After six difficult years under Barack Obama, the country is ready for a change in the White House. The President has delivered a continual dose of no compromise liberalism that has divided the races and polarized the political climate.
This has led the presidential campaign to start earlier than ever. Among Republicans there are at least a dozen serious hopefuls who may vie for the nomination. It is a perfect opportunity for the Republican Party to take back the White House and implement conservative policies that will undue the disastrous Obama agenda.
The first step, however, is to win the presidency in 2016 and that is no easy task. Despite his limited experience and very liberal philosophy, Barack Obama was elected President in 2008. He retained the office four years later even though his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, was incredibly unpopular.
One of the major reasons for his success was his unimpressive opposition. The Republican presidential nominees, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in 2008 and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2012, were uninspiring moderates who were unwilling to aggressively defend the party’s platform and attack the Democrats on the issues.
These defeats continued the losing streak for the moderate, establishment, wing of the Republican Party. History shows that the moderate GOP presidential nominees lose in the general election to the Democrats as it occurred in the presidential races of 1976, 1992, 1996, 2008 and 2012.
With this horrific track record, it would seem that party honchos would be desperate to find a good conservative to win the presidential nomination in 2016. On the contrary, GOP party bosses are moving Heaven and earth to help the upcoming presidential candidacies of the three major moderate candidates: former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Romney. This is an embarrassment of riches for party’s elites who usually have only one presidential candidate to support in a particular election year.
Last week, Bush indicated his interest in running by releasing thousands of emails, resigning from boards and launching an exploratory committee. This week, Mitt Romney tried to forestall a defection of major donors to Bush by telling donors he is running for the White House a third time. This will be Mitt 3.0, but, unfortunately, this candidate edition will be just as unimpressive as the two previous editions. Finally, Christie is back in New Jersey giving his “State of the State” speech after touring the country raising money and following the Dallas Cowboys football team.
As history shows, none of these moderate candidates can win the presidency. If, sadly, any of them receive the nomination in 2016, they will lose to presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
The reasons for this predictable result are simple. A moderate presidential candidate will not excite the conservative base of Republican voters who are the party’s backbone. These activists are the chronic voters, who number in the millions. They run the organizations and volunteer their time on behalf of the candidates.
The conservatives are tired of being overlooked and ignored by the establishment wing of the Republican Party. The grassroots cannot match the money of the establishment, but they certainly have more passion and energy and are a needed component for any GOP presidential candidate to win the White House.
It worked for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. He won 44 states in the first election and 49 states in his re-election, in other words, massive landslides. According to so-called political experts he was too conservative, a wild eyed cowboy who was too threatening to the American people.
Instead of losing, he trounced his liberal opponents by offering a clear contrast to the Democratic Party. He stood on conservative principles and did not waver. This type of statesmanship appealed to not only Republicans, but also Independents and “Reagan Democrats,” who were tired of the failed liberal policies of their party.
In this election, there is a great opportunity for the Republican Party. Voters are ready to seriously consider an alternative to the failed policies of Obama. However, if the GOP offers only the “pale pastels” of another moderate loser and not the “bold colors” of a conservative, the party will surely lose again.
If Bush, Christie or Romney wins the nomination, millions of conservatives will stay away from the polls or vote third party. The days of holding one’s nose and voting for the Republican candidate as the “lesser of two evils.” are over.
It is time for a conservative victory in 2016, which requires a principled Republican Party presidential nominee. However, if one of the three amigos, devoid of conservative values, wins the presidential nomination, the result will be another loss to the Democrats and the eventual dissolution of the Grand Old Party.
It happened again! Republican Party leaders have told conservatives to “go to hell.” It is just the latest indication that the party is not the right home for principled conservatives. It is the only explanation for the inexplicable vote to re-elect John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
Boehner has been a disaster as Speaker. During his tenure, conservatives have been punished and denied leadership positions, while the establishment wing of the GOP has been given total control. Under Boehner, spending has accelerated and real reform has been minimal. In fact, Boehner has been the Speaker for four of Obama’s six years in which the national debt has increased an astronomical $7.5 trillion.
The final straw was the lame duck session of Congress that occurred after the sweeping GOP victory in the mid-term elections last November. Instead of listening to millions of Americans and voting to de-fund Obamacare and stopping the President’s unconstitutional executive amnesty for five million illegal aliens, Boehner led congressional Republicans in a quest to not only please President Obama, but also give him all the funds he wanted. They fully funded both Obamacare and executive amnesty for the next year.
Boehner is the President’s golfing buddy, not the type of leader who will oppose him. While the American people want the Republicans to stop the President’s dangerously liberal agenda, the House Republicans under Boehner are constantly placating him.
This betrayal enraged conservatives who bombarded Congress with demands that Republicans select a new Speaker of the House. Phone calls overwhelmed the congressional switchboard, while millions of emails were sent to Republican members of Congress telling them to listen to the people and not the Beltway power brokers. The conservative website, World Net Daily, organized a “Dump Boehner” campaign, resulting in almost 600,000 letters being sent to Congress. This anger was not limited to only party activists for a recent national survey of Republicans and Independent voters who lean toward the GOP by respected pollster Pat Caddell showed weak support for Boehner with 60% supporting “someone new” as Speaker.
Despite the legitimate outcry from the millions of conservatives who are the grassroots engine that drives the Republican Party, the members of the GOP congressional delegation ignored their demands and re-elected Boehner to a third term. While there were a historic number of votes against Boehner in his bid for a third term as Speaker, it was not enough to stop his re-election.
This means that once again conservatives have been taken for granted. Boehner was re-elected despite the news uncovered by Dr. Jerome Corsi that the Speaker has a stock portfolio that includes millions of dollars invested in insurance and healthcare companies that are increasing in value due to Obamacare. Thus, he has a financial incentive to disregard the party’s base and continue to implement the President’s plans for socialized medicine.
After this latest betrayal, conservatives should reexamine their allegiance to the Republican Party. It has been many years since the party acted in accordance with conservative principles. While the grassroots keeps electing Republicans to Congress and gave the GOP big victories in 2010 and 2014, the party leadership never acts in accordance with these mandates.
Republicans campaign as conservatives, but govern like liberals. With Boehner elected to another term as Speaker, nothing will change on Capitol Hill. It will be more of the same in the next two years, so Americans can expect deficit spending to continue, Obamacare and executive amnesty to be fully funded and no real change in Washington D.C.
If conservatives are demoralized with this inaction, the Republicans have no prayer of winning the White House in 2016. At this point, especially if the GOP nominates a big government RINO like Jeb Bush for President, it certainly looks like Hillary Clinton can start measuring the curtains for another stay in the White House.