clear that he had no interest in what anyone other than him thought about anything. He was there to allow us to bask in the light of his magnanimity and not to listen.

I complained about it at the time and let them know that I was not spending my time, money, and effort to come to washington for a photo op with Newt. I could have cared less. Many had the same views, I was just more vocal about it. I told them that I was more than happy to participate on a real level but was not going to continue to contribute just to attend some social events with politicians like Newt.

Now it is clear to all conservatives that Newt is nothing but another professional politician who will sell out conservative values for political expediency and a check in the win column for the R’s. Scozzafava was Olympia Snowe on steroids!!!

Maybe this Hoffman situation will wake up some of the RINOs like Graham, Snowe, Collins, Alexander, and McCain,. RINOs beware—-we are watching and we are PO’ed. I cannot wait to watch Newt “splain” himself on Hannity soon.

Keep up the good fight true conservatives. You know what Sessions and Newt can do with that big tent they keep talking about.

Rick Nelson

any thoughts on John Boehner? I watched the John King interview on CNN - it was primarily about healthcare but at the end of the interview he talked about this issue. He struck me as a business as usual career politician who assumedly supported Scozzafava. Keep in mind he is the most likely future Speaker of the House. I would be very interested to know what ya all know.

p.s. I absolutely agree that a 3rd party is not the answer - it would devastate our cause at a juncture where we have finally awaken after a long slumber. what we need is the Republican party to represent true conservative values. Excellent examples are Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan, Jim Demint and Mike Pence to name a few. This NY23 election shined a light on the problem with the GOP and it ain’t pretty.

The conservative base must organize, organize and organize and take complete control of the Republican Party. A serious third party would be manna from heaven for Obama and the Democrats. It would ensure Democrat dominance in perpetuity. Do not fall into the trap of splitting. In the words of Benjamin Franklin: We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.

Who else conducted purges in their political party? I wonder who… his name is just on the tip of my tongue! S… Sta…? There was definitely an L in there!

It couldn’t be Stalin otherwise RedState would be becoming it’s own worst nightmare!

We have a dilema. If we support third party candidates, the democrats will win. If we don’t, the liberals control both parties.

The solution would be for the Conservative party to inject themselves in Republican party primaries by pushing conservative candidates. If the supported candidate wins, then the Conservative party should not run against them. If a liberal republican wins, the Conservative party should run their own candidate as in district 23.

That will eventually send the message that a liberal republican will never win an election again.