Moonage Political Webdream

Apparently members of of the Conservative Political Action Conference were quite dismayed at the slate of candidates being offered by the Republican Party for next year’s presidential election.  Some used some rather harsh words to describe their frustration:

"The Republican Party apparently has a death wish, but that doesn’t mean we conservatives have to go along with it," Richard Viguerie, a movement veteran who helped elect Reagan, said during his wildly-received speech delivered Thursday. "Let’s focus on the conservative movement, not the GOP."

Now, the problem I’ve had the last few years is MOST people are not all that conservative.  What has happened the last sixteen years is MOST people have been given the option of the lesser of two evils.  Either wildly too liberal ( Clinton, Kerry, Gore ), or too conservative ( Bush ).  Given the option, MOST people, and just by a hair, went the safest route.  That being the less liberal of the choices.  Now, what’s happening this year so far is the Republicans are fielding a more traditional slate of candidates to some degree.  The perceived leaders right now, Giuliani and McCain, are certainly not neo-conservatives.  If these horribly disgruntled CPAC members were so correct in their thinking, why would the perceived front-runners be more moderate?

Now, what’s going to happen, most likely, is due to their popularity and ability to raise funds, the Democrats will nominate either Hillary Clinton or Barrack Obama.  Compared to those two, Giuliani and/or McCain will appear as conservative as Reagan ever dreamt of being.  So, no matter how disgruntled the CPAC members might be now, they’ll be voting for the GOP anyway.

And, they do have to remember, the GOP was a party about 100 years before the neo-cons took it over.  It stood for something that lasted for 100 years.  That was fiscal conservatism, not social.  If Giuliani says he agrees with them on fiscal policies and NOT social policies, then he’s the true Republican running and most likely has my vote.

Technorati Tags: National Politics

Tags: National Politics

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