Chris Adamo
An open letter to Mitt Romney
By Chris Adamo
Dear Governor Romney,
With the suspension of Senator Rick Santorum's campaign, it now appears that you have the 2012 Republican presidential nomination sewn up. And in the current climate, that should assure you of a victory in November. Yet the wrong strategy might still result in all of your recent primary wins being rendered irrelevant by year's end. A Republican campaign based on a flawed perception of the real nature of the electorate (a historical failing of the GOP Establishment) could secure a second term for Barack Obama where none of his empty promises or leftist theatrics would ever prevail.
You say that you do not intend to set your "hair on fire" to impress anybody. Well you should realize that something in your campaign needs to catch fire. If the enthusiasm of those desiring to rid the nation of liberal socialism were in any way matched by a passion to see your particular campaign succeed, you would win in a landslide. Grassroots America flexed its muscle in 2010, and no amount of liberal activism, even when abetted by thoroughly jaundiced "coverage" from the liberal media, can undercut the momentum of the "grassroots."
Sadly, this phenomenon was disparaged by the very Republican "Establishment" whose political fortunes most directly benefited from it with almost the same degree of contempt as it received from liberal Democrats. You may recall who it is that comprises the GOP "Establishment." They are the same people who brought us the candidacies of Bob Dole and John McCain, and who convinced George H.W. Bush, on the heels of his 1988 victory, to discard the tenets of Reagan and opt for a "kinder and gentler" brand of governance in place of Reagan's staunch conservatism.
If you still cling to the notion that straddling the political middle is somehow a more enlightened approach to politicking, consider the significance of "Reagan Democrats" in the Gipper's 1980 and 1984 landslide victories. These people were inspired to cross the political aisle by something higher, and not merely cheaper, than that offered by the Democrats. Try as you might, you will never find any evidence of "McCain Democrats" or "Dole Democrats" who were similarly motivated by fence-sitting Republicans.
More significantly however, though the nation suffered gravely from those misbegotten GOP efforts at "broadening the base," the dismal results they reaped were nonetheless reparable. This is no longer the case. America is at a critical crossroads, and the people on Main Street fully know it. If the onslaught of socialism and statism is not reversed immediately, the destruction of the American ideal may be permanent.
Perhaps this assessment sounds exceptionally harsh. Well it is. Barack Obama and his minions have embarked on a course that portends disaster for America, and an honest political appraisal of their goals, and the damage they have already done, will affirm as much. Softening the depiction, whether to avoid being perceived as confrontational or to appeal to the political "center," is to be less than forthright with the American people.
Strident criticism and severe assessments of horrendously flawed political philosophies must not be reserved for the likes of Rick Santorum. If it is proper for you to characterize other Republicans, with comparatively conservative records, in that manner, should it not therefore be permissible to warn America of the looming dangers of the far-leftist ideology and seditious inclinations of Barack Obama with equal passion?
With the nation currently facing crippling deficits and a total national debt that has ballooned in recent years, the people of the Heartland have no stomach for nuanced political diatribe that decries socialism implemented by the federal government, but then struggles to defend its viability at the state level. America can forgive the transgression of Romneycare in Massachusetts, but only if we can be assured that the cancer stops there. Attempts to avoid the full repeal of Obamacare will rightly be construed as a complete betrayal of the American people every bit as egregious as the unconstitutional and unconscionable destruction of private health care in this country by the current Administration.
No less can be said of the other liberal efforts to remake America, or the malicious promises by such individuals as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to oppose the conservative agenda of any Republican President. It is not possible to maintain one's principles and work in a conciliatory manner with such people. Their intention is to dominate the political landscape, and subsequently wield their accrued power to implement a vile and dangerous agenda. It is no virtue to accommodate them in this effort, either by collaboration or passivity.
Ultimately, you must abandon any notion of achieving "bipartisanship." Democrats only ever resort to this platitude when pressuring our side to "cave" on important issues, or to get us to share the blame for the mess they have made. We do not want a president who can "reach across the aisle" or "find common ground" with a party whose leaders actively seek the destruction of traditional America, and whose moral compass is so perversely skewed that they consider such a goal "honorable."
At no time in recent history has the impending threat of out-of-control liberalism posed so great a danger to the nation. Consequently, the need for a truly principled and courageous conservative leader, unswayed by a desire for acceptance from liberals in the "mainstream" media, is paramount. America does not want you to "feel our pain." We need you to rescind those policies which are causing so much pain across the land. This cannot be accomplished by a political course rooted in "moderation."
Finally, you need to thoroughly understand that it is not up to Barack Obama to make you look good. And though he has lately been doing a decent job of presenting you as the superior alternative, it is assured that this will change in the final days before November 6, when he will suddenly tack to the middle. At that point, your only hope is to have remained so unshakably principled, which means conservative, that he cannot believably posture to your right.
Heartland America, and particularly your staunchest conservative critics, are diligently looking for reasons to rally to you. But they will abandon such an effort if that means forsaking conservatism or ignoring the real dangers liberalism poses to this country.
So, for the sake of this nation, all of the ideals it embodies, and all of the promise it has offered, seize the opportunity now presented to you and use it, not in a futile quest to ingratiate yourself to the liberal media and "bipartisan" D. C. political establishment (if you will excuse the repetition), but to fight the good fight and bring America back from the brink.
Sincerely,
Christopher G. Adamo
A Wyoming Conservative
© Chris Adamo
April 19, 2012
Dear Governor Romney,
With the suspension of Senator Rick Santorum's campaign, it now appears that you have the 2012 Republican presidential nomination sewn up. And in the current climate, that should assure you of a victory in November. Yet the wrong strategy might still result in all of your recent primary wins being rendered irrelevant by year's end. A Republican campaign based on a flawed perception of the real nature of the electorate (a historical failing of the GOP Establishment) could secure a second term for Barack Obama where none of his empty promises or leftist theatrics would ever prevail.
You say that you do not intend to set your "hair on fire" to impress anybody. Well you should realize that something in your campaign needs to catch fire. If the enthusiasm of those desiring to rid the nation of liberal socialism were in any way matched by a passion to see your particular campaign succeed, you would win in a landslide. Grassroots America flexed its muscle in 2010, and no amount of liberal activism, even when abetted by thoroughly jaundiced "coverage" from the liberal media, can undercut the momentum of the "grassroots."
Sadly, this phenomenon was disparaged by the very Republican "Establishment" whose political fortunes most directly benefited from it with almost the same degree of contempt as it received from liberal Democrats. You may recall who it is that comprises the GOP "Establishment." They are the same people who brought us the candidacies of Bob Dole and John McCain, and who convinced George H.W. Bush, on the heels of his 1988 victory, to discard the tenets of Reagan and opt for a "kinder and gentler" brand of governance in place of Reagan's staunch conservatism.
If you still cling to the notion that straddling the political middle is somehow a more enlightened approach to politicking, consider the significance of "Reagan Democrats" in the Gipper's 1980 and 1984 landslide victories. These people were inspired to cross the political aisle by something higher, and not merely cheaper, than that offered by the Democrats. Try as you might, you will never find any evidence of "McCain Democrats" or "Dole Democrats" who were similarly motivated by fence-sitting Republicans.
More significantly however, though the nation suffered gravely from those misbegotten GOP efforts at "broadening the base," the dismal results they reaped were nonetheless reparable. This is no longer the case. America is at a critical crossroads, and the people on Main Street fully know it. If the onslaught of socialism and statism is not reversed immediately, the destruction of the American ideal may be permanent.
Perhaps this assessment sounds exceptionally harsh. Well it is. Barack Obama and his minions have embarked on a course that portends disaster for America, and an honest political appraisal of their goals, and the damage they have already done, will affirm as much. Softening the depiction, whether to avoid being perceived as confrontational or to appeal to the political "center," is to be less than forthright with the American people.
Strident criticism and severe assessments of horrendously flawed political philosophies must not be reserved for the likes of Rick Santorum. If it is proper for you to characterize other Republicans, with comparatively conservative records, in that manner, should it not therefore be permissible to warn America of the looming dangers of the far-leftist ideology and seditious inclinations of Barack Obama with equal passion?
With the nation currently facing crippling deficits and a total national debt that has ballooned in recent years, the people of the Heartland have no stomach for nuanced political diatribe that decries socialism implemented by the federal government, but then struggles to defend its viability at the state level. America can forgive the transgression of Romneycare in Massachusetts, but only if we can be assured that the cancer stops there. Attempts to avoid the full repeal of Obamacare will rightly be construed as a complete betrayal of the American people every bit as egregious as the unconstitutional and unconscionable destruction of private health care in this country by the current Administration.
No less can be said of the other liberal efforts to remake America, or the malicious promises by such individuals as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to oppose the conservative agenda of any Republican President. It is not possible to maintain one's principles and work in a conciliatory manner with such people. Their intention is to dominate the political landscape, and subsequently wield their accrued power to implement a vile and dangerous agenda. It is no virtue to accommodate them in this effort, either by collaboration or passivity.
Ultimately, you must abandon any notion of achieving "bipartisanship." Democrats only ever resort to this platitude when pressuring our side to "cave" on important issues, or to get us to share the blame for the mess they have made. We do not want a president who can "reach across the aisle" or "find common ground" with a party whose leaders actively seek the destruction of traditional America, and whose moral compass is so perversely skewed that they consider such a goal "honorable."
At no time in recent history has the impending threat of out-of-control liberalism posed so great a danger to the nation. Consequently, the need for a truly principled and courageous conservative leader, unswayed by a desire for acceptance from liberals in the "mainstream" media, is paramount. America does not want you to "feel our pain." We need you to rescind those policies which are causing so much pain across the land. This cannot be accomplished by a political course rooted in "moderation."
Finally, you need to thoroughly understand that it is not up to Barack Obama to make you look good. And though he has lately been doing a decent job of presenting you as the superior alternative, it is assured that this will change in the final days before November 6, when he will suddenly tack to the middle. At that point, your only hope is to have remained so unshakably principled, which means conservative, that he cannot believably posture to your right.
Heartland America, and particularly your staunchest conservative critics, are diligently looking for reasons to rally to you. But they will abandon such an effort if that means forsaking conservatism or ignoring the real dangers liberalism poses to this country.
So, for the sake of this nation, all of the ideals it embodies, and all of the promise it has offered, seize the opportunity now presented to you and use it, not in a futile quest to ingratiate yourself to the liberal media and "bipartisan" D. C. political establishment (if you will excuse the repetition), but to fight the good fight and bring America back from the brink.
Sincerely,
Christopher G. Adamo
A Wyoming Conservative
© Chris Adamo
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