Chris Adamo
Conservatism and establishment GOP becoming irreconcilable
By Chris Adamo
In an odd sense, grassroots conservatives owe former Bush political "strategist" Karl Rove a debt of thanks. No friend to conservatives, Rove has announced his intentions of undermining conservative candidates in upcoming elections in hopes of maintaining the dominance of his ruling class cronies. Yet by going public with his plan, he removes any pretense of cooperation between real conservatives and Republican Party "moderates," who pretend to be their kindred during the election season, only to betray them once in office.
On far too many past occasions, liberal party insiders have actively thwarted true conservatives at key junctures of the campaign cycle, relentlessly highlighting their shortcomings or concocting damaging "controversies" out of whole cloth, to the delight of the liberal media. Of course these same individuals are quick to invoke the memory of Ronald Reagan, and particularly his "Eleventh Commandment" (not to criticize a fellow Republican), sanctimoniously wielding their perverted version of Reagan's "Big Tent" (room for every ideology in a party that stands for nothing) as they demand conservative allegiance when one of their own faces a tight political contest.
Somehow, all of those calls for "party unity," selectively invoked to silence conservatives critical of Republican "moderation," are quickly jettisoned whenever a Beltway Insider brandishing the GOP label perceives an opportunity to join his liberal cohorts in derailing a truly principled candidate on the right. Certainly Rove and his fellow power brokers have no intention of abiding by such constraints.
Rove, along with Steven J. Law of American crossroads, have specifically targeted "far right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts" as the insurgency which they need to neutralize. It is irrelevant to them that the Tea Party did not come into being as a coordinated effort by major special interests, but was instead a virtually spontaneous outpouring of patriotism and concern for the nation by citizens on Main Street. Or perhaps it is for that very reason that Rove and his kind hold the Tea Party in such complete contempt. Whenever the "peasantry" dares to exert a participating voice in determining the future of the nation, it becomes an affront to those who believe themselves superior in politicking and governing ability.
Many conservatives are expressing outrage at this flagrant effort to move the Republican Party further to the left. Yet in truth Rove's effort is merely a belated public pronouncement of the ongoing subterfuge of Republican insiders who have long sought to negate the annoying influence of those pesky conservatives, Evangelicals, and constitutionists. Past efforts of left-leaning Republicans included a major portion of the inside-the-Beltway party power brokers. The real travesty is that grassroots conservatives ever sought to work with such people, given that their track record has always been so tainted, and their real affinities unmistakable.
Granted, Rove has at times claimed the mantle of conservatism, even guest-hosting Rush Limbaugh's radio program in August of 2010. And on that occasion he amazed the audience with what seemed to be well-articulated conservatism. In retrospect however, Rove was merely pandering to an audience he knew, which is his way. Over the course of time, his reputation as a wholly unprincipled political pragmatist has been too thoroughly established and documented for any question to remain.
It was Rove who worked tirelessly to undercut the surging candidacy of Pennsylvania Pat Toomey in his primary challenge to incumbent RINO Senator Arlen Specter. And the only purpose of this effort, involving more than two dozen personal appearances by then President George W. Bush, was to acquire Pennsylvania's twenty one electoral votes for Bush in 2004. Yet while assuring another term for Specter, Pennsylvania's twenty-one electoral votes went to Kerry. In short, Rove was perfectly willing to betray a conservative, aiding and abetting the political maneuverings of a wholesale turncoat, in exchange for absolutely nothing.
While Rove and his fellow Republican insiders enjoy gloating over the defeat of certain candidates whom he flatly pronounced as unqualified and "unelectable," his verdicts are far from sterling. Enthusiastically deriding such individuals as Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin along with Richard Murdoch of Indiana (both of whom lost their contests last November), the party elite is wholly unwilling to honestly discuss the fate of their one time "rising star" Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
Brown campaigned in 2010 as the quintessential Tea Party candidate. As such he sent shockwaves across the nation when he handily won the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. Yet the moment he arrived in Washington he did a complete about-face, embracing virtually every tenet of the liberal agenda. By 2012, he had so thoroughly disillusioned his voting base that he was unseated by Elizabeth Warren, a mindless leftist whose incompetence and blundering made her an embarrassment even to the Democrat Party.
Brown was never castigated by Rove or his minions for having squandered the opportunity to retain his seat in a regular election. In their minds, Brown had done everything correctly, pandering to his Democrat opponents while betraying the voters who had fought so hard to get him elected.
This is the modern Republican way. This is how Rove helped completely fracture the conservative base between 2000 and 2008. From the moment Americans were successful in preventing Al Gore and his army of activists in Florida from recounting and dimpling their way into the White House, Rove set about dismantling any semblance of a Bush victory. By 2006, the people were so frustrated by the constant capitulations and abandonments of principle by Bush and congressional Republicans that they gave the House and Senate to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, to be followed by the ascendancy of Barack Obama in 2008.
Real conservatives, who work in the shops and pay the bills across this land, have had their fill of representation deemed worthy by the ideologically rudderless and morally bankrupt political "experts." On too many occasions such rising stars as Colin Powell and Chris Christie have proven to be disastrous to the conservative cause. Republican political policy based on accepting the premises of liberalism will ultimately fail since it can neither persuade conservatives nor change the loyalties of Democrats. If Rove and his kind want to establish a boundary dividing Beltway power brokers from Real America, it is high time to accommodate them.
© Chris Adamo
February 8, 2013
In an odd sense, grassroots conservatives owe former Bush political "strategist" Karl Rove a debt of thanks. No friend to conservatives, Rove has announced his intentions of undermining conservative candidates in upcoming elections in hopes of maintaining the dominance of his ruling class cronies. Yet by going public with his plan, he removes any pretense of cooperation between real conservatives and Republican Party "moderates," who pretend to be their kindred during the election season, only to betray them once in office.
On far too many past occasions, liberal party insiders have actively thwarted true conservatives at key junctures of the campaign cycle, relentlessly highlighting their shortcomings or concocting damaging "controversies" out of whole cloth, to the delight of the liberal media. Of course these same individuals are quick to invoke the memory of Ronald Reagan, and particularly his "Eleventh Commandment" (not to criticize a fellow Republican), sanctimoniously wielding their perverted version of Reagan's "Big Tent" (room for every ideology in a party that stands for nothing) as they demand conservative allegiance when one of their own faces a tight political contest.
Somehow, all of those calls for "party unity," selectively invoked to silence conservatives critical of Republican "moderation," are quickly jettisoned whenever a Beltway Insider brandishing the GOP label perceives an opportunity to join his liberal cohorts in derailing a truly principled candidate on the right. Certainly Rove and his fellow power brokers have no intention of abiding by such constraints.
Rove, along with Steven J. Law of American crossroads, have specifically targeted "far right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts" as the insurgency which they need to neutralize. It is irrelevant to them that the Tea Party did not come into being as a coordinated effort by major special interests, but was instead a virtually spontaneous outpouring of patriotism and concern for the nation by citizens on Main Street. Or perhaps it is for that very reason that Rove and his kind hold the Tea Party in such complete contempt. Whenever the "peasantry" dares to exert a participating voice in determining the future of the nation, it becomes an affront to those who believe themselves superior in politicking and governing ability.
Many conservatives are expressing outrage at this flagrant effort to move the Republican Party further to the left. Yet in truth Rove's effort is merely a belated public pronouncement of the ongoing subterfuge of Republican insiders who have long sought to negate the annoying influence of those pesky conservatives, Evangelicals, and constitutionists. Past efforts of left-leaning Republicans included a major portion of the inside-the-Beltway party power brokers. The real travesty is that grassroots conservatives ever sought to work with such people, given that their track record has always been so tainted, and their real affinities unmistakable.
Granted, Rove has at times claimed the mantle of conservatism, even guest-hosting Rush Limbaugh's radio program in August of 2010. And on that occasion he amazed the audience with what seemed to be well-articulated conservatism. In retrospect however, Rove was merely pandering to an audience he knew, which is his way. Over the course of time, his reputation as a wholly unprincipled political pragmatist has been too thoroughly established and documented for any question to remain.
It was Rove who worked tirelessly to undercut the surging candidacy of Pennsylvania Pat Toomey in his primary challenge to incumbent RINO Senator Arlen Specter. And the only purpose of this effort, involving more than two dozen personal appearances by then President George W. Bush, was to acquire Pennsylvania's twenty one electoral votes for Bush in 2004. Yet while assuring another term for Specter, Pennsylvania's twenty-one electoral votes went to Kerry. In short, Rove was perfectly willing to betray a conservative, aiding and abetting the political maneuverings of a wholesale turncoat, in exchange for absolutely nothing.
While Rove and his fellow Republican insiders enjoy gloating over the defeat of certain candidates whom he flatly pronounced as unqualified and "unelectable," his verdicts are far from sterling. Enthusiastically deriding such individuals as Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin along with Richard Murdoch of Indiana (both of whom lost their contests last November), the party elite is wholly unwilling to honestly discuss the fate of their one time "rising star" Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
Brown campaigned in 2010 as the quintessential Tea Party candidate. As such he sent shockwaves across the nation when he handily won the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. Yet the moment he arrived in Washington he did a complete about-face, embracing virtually every tenet of the liberal agenda. By 2012, he had so thoroughly disillusioned his voting base that he was unseated by Elizabeth Warren, a mindless leftist whose incompetence and blundering made her an embarrassment even to the Democrat Party.
Brown was never castigated by Rove or his minions for having squandered the opportunity to retain his seat in a regular election. In their minds, Brown had done everything correctly, pandering to his Democrat opponents while betraying the voters who had fought so hard to get him elected.
This is the modern Republican way. This is how Rove helped completely fracture the conservative base between 2000 and 2008. From the moment Americans were successful in preventing Al Gore and his army of activists in Florida from recounting and dimpling their way into the White House, Rove set about dismantling any semblance of a Bush victory. By 2006, the people were so frustrated by the constant capitulations and abandonments of principle by Bush and congressional Republicans that they gave the House and Senate to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, to be followed by the ascendancy of Barack Obama in 2008.
Real conservatives, who work in the shops and pay the bills across this land, have had their fill of representation deemed worthy by the ideologically rudderless and morally bankrupt political "experts." On too many occasions such rising stars as Colin Powell and Chris Christie have proven to be disastrous to the conservative cause. Republican political policy based on accepting the premises of liberalism will ultimately fail since it can neither persuade conservatives nor change the loyalties of Democrats. If Rove and his kind want to establish a boundary dividing Beltway power brokers from Real America, it is high time to accommodate them.
© Chris Adamo
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