Yesterdays attempted power play by the GOP establishment is a stark reminder of how much work conservatives need to still do to gain the relevancy we deserve within our own ranks. Though I understand the Romney’s campaign desire to show a united front at the convention, they should achieve that unity by convincing people not by silencing them.
It is also a reminder of how the GOP throughout its history, has grabbed defeat from the clutches of victory. What kind of people look at 2010 election results and say to themselves, “What can we do to piss off our grassroots people”? It is as if 2010 didn’t even happen. Well it did and it is time for the GOP to understand that we are here and we are here to stay.
You see to the Republican Party, the Tea Party is truly a double-edged sword. We force them to campaign and vote farther to the right then many of them are comfortable doing. They know our movement, especially in the primary season, has great power in determining winners and losers. We have put the RINOS on notice and they hate that we hold them to a higher standard.
Of course the GOP also benefits from this arrangement because in return they get an absolutely motivated and mobilized force to help make the phones calls, knock on the doors, and of course write the checks. This relationship should be mutually beneficial but every once in a while, we must remind them not to take our movement for granted so lets review some of the achievements of our movement.
One just has to look at the 2010 mid-term elections to see what kind of difference we made. Not only did the GOP gain control of the House, they also won the majority of Governorships and took control of a majority of state legislative offices. Although there are many reasons for this GOP landslide, it is undeniable that the Tea Party movement was the main thrust behind the shift in power.
The State Legislative control map post 2010 elections is a sea of red
Now that we examined some of out successes on a macro level, let us explore it on a micro level using the country’s newest bastion of conservatism, Wisconsin, as our example.
Wisconsin, a state known for it cheese, its NFL team, and for its progressive politics, became ground zero in the fight for responsible government spending. Although the financial situation in Wisconsin was not as dire as some other states. it was going to get there if we didn’t change course. Governor Walker saw this and he proceeded to propose common sense conservative solutions to fix the problem. Of course the Left in the state went nuts and rest is history, but the real story about Wisconsin was not the crazy hippies protesting in Madison, it was the less boisterous but more determined conservatives who rose up to beat down a liberal challenge to responsible government.
In Wisconsin we did more than vote, we worked and worked hard. Phone banks were chock full with Tea Party activists. Roadside and overpass rallies became a weekly occurrence throughout the state. Some Patriots really stepped their games up and put together huge rally’s supporting the Governor. 3,000 people freezing their butts off in a park in January is an image that will forever be etched in the minds of Wisconsin conservatives. Another rally in Oshkosh brought out a 1,000 more people. Over 4,000 people in the middle of a corn field the weekend before the recall election is another image etched in my mind. These were not establishment GOP events, these were ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things because they saw it necessary to support good sound economic policies and principles.
So please I beg you GOP establishment do not screw this up. Your party is not perfect but it is the closest thing we have to our basic belief system. We are more than willing to bend a little in the name of fair compromise, but don’t ever take us for granted. Instead of attempting to silence us, you should try to inspire us even more. Think of the benefits of doing that.
Thousands gather to Celebrate Governor Walker.
I’d like a point out a few things. While interestingly I agree with you that Romney will more than likely be the final nail in the coffin for the GOP’s run for President, I must disagree with several things in your article, once again.
I’ll start with Wisconsin, because 1) I’m am a Wisconsinite (that’s what we call ourselves) and 2) because I’m mostly versed in the Wisconsin issues.
Walker’s reelection during the recall vote was actually false. Had the media (yes the so called self righteous liberal media) not called the race early, his opponent Tom Barrett, would not have conceded early and would have won based on the final vote count.
As for Walker’s success in the Badger State, it’s few and far between. He vetoed bills that would help jobs, deferred actions that would create jobs, smoothed over environmental complaints, has tried to broker deals with natural gas drilling companies to start fracking in the state. He canned a train system that would have brought thousands of jobs to the state temporary and permanent and would have brought greater easier tourism. He killed worker’s rights, defunded the public education system a further 3 million dollars, forced through lowered taxes, committed senatorial fraud, and to top that all off, hasn’t actually balanced our budget which still has a 1.2 billion dollar deficit and debt (deficit is sitting at about 17 million, the debt is still in place more or less from the last ten years of deficit spending accounting for about 1.1 billion). Simply put, Walker hasn’t fixed anything and has actually damaged our state even further. If you call that a victory then, I think you need to reevaluate victory, or reevaluate your definition of patriot and governor.
As for the rest of it; I feel like most liberals and moderates feel, that our two party system is a failure. The GOP plan’s to spend nearly 50 million dollars on the campaign for Romney (that’s including both cash donations and donation of services). This is ludicrous, this sort of spending is akin to buying votes. Yes Obama is in the same boat, but to be fair we both know that if he weren’t to use the same tactics as Romney, he’d have no chance of winning. The democracy is no longer a democracy, our votes don’t matter, what matters is how much is spent and who is in who’s pocket. A win for Romney or Obama is a win for corporations taking over the country.
Thank you for your reply to the article. I am also a Wisconsinite so I know the calling of the race had nothing to do with the final result as there only a few hundred people waiting to vote and Governor Walker won by almost 200,000 votes. I am not sure what final numbers you saw but the real final numbers did not reflect what you claim. The rest of your rebuttal is the same old minutia I have spent months rebuking so I feel no need to do it again. We will let it rest on its own merits. Obviously both parties are polluted with parasites that feed off of us, but at the end of the day I support the party that comes closest to protecting my liberty and my God given rights which is the GOP.