Yesterday, the GOP Congress caved.
Facing political backlash over any potential shutdown, they gave the President a clean DHS funding bill, allowing his executive amnesty to proceed. The precedent is set. Knowing any budgetary standoff brings a shutdown, our Republican Congress has declared itself helpless to stop a lawless President. Helpless. After routing Obama in November, they’re actually helpless! From here forward, Obama needs only threaten a shutdown to get anything he wants, using our nation’s addiction to government as his human shield. Functionally speaking, he’s a god.
My friends, this why I do what I do…and I resent the GOP leadership for making it harder.
No doubt, many Liberty activists will call for GOP defections. “What good is it anymore?!” they’ll say. “They’re just catering to big donors who want cheap labor! I’m not leaving them…they left me! Never again will I settle for the lesser of two evils!”
I can’t blame these fellow patriots. I share their feelings. So what do I say? Like me, the last thing they want after such betrayal is political reality. They want blood. They want punishment. Frankly, so do I.
But I must not advise the Liberty Movement to take actions that will hurt it. Setting aside my feelings, I must speak reality. I must prescribe winning strategy.
First, the Reality:
1. Watching Republicans run to big donors who demand cheap labor, we in the Liberty movement forget much of the blame...lies with us. How can I say this? Simple: Just look at all the millions of dollars being soaked up by Conservative PACS and groups. No, these aren’t bad people, but it’s not uncommon for a PAC to take in millions from our movement, only to disperse very little to candidates. Moreover, the incredible divisions in Conservatism have resulted in everyone having a book to sell, a group to push, huge speaking fees, lavish conferences—it never ends. Is this bad stuff? Not at all—I enjoy some of these myself--but the cumulative effect is a Right Wing being drained by its own advisers (which is why I charge so little for my seminars).
Are Democrats bled this much? Of course not; they’re united, and their candidates are swimming in cash. But GOP candidates aren’t so lucky. Left to fundraise from a fragmented and over-committed base, they must compete with Democrats the only way possible—with big bucks from big donors. Isn’t it crazy? The Right Wing, which is far more efficient in running business and government, is far less efficient when trying to win politically.
Ultimately, this isn’t a “Tea Party” or “Establishment” problem. It’s a division problem.
2. Abandoning the GOP is political suicide, as no other vehicle exists for mounting even the slightest threat to Democrat rule. Times have changed since the Whigs-to-Republicans conversion a century and a half ago—that wouldn’t work today. Not even close.
3. Even if the GOP were abandoned, no single entity or coalition exists where the factions could reunite. Religious Conservatives would go one way, Social Moderates would go another, Libertarians would go another, big funders would go another, and the Tea Party—well, that’s already spread between countless offshoots. Thus, the Democrats would seize total control from a Humpty Dumpty opposition that couldn’t be put together again.
4. Hypothetically, if all these groups found a big tent accommodating enough of them to win, they would merely be re-forming the GOP under another name.
5. And finally, the Democratic Party itself has morphed into a completely different threat—unlike anything we’ve faced before. Led by America-blaming zealots, today’s DNC boasts enormous numbers, incredible demographic diversity, and overwhelming support from academia, the media, and an entertainment industry devoid of conscience. It’s not a party anymore. It’s a monster. And if it isn’t stopped, this monster will destroy our nation.
The timing couldn’t be worse for an exodus from the GOP, so naturally, our Republican Congress just alienated its base. Unreal. Simply unreal. Sure, I understand their motives—shutdown backlash and big donors—but their disloyalty leaves me begging Conservatives to put aside justifiable rage and back away from the ledge. Am I bitter? You bet I am.
Then, the Strategy:
It’s time to make the Republican Party a team again.
1. Flood the Team.
Rather than flee the GOP, I say we flood it. Despite compromise and power plays, the party is steadily becoming a Tea Party/Libertarian hybrid, so why slow it down?
Think of all the Liberty-minded people who have left the GOP. What if they suddenly came back? What would happen? Sure, there would be frustrations, and it’s not like the party would do everything we want. But is that the goal? For my part, I want a diverse party where I’m challenged, not a collectivist party of sheep. If I wanted unchallenging agreement, I would have stayed with the Democrats.
When it comes to the GOP’s transition, Liberty activists aren’t being impatient by leaving. They’re being too patient. Flood back in, people! Why reward betrayal with our absence?
2. Improve the Team
In districts and states where more Liberty-minded candidates could defeat Democrats, “The Flood” should send a strong message in the 2016 primaries. This must center around winning, however. I will never advocate running candidates who share so many of my views (Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle) that they can’t win in settings where we’ve failed to move public opinion enough to elect them.
My motto: Don’t ever, ever, ever, ever help the Democrats. EVER.
But wherever possible (and I can think of one right off the bat), we must send the message that team members must not betray the team—not to this degree, anyway. It’s primary time.
3. Embrace the Team
Let’s declare ourselves the team players our leaders aren’t. This doesn’t make us naïve. It makes us mature and strategic. When shouting for division, we make the current leadership look unifying by comparison, but our commitment to winning brings us instant support.
Remember, the flood of returnees would come from diverse sections of Conservatism. So we must respect that. If divided groups scream, “Our way or the highway!”, the coalition would crumble. So, we must commit. We must be a family again—even if the current leadership has forgotten how. We must revive Reagan’s 80-20 rule and 11th Commandment, and we mustn’t look at leaders and each other, saying, “You first.”
Someone has to be the adults, and it certainly won’t be those who just allowed amnesty.
4. Unite the Team around a Central Vision.
I offer “Individual Liberty versus Collective Control”—or more briefly, “Choice versus Control”—since this draws a clear line between us and the controlling Left. As an extra benefit, being the Party of Choice allows for diverse views on how to advance and protect liberty. Got a different idea? Fine, but please, we need to pick something soon and run with it. We need clarity. We need focus. We need unity.
5. Grow the Team
It’s time we direct our finances toward messaging that wins; be it for Conservatism as a whole, for an issue, or for a candidate. Our speakers need to equip us, not just rally us. Our ads need to break through to a society that is educated, entertained, and informed by the Left. Our words must be compelling. Our resources, targeted. Too many people hope for the next great candidate, but the best candidate for reaching those closest to us is staring back in the mirror.
Don’t know how to affect that friend or loved one for Conservatism? Don’t know what to say? Feeling alone and unsupported? Here’s a thought: Ask for help. Go ahead. I’m here. So are many others. If we just ask, this family to which we’ve committed will surprise us with good answers and understanding camaraderie—and it doesn’t even cost much.
So there you have it. Flood the team, improve the team, embrace the team, unite the team around a central vision, and grow the team—do these things, and the Democrats will need another country to pillage.
Looking Forward
I know this doesn’t feel good. Like most people, I’ve been betrayed many times, whether by friends, coworkers, or even the Republican Leadership. It’s an awful feeling; a helpless feeling. Filled with anger, I want to dump those who treat me (and their fellow Americans) with such disdain. Right now, I’m just a very angry person.
But my anger won’t help the next generation of Americans. My frustration, however justified, won’t fix a thing. I must be realistic. I must be strategic. I must do what I should, not what I want.
A lot depends on what we do next.
Facing political backlash over any potential shutdown, they gave the President a clean DHS funding bill, allowing his executive amnesty to proceed. The precedent is set. Knowing any budgetary standoff brings a shutdown, our Republican Congress has declared itself helpless to stop a lawless President. Helpless. After routing Obama in November, they’re actually helpless! From here forward, Obama needs only threaten a shutdown to get anything he wants, using our nation’s addiction to government as his human shield. Functionally speaking, he’s a god.
My friends, this why I do what I do…and I resent the GOP leadership for making it harder.
No doubt, many Liberty activists will call for GOP defections. “What good is it anymore?!” they’ll say. “They’re just catering to big donors who want cheap labor! I’m not leaving them…they left me! Never again will I settle for the lesser of two evils!”
I can’t blame these fellow patriots. I share their feelings. So what do I say? Like me, the last thing they want after such betrayal is political reality. They want blood. They want punishment. Frankly, so do I.
But I must not advise the Liberty Movement to take actions that will hurt it. Setting aside my feelings, I must speak reality. I must prescribe winning strategy.
First, the Reality:
1. Watching Republicans run to big donors who demand cheap labor, we in the Liberty movement forget much of the blame...lies with us. How can I say this? Simple: Just look at all the millions of dollars being soaked up by Conservative PACS and groups. No, these aren’t bad people, but it’s not uncommon for a PAC to take in millions from our movement, only to disperse very little to candidates. Moreover, the incredible divisions in Conservatism have resulted in everyone having a book to sell, a group to push, huge speaking fees, lavish conferences—it never ends. Is this bad stuff? Not at all—I enjoy some of these myself--but the cumulative effect is a Right Wing being drained by its own advisers (which is why I charge so little for my seminars).
Are Democrats bled this much? Of course not; they’re united, and their candidates are swimming in cash. But GOP candidates aren’t so lucky. Left to fundraise from a fragmented and over-committed base, they must compete with Democrats the only way possible—with big bucks from big donors. Isn’t it crazy? The Right Wing, which is far more efficient in running business and government, is far less efficient when trying to win politically.
Ultimately, this isn’t a “Tea Party” or “Establishment” problem. It’s a division problem.
2. Abandoning the GOP is political suicide, as no other vehicle exists for mounting even the slightest threat to Democrat rule. Times have changed since the Whigs-to-Republicans conversion a century and a half ago—that wouldn’t work today. Not even close.
3. Even if the GOP were abandoned, no single entity or coalition exists where the factions could reunite. Religious Conservatives would go one way, Social Moderates would go another, Libertarians would go another, big funders would go another, and the Tea Party—well, that’s already spread between countless offshoots. Thus, the Democrats would seize total control from a Humpty Dumpty opposition that couldn’t be put together again.
4. Hypothetically, if all these groups found a big tent accommodating enough of them to win, they would merely be re-forming the GOP under another name.
5. And finally, the Democratic Party itself has morphed into a completely different threat—unlike anything we’ve faced before. Led by America-blaming zealots, today’s DNC boasts enormous numbers, incredible demographic diversity, and overwhelming support from academia, the media, and an entertainment industry devoid of conscience. It’s not a party anymore. It’s a monster. And if it isn’t stopped, this monster will destroy our nation.
The timing couldn’t be worse for an exodus from the GOP, so naturally, our Republican Congress just alienated its base. Unreal. Simply unreal. Sure, I understand their motives—shutdown backlash and big donors—but their disloyalty leaves me begging Conservatives to put aside justifiable rage and back away from the ledge. Am I bitter? You bet I am.
Then, the Strategy:
It’s time to make the Republican Party a team again.
1. Flood the Team.
Rather than flee the GOP, I say we flood it. Despite compromise and power plays, the party is steadily becoming a Tea Party/Libertarian hybrid, so why slow it down?
Think of all the Liberty-minded people who have left the GOP. What if they suddenly came back? What would happen? Sure, there would be frustrations, and it’s not like the party would do everything we want. But is that the goal? For my part, I want a diverse party where I’m challenged, not a collectivist party of sheep. If I wanted unchallenging agreement, I would have stayed with the Democrats.
When it comes to the GOP’s transition, Liberty activists aren’t being impatient by leaving. They’re being too patient. Flood back in, people! Why reward betrayal with our absence?
2. Improve the Team
In districts and states where more Liberty-minded candidates could defeat Democrats, “The Flood” should send a strong message in the 2016 primaries. This must center around winning, however. I will never advocate running candidates who share so many of my views (Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle) that they can’t win in settings where we’ve failed to move public opinion enough to elect them.
My motto: Don’t ever, ever, ever, ever help the Democrats. EVER.
But wherever possible (and I can think of one right off the bat), we must send the message that team members must not betray the team—not to this degree, anyway. It’s primary time.
3. Embrace the Team
Let’s declare ourselves the team players our leaders aren’t. This doesn’t make us naïve. It makes us mature and strategic. When shouting for division, we make the current leadership look unifying by comparison, but our commitment to winning brings us instant support.
Remember, the flood of returnees would come from diverse sections of Conservatism. So we must respect that. If divided groups scream, “Our way or the highway!”, the coalition would crumble. So, we must commit. We must be a family again—even if the current leadership has forgotten how. We must revive Reagan’s 80-20 rule and 11th Commandment, and we mustn’t look at leaders and each other, saying, “You first.”
Someone has to be the adults, and it certainly won’t be those who just allowed amnesty.
4. Unite the Team around a Central Vision.
I offer “Individual Liberty versus Collective Control”—or more briefly, “Choice versus Control”—since this draws a clear line between us and the controlling Left. As an extra benefit, being the Party of Choice allows for diverse views on how to advance and protect liberty. Got a different idea? Fine, but please, we need to pick something soon and run with it. We need clarity. We need focus. We need unity.
5. Grow the Team
It’s time we direct our finances toward messaging that wins; be it for Conservatism as a whole, for an issue, or for a candidate. Our speakers need to equip us, not just rally us. Our ads need to break through to a society that is educated, entertained, and informed by the Left. Our words must be compelling. Our resources, targeted. Too many people hope for the next great candidate, but the best candidate for reaching those closest to us is staring back in the mirror.
Don’t know how to affect that friend or loved one for Conservatism? Don’t know what to say? Feeling alone and unsupported? Here’s a thought: Ask for help. Go ahead. I’m here. So are many others. If we just ask, this family to which we’ve committed will surprise us with good answers and understanding camaraderie—and it doesn’t even cost much.
So there you have it. Flood the team, improve the team, embrace the team, unite the team around a central vision, and grow the team—do these things, and the Democrats will need another country to pillage.
Looking Forward
I know this doesn’t feel good. Like most people, I’ve been betrayed many times, whether by friends, coworkers, or even the Republican Leadership. It’s an awful feeling; a helpless feeling. Filled with anger, I want to dump those who treat me (and their fellow Americans) with such disdain. Right now, I’m just a very angry person.
But my anger won’t help the next generation of Americans. My frustration, however justified, won’t fix a thing. I must be realistic. I must be strategic. I must do what I should, not what I want.
A lot depends on what we do next.
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