By Douglas V. Gibbs
I can't count how many times I hear folks tell me how bad the republican party is. And to be honest, folks are right. When it comes to the political establishment end of things the two party's are not a whole lot different. I am a republican not because I love the GOP, for I do see a problem in the party, in the leadership, in the failure of the party to return to what made it what it once was.
The party of Reagan has become the party of disappointment.
That said, I am a republican because the GOP is the vessel available for taking back this country. It's a two-party system, like it or not, and a third party would guarantee a democrat win. As much as I have problems with the republican hierarchy, the democrat party has become something that is unacceptable, and must be defeated - even if it means putting into place republicans that are not exactly the most conservative.
So how do we fix this problem where a third party vote is a vote for Obama, and a republican vote is still a vote for the destruction of this country, but a slower death?
We have seen this problem before.
In the 1820s the Federalist Party faded into history. In the 1860s the party that replaced the Federalists, the Whigs, vanished too, making room for a party of abolitionists called the Republican Party. Back then the GOP was big government, and Lincoln and Obama, believe it or not, have a lot in common. As much as I like Lincoln's resolve to hold the country together, he was indeed a big government guy, and also acted unconstitutionally quite a few times along the way. It was him that changed the nation from "The United States are" to "The United States is." Conservatives existed in the Republican Party, though, fighting with progressive republicans over the 16th Amendment in 1913, and siding with Coolidge during the roaring 20s.
Today, we find the republican party at a crossroads. The conservatives have a strong enough hold that candidates like Santorum have a chance, and Romney has been bumping to the right during the primary. . . but the moderate establishment has enough control that Romney is the front runner, and he will still probably pull it off even with his advisers saying things like, "Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all of over again."
I have my beefs with the republicans because of their push for Romney, convincing the voters he's inevitable, and then shrugging off statements like the one above. And if the republican party does not reestablish its conservative identity, I think we will see the GOP go the way of the Whigs and the Federalists. I will vote republican for now to stop Obama, but if Romney is the guy, it may very well be the beginning of the end for the republican party as it stands now.
Whatever we do, we must do it together, for to splinter off into third parties, or blasting the GOP into bits before a new party can rise, would be devastating. Of course, it is this kind of insecurity in the republican party Obama relishes. His is about destroying the Right, silencing the Right, and eventually eradicating the Right. Obama's agenda is so Marxist, so far to the Left, that he can't tolerate any kind of opposition, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to silence it. That is why he, and the liberal left, must be defeated.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Obama: I'm more like Lincoln than the GOPers - Washington Examiner
Romney advisor: He can “reset” his positions after the primary to appeal to centrists - Hot Air
Media Matter Wants a Fight, But Can't Take a Punch - Daily Caller
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