I have a great deal of respect for Richard Viguerie and his book, Conservatives Betrayed, is one of the finest. However, with all due respect, it is wrong to continue to advise conservatives that voting for the lesser of two evils is better then voting for a third party candidate. This is the advice that got Dubya elected in 2004 and the results are a disaster. Conservatives have been marginalized and all but been shut out of the political process.
A third party must be organized/adopted now in order to have enough clout to "force" the GOP to support conservative causes. I offer two scenarios to support this claim. One, if a block of delegates to the GOP convention indicates that they will withdraw from the party if a liberal/moderate is nominated, the party leadership would most likely laugh them out of the building. They would chide them, "Where will you go?" A second scenario would be, since most contested elections are decided by a margin of 5% or less, conservatives could pledge not to vote for a single GOP candidate if a liberal/moderate is nominated. Again, raucus laughter would follow. The chant would be "Who are you going to vote for?" If there is no viable third party they would be absolutely right. However, if there is already a third party infrastructure in place, they will have to take us seriously. I believe, based on past responses, that they would cave in to the pressure rather then risk losing another election.
This is precisely why a viable third party option must be available for conservatives who are unhappy with the GOP. There must be third party candidates on the ballots in every state. I am not talking about 10 different candidates each getting 1% or less of the vote. This is what has happened in the past which has resulted in failure for all third party efforts. Instead, I am talking about uniting behind one third party effort that will result in a block of votes of at least 6 million. This size represents 5% of the voters who voted in 2004. With this commitment conservatives will have a voice in the outcome of the elections. Taking away 5% from the GOP candidates will swing the close contests in favor of the Democrats bringing a resounding defeat to the GOP. We will give the GOP fair warning and, then, let the chips fall where they may!
There is one person that could legitimize this effort. That person is Rush Limbaugh. He speaks to millions of conservatives every day. I believe that if he presented the case for a unified effort and were joined by every conservative web site and blogger our selected candidate could receive the GOP nomination. He/she could successfully complete the elimination process (the polls, the party caucuses, and the primaries) insuring that his/her views did not become marginalized and his/her candidacy did not get tossed aside because he/she proved unelectable. The result would be the first true conservative, since Ronald Reagan, would occupy the White House!
I am suggesting some men/women who have already declared their committment to supporting conservatives issues. These men and women have the character and values to serve faithfully as leaders on a national level. I refer to the Representatives who have joined the Republican Study Committee. Some who already have some name recognition are Jeb Hensarling, Mike Pence, Jeff Flake and Tom Tancredo. From the Senate, I could wholeheartedly support Tom Coburn.
If we truly wish to change the direction our country is headed, we must begin now! I call on the leaders in the conservative movement to act immediately! If we continue to do the same things over and over again, we will have the same results. I want to change the results! If you do not like this plan, then feel free to present yours. But we must not maintain the status quo!!
Are we serious or do we just enjoy whining?
