Chris Adamo
America's "changes" far outpaced by GOP establishment
By Chris Adamo
Even before Barack Obama won reelection last fall, Republican insiders were beginning to chant the mantra that "This is no longer the America of Ronald Reagan." What they did not express so openly was their delight at the prospect. And of course ever since Election Day, the vaunted GOP Establishment has relentlessly espoused this message as it's sorry version of a new awakening. From Bush strategist Karl Rove, whose "Crossroads GPS" organization focuses on the defeat of truly conservative Republicans during political primaries, to conciliatory statements towards the counterculture Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, it is disturbingly apparent that behind closed doors, Republican "moderates" are perceiving the political atmosphere inside the Beltway as an opportunity to move their party decidedly to the left.
On one issue after another, conservative America is being abandoned by the GOP. Worse yet, on pivotal issues which will determine the future of the country for decades to come, key Republican figures are joining sides with the Democrats to wrest control of the nation from the conservative grassroots. The Republican betrayal on amnesty for the purported "eleven million" illegals currently in America (the actual number is likely several times that figure) is but the latest in a long string of such capitulations on fundamental Republican principle.
Perhaps the makeup of the nation has changed since the 1980s, and it is no longer the America of Ronald Reagan as it was three decades ago. But neither is it the America of Barack Obama, despite incessant liberal assurances of such. Though Obama won last fall, that election was hardly a direct contest against the ideology and wisdom of Ronald Reagan, nor was the 2008 campaign against John McCain a referendum on conservative versus liberal ideology. If America had truly drifted so far left as to comfortably reside in the Obama camp, he and his minions would not have needed to resort to rampant distortions and lawlessness for his victory. And once in office he would not have required underhanded Chicago/ACORN tactics in order to implement his agenda.
With each ensuing speech or press briefing, Barack Obama proves he still operates in the Alinsky/Rules for Radicals mode, and fully intends to do business in that manner for the duration of his tenure at the White House. It is crucial to realize that while this scheme presents his greatest potential for doing damage to the country, it also reveals his greatest weakness. In order for such a strategy to work, the unwitting cowardice and compliance of the intended target is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, the paper thin leftist onslaught implodes on itself. Enter the GOP Establishment.
Permeating any official discussion of S.744, the Senate amnesty bill, are regular admissions of fear on the part of Republicans. South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham rationalized his support for the measure so that Republicans might "get reattached to Hispanics." Senator John McCain (R.-AZ) openly admitted that amnesty would not garner Republican votes, but hoped that it might get the GOP "in the game" at some point in the future. Though Mitt Romney easily won Arizona by a ten point margin in 2012, McCain had previously asserted bluntly that his home state was "up for grabs" on account of its Hispanic population. Such apprehensions are stoked by regular "advice" from prominent Democrats who insist that the Republican Party can only expect to win future elections (no doubt a heartfelt aspiration of Democrats) if it embraces amnesty.
Over on the House side, similar efforts are underway to pressure Speaker John Boehner (R.-OH), himself hardly a bastion of conservative principle, to make nice with the Democrat minority in that chamber even at the risk of thoroughly alienating conservatives. Rather than promoting an agenda of real conservatism and thereby presenting America with clear alternatives to the rampant liberalism of the Democrats, Boehner is admonished to drag his party leftward. The aggressive Senate push for overwhelming majority support for amnesty (the measure has already received a 2/3 majority in a preliminary test vote) is specifically designed to accomplish just that. If Boehner can be intimidated by its apparent momentum, he may indeed be willing to discard his small reserve of principle and join the amnesty bandwagon.
Sadly, it is by just such spineless strategic blunders that Democrats may garner a win in a situation that, if it were properly characterized and opposed by the GOP, could put Democrats completely on the defensive and dash their hopes for political gains in 2014. The entire Obama agenda is daily proving to be a dismal failure. The economy is still in ruins, as it has been since 2009. The ravages of Obamacare are being felt by an increasingly irate and resentful populace. And any prospects for improvement are regularly thwarted by the latest political onslaught from the White House, abetted of course by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R.-CA).
On every other prominent issue of the day, from the cavalcade of Obama Administration scandals to the systematic unraveling of the nation's cultural fabric (an indispensable component for advancing the leftist agenda) to the renewed assault on the nation's energy supplies, the people of the Heartland are waiting for real opposition leadership to arise and confront the liberal political machine. And when such individuals do make their appearance, the response from the conservative base is immediate and overwhelming.
Barely a month ago, Florida Republican Marco Rubio might once have been considered a universally popular contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016. Yet since his abandonment of all previous reservations on amnesty, and his subsequent decision to embrace it in its entirety, he has lost much, if not all credibility with the conservative base. In contrast, during the same period Senator Ted Cruz (R.-TX) has risen in stature on account of his willingness to remain true to his ideals in the face of contrived ridicule from liberal Democrats of both parties.
The principles which have defined the Republican Party are still deeply ingrained in the hearts of the American people. Traditional values, whether manifested in the reinforcement of the family, the integrity of the nation's borders, or any of the other essential components of American society, cannot be discarded without reaping grave harm to the foundations of the nation. It is not their presence in GOP policy that alienates the conservative base. Rather, it is the degree to which the party will predictably abandon them and start parroting Democrats the moment political pressure is wielded against it.
The Republican Party cannot restore any shred of credibility if, at the bidding of the leftist counterculture, it ignores the causal relationship between societal collapse and the expansion of government. Any attempts to straddle these fundamental truths and arrive at that mythical "middle ground" will leave the party attempting to cast itself as nothing but a cheap imitation of the Democrats. This misbegotten thinking has never worked, and never will.
© Chris Adamo
June 27, 2013
Even before Barack Obama won reelection last fall, Republican insiders were beginning to chant the mantra that "This is no longer the America of Ronald Reagan." What they did not express so openly was their delight at the prospect. And of course ever since Election Day, the vaunted GOP Establishment has relentlessly espoused this message as it's sorry version of a new awakening. From Bush strategist Karl Rove, whose "Crossroads GPS" organization focuses on the defeat of truly conservative Republicans during political primaries, to conciliatory statements towards the counterculture Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, it is disturbingly apparent that behind closed doors, Republican "moderates" are perceiving the political atmosphere inside the Beltway as an opportunity to move their party decidedly to the left.
On one issue after another, conservative America is being abandoned by the GOP. Worse yet, on pivotal issues which will determine the future of the country for decades to come, key Republican figures are joining sides with the Democrats to wrest control of the nation from the conservative grassroots. The Republican betrayal on amnesty for the purported "eleven million" illegals currently in America (the actual number is likely several times that figure) is but the latest in a long string of such capitulations on fundamental Republican principle.
Perhaps the makeup of the nation has changed since the 1980s, and it is no longer the America of Ronald Reagan as it was three decades ago. But neither is it the America of Barack Obama, despite incessant liberal assurances of such. Though Obama won last fall, that election was hardly a direct contest against the ideology and wisdom of Ronald Reagan, nor was the 2008 campaign against John McCain a referendum on conservative versus liberal ideology. If America had truly drifted so far left as to comfortably reside in the Obama camp, he and his minions would not have needed to resort to rampant distortions and lawlessness for his victory. And once in office he would not have required underhanded Chicago/ACORN tactics in order to implement his agenda.
With each ensuing speech or press briefing, Barack Obama proves he still operates in the Alinsky/Rules for Radicals mode, and fully intends to do business in that manner for the duration of his tenure at the White House. It is crucial to realize that while this scheme presents his greatest potential for doing damage to the country, it also reveals his greatest weakness. In order for such a strategy to work, the unwitting cowardice and compliance of the intended target is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, the paper thin leftist onslaught implodes on itself. Enter the GOP Establishment.
Permeating any official discussion of S.744, the Senate amnesty bill, are regular admissions of fear on the part of Republicans. South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham rationalized his support for the measure so that Republicans might "get reattached to Hispanics." Senator John McCain (R.-AZ) openly admitted that amnesty would not garner Republican votes, but hoped that it might get the GOP "in the game" at some point in the future. Though Mitt Romney easily won Arizona by a ten point margin in 2012, McCain had previously asserted bluntly that his home state was "up for grabs" on account of its Hispanic population. Such apprehensions are stoked by regular "advice" from prominent Democrats who insist that the Republican Party can only expect to win future elections (no doubt a heartfelt aspiration of Democrats) if it embraces amnesty.
Over on the House side, similar efforts are underway to pressure Speaker John Boehner (R.-OH), himself hardly a bastion of conservative principle, to make nice with the Democrat minority in that chamber even at the risk of thoroughly alienating conservatives. Rather than promoting an agenda of real conservatism and thereby presenting America with clear alternatives to the rampant liberalism of the Democrats, Boehner is admonished to drag his party leftward. The aggressive Senate push for overwhelming majority support for amnesty (the measure has already received a 2/3 majority in a preliminary test vote) is specifically designed to accomplish just that. If Boehner can be intimidated by its apparent momentum, he may indeed be willing to discard his small reserve of principle and join the amnesty bandwagon.
Sadly, it is by just such spineless strategic blunders that Democrats may garner a win in a situation that, if it were properly characterized and opposed by the GOP, could put Democrats completely on the defensive and dash their hopes for political gains in 2014. The entire Obama agenda is daily proving to be a dismal failure. The economy is still in ruins, as it has been since 2009. The ravages of Obamacare are being felt by an increasingly irate and resentful populace. And any prospects for improvement are regularly thwarted by the latest political onslaught from the White House, abetted of course by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R.-CA).
On every other prominent issue of the day, from the cavalcade of Obama Administration scandals to the systematic unraveling of the nation's cultural fabric (an indispensable component for advancing the leftist agenda) to the renewed assault on the nation's energy supplies, the people of the Heartland are waiting for real opposition leadership to arise and confront the liberal political machine. And when such individuals do make their appearance, the response from the conservative base is immediate and overwhelming.
Barely a month ago, Florida Republican Marco Rubio might once have been considered a universally popular contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016. Yet since his abandonment of all previous reservations on amnesty, and his subsequent decision to embrace it in its entirety, he has lost much, if not all credibility with the conservative base. In contrast, during the same period Senator Ted Cruz (R.-TX) has risen in stature on account of his willingness to remain true to his ideals in the face of contrived ridicule from liberal Democrats of both parties.
The principles which have defined the Republican Party are still deeply ingrained in the hearts of the American people. Traditional values, whether manifested in the reinforcement of the family, the integrity of the nation's borders, or any of the other essential components of American society, cannot be discarded without reaping grave harm to the foundations of the nation. It is not their presence in GOP policy that alienates the conservative base. Rather, it is the degree to which the party will predictably abandon them and start parroting Democrats the moment political pressure is wielded against it.
The Republican Party cannot restore any shred of credibility if, at the bidding of the leftist counterculture, it ignores the causal relationship between societal collapse and the expansion of government. Any attempts to straddle these fundamental truths and arrive at that mythical "middle ground" will leave the party attempting to cast itself as nothing but a cheap imitation of the Democrats. This misbegotten thinking has never worked, and never will.
© Chris Adamo
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