Chris Adamo
Strong GOP message requires a strong GOP
By Chris Adamo
Immediately on the heels of last November's elections, the "me too" wing of the Republican Party saw an opportunity to reassert its watered down liberalism as the wave of the future. Before the final numbers were even tallied, America was being carpet bombed with seemingly contrite Republican analysts relentlessly preaching that the nation has swerved unquestionably to the left, and that Republicans must follow the crowd if they are to shun the path of political irrelevance. Of course this advice ignores the obvious premise that such a party makes itself irrelevant by virtue of pandering and chasing the touted trends of the day rather than leading out of principle and conviction.
During the "fiscal cliff" circus, and later in the debt ceiling debate, the Republican hierarchy exemplified such wisdom by essentially caving to all of Obama's demands, while reaping no tangible concessions in return. Now, the topic of critical importance is "immigration reform" which, when one wades past all of the flowery rhetoric from both sides of the political aisle, amounts to amnesty for between twelve and twenty million illegal aliens presently in the country.
Once again, and to nobody's real surprise, Barack Obama has correctly interpreted the willingness of Republicans to "reach a deal" on this issue as unconditional surrender. So of course Obama is going to milk the situation for all of the political gain it is worth. Not content to merely destroy the integrity of America's borders, gaining millions of new Democrat "voters," and expanding the rift between the conservative grassroots and the GOP, he is adding further conditions that will perhaps fatally fracture that connection.
According to ABC News, Obama wants provisions included in any "immigration" measure that would guarantee spousal "rights" to same-sex immigrant pairs. In essence, he would require the predictable GOP acquiescence to include an abandonment of the party's former stance in support of traditional values. As with the defining issue of taxes, Obama and his team of political strategists know that if Republican "moderates" take this bait, he will be driving an enormous wedge into the GOP, and perhaps a stake through its heart. But, just to be sure that his intention is unconditional surrender by the Republicans, he made abundantly clear in his Tuesday Las Vegas photo-op that border security as part of the deal would be out of the question.
As if Americans needed any more evidence, Barack Obama and his Democrat minions prove once again that they are as sincerely interested in the well-being of illegal immigrants as are they concerned about children's safety in schools, preserving workable Social Security and Medicare programs, or averting national insolvency. Obama smells blood in the water, and is not about to let another golden opportunity for the consolidation of his political power slip through his fingers. This is the modus operandi of a community organizing bully, and will continue to be until he is stopped.
In response, Republicans are expressing increased frustration over his strong arm tactics and flagrant insincerity when dealing with these defining issues. Responding to Obama's reprehensibly partisan and vitriolic inauguration speech, Republican House Speaker John Boehner asserted that the Administration is working to "annihilate the Republican Party," and to "shove us into the dustbin of history." While Boehner is absolutely right, conservatives outside of the Beltway have been infuriated by his unwillingness to recognize this obvious point since Obama made plain his tactics starting in 2009.
With the deck stacked so steeply against them, do Republicans have any options as they attempt to go forward as a political force? The unsurprising answer is that they have a single avenue to their party's restoration. Unfortunately, it is the one that they have not been predisposed to undertake for many years, perhaps decades. Yet they ignore this option to the ultimate demise of the GOP. To all but the most severely myopic D.C. insider, it is apparent that Barack Obama, abetted by his lapdog House and Senate leaders, is indeed engaged in an all out war on America. To assert anything less is to go into battle with one's armament holstered and stowed, which is a guarantee of defeat.
Furthermore, his venomous claim that those House members who oppose him come from "sharply gerrymandered districts that are very safely Republican," and references to their supposed fear of being "punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh" exhibit the mindset and tactics of a would-be tyrant who cannot fathom the need to accommodate the interests or concerns of others. While Obama remains in office, political discourse will be vicious, contentious, and personal. The end goal of Democrats is to win the debate by any means necessary. In the face of so much irrefutable evidence, Republican expectations of anything less is inexcusably naive.
The repeated calls by so-called Republican moderates for "finding common ground," "working together," and "putting partisanship aside" are as fanciful and disastrous now as they have ever been. Whenever Democrats offer such things, they are merely dangling the bait which belies a hidden snare. And nobody can honestly point to any example of political debate during the past four years in which the circumstances have been any different. It is beyond ridiculous to expect that, in the wake of what Obama interprets as voter reaffirmation of his agenda, he will happily give ground at this juncture.
In stark contrast to the continually failed approach of Republican capitulation, any promise of a future for the party must be buttressed by efforts to advance an agenda that is truly in the best interests of the American people. Rather than taking polls by which to decide what the party claims as its core principles, or even worse, responding defensively to those clearly biased network polls, Republicans must remain devoted to conservative positions proven as the basis for workable solutions to the problems facing the nation. And this course must be undertaken with complete indifference to the vicious demagoguery and distortions which will inevitably come from the Obama White House and its media minions.
Republicans do not need to repackage their platform or adjust their image in a misbegotten effort to appeal to those segments of the populace that would never support them. Rather, they need to take on the challenges facing them as if the fate of America, and not merely their party, hangs in the balance. For this is precisely the precipice to which the nation has been dragged. Politicking according to past practices will not save it. Only the reaffirmation of strong and principled conservative leadership can stall the liberal onslaught, and eventually drive back its sinister forces. Voters of the conservative grassroots have become painfully aware of this and are no longer willing to accept anything less.
© Chris Adamo
January 31, 2013
Immediately on the heels of last November's elections, the "me too" wing of the Republican Party saw an opportunity to reassert its watered down liberalism as the wave of the future. Before the final numbers were even tallied, America was being carpet bombed with seemingly contrite Republican analysts relentlessly preaching that the nation has swerved unquestionably to the left, and that Republicans must follow the crowd if they are to shun the path of political irrelevance. Of course this advice ignores the obvious premise that such a party makes itself irrelevant by virtue of pandering and chasing the touted trends of the day rather than leading out of principle and conviction.
During the "fiscal cliff" circus, and later in the debt ceiling debate, the Republican hierarchy exemplified such wisdom by essentially caving to all of Obama's demands, while reaping no tangible concessions in return. Now, the topic of critical importance is "immigration reform" which, when one wades past all of the flowery rhetoric from both sides of the political aisle, amounts to amnesty for between twelve and twenty million illegal aliens presently in the country.
Once again, and to nobody's real surprise, Barack Obama has correctly interpreted the willingness of Republicans to "reach a deal" on this issue as unconditional surrender. So of course Obama is going to milk the situation for all of the political gain it is worth. Not content to merely destroy the integrity of America's borders, gaining millions of new Democrat "voters," and expanding the rift between the conservative grassroots and the GOP, he is adding further conditions that will perhaps fatally fracture that connection.
According to ABC News, Obama wants provisions included in any "immigration" measure that would guarantee spousal "rights" to same-sex immigrant pairs. In essence, he would require the predictable GOP acquiescence to include an abandonment of the party's former stance in support of traditional values. As with the defining issue of taxes, Obama and his team of political strategists know that if Republican "moderates" take this bait, he will be driving an enormous wedge into the GOP, and perhaps a stake through its heart. But, just to be sure that his intention is unconditional surrender by the Republicans, he made abundantly clear in his Tuesday Las Vegas photo-op that border security as part of the deal would be out of the question.
As if Americans needed any more evidence, Barack Obama and his Democrat minions prove once again that they are as sincerely interested in the well-being of illegal immigrants as are they concerned about children's safety in schools, preserving workable Social Security and Medicare programs, or averting national insolvency. Obama smells blood in the water, and is not about to let another golden opportunity for the consolidation of his political power slip through his fingers. This is the modus operandi of a community organizing bully, and will continue to be until he is stopped.
In response, Republicans are expressing increased frustration over his strong arm tactics and flagrant insincerity when dealing with these defining issues. Responding to Obama's reprehensibly partisan and vitriolic inauguration speech, Republican House Speaker John Boehner asserted that the Administration is working to "annihilate the Republican Party," and to "shove us into the dustbin of history." While Boehner is absolutely right, conservatives outside of the Beltway have been infuriated by his unwillingness to recognize this obvious point since Obama made plain his tactics starting in 2009.
With the deck stacked so steeply against them, do Republicans have any options as they attempt to go forward as a political force? The unsurprising answer is that they have a single avenue to their party's restoration. Unfortunately, it is the one that they have not been predisposed to undertake for many years, perhaps decades. Yet they ignore this option to the ultimate demise of the GOP. To all but the most severely myopic D.C. insider, it is apparent that Barack Obama, abetted by his lapdog House and Senate leaders, is indeed engaged in an all out war on America. To assert anything less is to go into battle with one's armament holstered and stowed, which is a guarantee of defeat.
Furthermore, his venomous claim that those House members who oppose him come from "sharply gerrymandered districts that are very safely Republican," and references to their supposed fear of being "punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh" exhibit the mindset and tactics of a would-be tyrant who cannot fathom the need to accommodate the interests or concerns of others. While Obama remains in office, political discourse will be vicious, contentious, and personal. The end goal of Democrats is to win the debate by any means necessary. In the face of so much irrefutable evidence, Republican expectations of anything less is inexcusably naive.
The repeated calls by so-called Republican moderates for "finding common ground," "working together," and "putting partisanship aside" are as fanciful and disastrous now as they have ever been. Whenever Democrats offer such things, they are merely dangling the bait which belies a hidden snare. And nobody can honestly point to any example of political debate during the past four years in which the circumstances have been any different. It is beyond ridiculous to expect that, in the wake of what Obama interprets as voter reaffirmation of his agenda, he will happily give ground at this juncture.
In stark contrast to the continually failed approach of Republican capitulation, any promise of a future for the party must be buttressed by efforts to advance an agenda that is truly in the best interests of the American people. Rather than taking polls by which to decide what the party claims as its core principles, or even worse, responding defensively to those clearly biased network polls, Republicans must remain devoted to conservative positions proven as the basis for workable solutions to the problems facing the nation. And this course must be undertaken with complete indifference to the vicious demagoguery and distortions which will inevitably come from the Obama White House and its media minions.
Republicans do not need to repackage their platform or adjust their image in a misbegotten effort to appeal to those segments of the populace that would never support them. Rather, they need to take on the challenges facing them as if the fate of America, and not merely their party, hangs in the balance. For this is precisely the precipice to which the nation has been dragged. Politicking according to past practices will not save it. Only the reaffirmation of strong and principled conservative leadership can stall the liberal onslaught, and eventually drive back its sinister forces. Voters of the conservative grassroots have become painfully aware of this and are no longer willing to accept anything less.
© Chris Adamo
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