Speaking of Glenn Beck, today in his announcement that he’s done with the GOP, he offered me an introduction to a series of posts I’ve been wanting to link for a while now. Sarah A. Hoyt posted “A Winter At Valley Forge:”
You know, I read all over the net, mostly in comments (and more on that later) that the GOP had gone spineless and they had funded Obama’s amnesty. So I went and looked at numbers. 1/3 of the GOP flipped. ONE THIRD.
Two thirds held firm. And this on a matter that has emotional appeal to politicians if not to the people on the ground. You see, they are convinced if they vote against it it will drive Latinos away from the GOP. It’s what the media and their corrupted offices tell them. It’s the “smart†opinion, as opposed to all us rubes on the ground.
And two thirds held firm.
You’d think it would be a moment to celebrate. You know, ten years ago half of them or more would have caved. But we’ve been working on taking over the GOP. And it has effects.
It seems to me what we should be doing is celebrating that two thirds held firm, and taking notes of the cavers to primary them.
You’ve seen a similar dynamic in the gun issue. A few decades ago there were Republicans who would reliably line up to screw us on the gun issue. Mike Castle probably would have his own AR-15 ammo ban bill drawn up and ready to go. But where are those people now? Gone, most of them. Sure, there’s still Pete King and a few other squishes, but overall the Republican Party is now far more solid on the gun issue than they were ten years ago. Everyone was worried who we were going to lose after Sandy Hook. Our experience told us that we’d likely lose enough Republicans so that things that weren’t possible before may suddenly become possible. But that didn’t happen. With the exception of Pat Toomey and Mark Kirk, the GOP stood with us, and I have a feeling Toomey isn’t going to be crossing us again on much else between now and his re-election bid. They didn’t do it because they were such nice guys. They did it because we fought a decades long battle create that circumstance.
Sarah Hoyt has two follow on posts here and here. I encouraged you to read the whole articles, if you read nothing else this week. From the first link:
But beyond that – what do you expect to accomplish by saying “I will never vote for a republican again?†or “I’m going third party?â€
I know what you think you can accomplish. You think the GOP will fall in line.
WHY WOULD THEY?
What you’re saying is “I’m going to keep the dems in power for the rest of our natural lives.â€
You know what the unprincipled (most establishment) GOP hears when you say that? “I’d better cozy up to the left because they’re the future. Let me see what I can concede today. I sure would like to keep my job as the loyal opposition.â€
Is that what you want? No? Change your tactics.
It took the gun issue a long time to get rid of most of the anti-gun and squishy Republicans, but we largely succeeded. It’s going to take an equally long time to get rid of the GOP establishment that prefers to chase big donors, and go along to get along, than to embrace any kind of populism. Populism, even conservito-libertarian populism, is scary for elites. There was never going to be a scenario where they were going to roll over and accept it without a fight. But we in the gun issue have shown it can be done successfully, even if the elites are against us. The same is true of the populist movement attempting to wrest control of the GOP, whether you want to call it the Tea Party, or something else.
Sarah has a unique perspective.
I read Sarah Hoyt a Winter at Valley Forge and I agree. This is a long fight. There are many fair weather fighters but they get tired of the long fight. Some of the GOP think more strategically and that is needed even though not as satisfying. Some are more direct fighters. Both types are needed. I like the new Senator Cotton fighting attitude and I like Cruz.
I read Sarah Hoyt’s A Winter in Valley Forge when she posted it, and I don’t think she’s wrong. The big challenge is to find, and elect, candidates who espouse Constitutional (and conservative) values.
Democrats are very good at running a “farm team” to uncover liberal candidates who can be promoted up the ranks (see: Obama, Barack Hussein); Republicans, not so much, largely because of the entrenched Republican Establishment.
This will have to be a bottom up transformation. I hope we have the time.
Actually Alien I disagree. The GOP has taken most of the State Houses and the seats in those houses. That is where the farm team comes from. Barak Obama was a state senator and was a protege of the hacks there. He took other senators bill and put his name and took the credit. The democrats have lost a lot of their farm team because they do not have the members they used to have in the states. The Democrats had that advantage for over 60 years. The GOP is just starting. That is why the Tea Party is such a danger to the entrenched establishment. The do primary them . Lamar Alexander won last time and so did John McCain but they won’t next time.
Age is also taking its toll.
In Maryland we have a very anemic GOP party and the candidates are listed but do not run a campaign. The best campaign was Bongino for a house seat and he came very close. WE have a Federal senate seat opening and only have heard about the 3 Democrats who want it. The democrats have a field of decent candidates since the have had majority members in the Congressional House and State delegation.
In the future good candidates will come from the states delegations and move into Federal seats. This is a long term game . Not done in one election or two.
I am not impressed with the fly by night Glenn Beck. He is all flash and no endurance
Agreed on Glen Beck. I used to listen to him when he did the radio show in Philly. Wasn’t too long before I picked up his game. I can’t believe more people didn’t figure it out when he did the episode with the psychic while he was at Headline News. I don’t think he believes in anything.
Don’t forget that John McCain of Arizona disgraced this entire state when he voted in favor of the gun control legislation! He’s another one that needs to get ousted.
I thought McCain voted against Manchin-Toomey?
Sebastion – Good Lord, no. Look it up anywhere. He’s a traitor to Liberty.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced Wednesday on the Senate floor that he will vote for the Manchin-Toomey background check legislation, although the bill’s odds have dimmed considerably.
McCain said the legislation is “not overly burdensome nor unconstitutional.”
“You may not win today, I say to my two colleagues,” McCain said, “but I will say that you did the right thing.”
OK… I remember there being a surprise no in that vote, and I thought I remember it was McCain, but I’m probably misremembering who it was.
Yes, it was Reid that was the surprise no, but he only did that because if he had voted for it, the amendment would have been dead. Or something like that. There was a procedural reason he was a “no.”
Well said. Politics, in particular American politics, is a long game. The very structure of our constitution makes real change occur at a glacial pace. It is interesting though how Obama is doing his damnedest to trash the limits imposed by the constitution.
The reason he’s doing that is that he wants us to be demoralized, and drop out of the fight. The people doing just that are falling right into the trap.