Voting by conservatives HAS made a difference, just not enough so far
Voting does make a difference.
In one of my essays last week I took to task the many Republican conservatives who repeatedly say there is no point voting for Republicans because the leadership of the Republican Party does not represent conservative or American interests, and is in many ways as corrupt as the Democrats, only in a slightly different way.
[T]his refusal to support Republicans because they aren’t perfect simply guarantees that the Marxist and very corrupt Democratic Party will gain more power. The result is even worse policies, and more corruption, and congresswomen like Sheila Jackson-Lee and NASA administrators like Bill Nelson.
It is all very self-defeating. If conservatives went out and always voted for the most conservative candidate available to them, the power in Congress and in local legislatures would quickly shift rightward. It would also encourage other individuals even more conservative to run for office.
Many commenters for that essay disputed my claim, and still insisted there was no reason to vote any longer because the whole system is rigged.
This claim however is wrong. Though there is certainly ample evidence of vote tampering and corruption in the whole system, these issues can be overcome by the voters, if they have the courage and determination to vote. Proof of this fact was given in this op-ed published on April 27, 2024 and entitled “GOP Establishment’s Days Are Numbered”. The writer, Kevin Roberts, is president of the Heritage Foundation, which while solidly conservative has itself too often allied itself with that establishment, and thus is not to be trusted blindly in all political matters. However, in describing how that think tank had fought the gigantic foreign aid bill for the Ukraine that the Republican establishment and the Democrats pushed through, Roberts also noted these very important facts:
Powerful interests were aligned against us, however, and we lost on the day. Though we lost this battle, all signs indicate that we are winning the war for the soul of the GOP. A majority of Republicans (112) voted against Ukraine aid on April 20. Younger and newer members are particularly fed up with leadership’s conciliatory approach and manipulative tactics that have led us to this point. The average age of the Senate Republicans who voted “nay” is 59, while the average age of those who voted “yea” is 66. The average “nay” vote has been in office since just 2016, while the average “yea” vote has been in Washington since 2010. The same dynamic was true with the recent $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill.
This generational shift can be ignored by the “uniparty,” but it’s not going away. Newer, younger representatives want a choice, not an echo; and increasingly, they’re adopting a populist form of conservatism that champions “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” above all else. [emphasis mine]
The trend here is important. The more conservative demands of voters in the past decade has begun to change that Republican Party, making it more conservative and more interested in representing its base than the swamp in Washington.
The problem once again comes down to too few Republicans willing to vote for these strong-willed conservatives. While the Republican Party has clearly shifted to the right, it has not been enough to allow these more conservative Republicans to take over the party. Nor have Republican voters come to the polls enough in many swing districts, thus allowing many of those districts to be won by Democrats.
Had Republicans come out to vote as they should have in 2022, we would have seen a real red wave that would have not only given the party a strong majority in both houses of Congress, many of those newly elected representatives would have been more conservative, shifting the balance of power rightward.
When will Americans finally wake up? Click for video.
Too many Republicans however did not vote, citing as their reasons those whiny complaints cited above. “It makes no difference! They are all corrupt! Why bother?”
As a result, by sticking their head in the sand these non-voters gave us a Congress largely split between the two parties, with that corrupt Republican establishment in a good position to join up with the Democrats to block any real conservative achievements.
Our constitutional republic can only function properly if its ordinary citizens take serious their responsibilities and participate. The lack of participation in the past half century has brought us to this terrible point, where very soon that Constitution will be tossed out by the power-brokers in control — because we let them take power.
And if Americans of all stripes don’t wake up and act soon, they won’t be able to act at all.
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That is counterbalanced this go-around by Lyndon J Biden’s war woes which will likely result in lots of blue-staters staying home as well.
That Trump isn’t a Blue Blood Jeb or Mitt means he has an advantage.
People know what each brings to the table.
If I were the Donald I might say ” I respect the protesters on the left not wanting tax dollars going overseas just as I respect folks tired of Ukraine Firsters fed up with the current Speaker of the House.”
Trump can always change his mind later.
That one statement might give him the bump he and his coat-tails riders need.
Games theory time.
I don’t want to hear another conservative putting down the protesters until after the election.
If I ran Newsmax, I’d say “See? America First means no more foreign entanglements. Biden gave our money overseas not once but twice.”
Then I’d have some point/counterpoint back-and-forth on Red State kinda playing up the protesters concerns so they really can be useful idiots for the time being. Get Drudge to match with them—use the same kind of guerilla underground tactics…prop up Grover Norquist…they stone him if they sense he’s sucking up to them…no great loss.
I cannot stress the importance of the GOP convention being Virtual—this makes the DNC the only viable target.
Remember the Jan 6 FBI instigators?
Time to flip the script.
DEMOCRATS VERY, VERY NERVOUS?
“Just how terrified of a Trump presidential repeat are the Democrats? You know, a Trump that is totally read in and on the other side of the D.C, swamp learning curve. That Trump.”
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/democrats-very-very-nervous
I also look for candidates and organizations who fight. Here in California, the Republican party is pretty much useless but there are individual Republicans and a non-party organization who do fight . The organization is Reform California run by Carl Demaio, a former conservative talkshow host who is now running for the state assembly. Reform California does the job that the California GOP should be doing. I mentioned them here before the 2022 election. As a result of their efforts, California hung on to seven GOP House seats that delivered the Republican majority. They are even more ambitious this year. Check out their website, ReformCalifornia.org. They are sponsoring multiple campaigns, including a list of 24 conservative candidates who fight. I would be interested if there are similar organizations in other states.
RZ: “I took to task the many Republican conservatives who repeatedly say there is no point voting…:
Sure, there’s a point to voting.
After “Republican conservatives” change the system to be able to audit the votes.
Until then, this Independent/unaffiliated conservative has no inclination to vote for either party.
Too many shared martinis.
Too few bruised knuckles.
It’s like watching Friday night “Professional Wrestling”, like we should actually care.
It’s all on you folks. You seem incapable of persuading the rest of us to buy into your version of normalcy.
Of course, you could try to resort to force.
Feeling lucky?
Republican Defenders doing their thing.
All the rest of you stand up front. “Ready, fire.”
Womb Registrants.
Yes sir. Here in my communist Minnesota(cities only) we lost the Trifecta(Gov, AG, SecState) by 4% and 20% of republicans didn’t vote.
VOTE!
I mentioned early that we’ve become addicted to stories. We’ve also become addicted to speed; perhaps low-latency would be a better term.
These things take TIME. Large groups – let alone “organizations” – do not turn on a dime. When we learn history (for those of us who do/did), things seem to “just happen”. The Declaration of Independence is a good example. It didn’t “just happen”. That list of injustices built up over years, decades even.
We have a two-party system by its nature. Third parties are not stable. That means either coopting the Republican party (see the 1980s and the Religious Right) or replacing it. It’s in the PROCESS of being coopted. You need to vote – especially locally – in order for that process to continue.
Given that there are only two parties – and will only ever be two (useful/significant) parties – neither one will ever be a perfect fit for anyone (just as there is no one person who is average). It’s always a lesser of two evils. Get over it.
BTW: This is a very different tone than my last comment on this issue. I’ve thought about it more.
markedup2: You raise a point that I had wanted to mention in my essay, and forgot. The communists have been co-opting the Democrat Party for more than fifty years. They never complained that they didn’t get what they wanted NOW. They simply kept pushing and pushing until today, the Democrats are little different, if not worse, than the Chinese communists.
The more conservatives push now, the faster the change will occur. It just can’t happen tomorrow. And it won’t happen at all if conservatives don’t fight at all.
“…it won’t happen at all if conservatives don’t fight at all.”
I share the sentiment. I’m fighting, my own way. Arguably just as successfully as everybody else’s ways.
GaryMike: I share the sentiment. I’m fighting, my own way. Arguably just as successfully as everybody else’s ways.
Sounds to me like the only thing you’re doing is standing on the sidelines, thumb up the fat cheeks. If you’re not voting, you’re surrendering to everyone else who is.
Clark,
“Sounds to me like the only thing you’re doing is standing on the sidelines, thumb up the fat cheeks. If you’re not voting, you’re surrendering to everyone else who is.”
Matter of fact, I am standing on the sidelines. That unaffiliated thingy.
Don’t know anything about the fat cheek thingy.
As for everyone else voting, do the motion. Just because it feels good.
Trust, but verify.
Can’t verify, don’t trust.
Other things also involve hand motion; same as voting without a willing participant in the process.
Danimal28,
You wrote: “Yes sir. Here in my communist Minnesota(cities only) we lost the Trifecta(Gov, AG, SecState) by 4% and 20% of republicans didn’t vote.
“VOTE!”
You assume that the Republicans are the good guys. Very few are. Very few are worth voting for. The reason people don’t see a difference between the parties is that no matter which takes office, the results are the same. Change will not occur until there are conservatives worth voting for.
Don’t put the pressure on me to vote. The pressure is on you to get someone worth voting for onto the ballot.
I’ll wait.