Saturday, November 8, 2008

REBUILDING


See, I am from Miami (the one in Florida).

Therefore, I am a Dolphins fan.

I can't help it, I am.

Part of the reason is that I personally knew so many of the members of that 1972 team...the one with the perfect season.

I knew Earl Morril, Tim Foley, Nick Buonticonti, and Norm Evans.

And I still think Bob Griese was the best tactician to ever play the game.

The year 2007, however, was a very different story.

The Dolphins found a way to lose a game, even in the rare instances when they were in the lead with only moments to go on the clock.

They were just plain awful.

This year they are rebuilding and are doing an admirable job of it.

Conservative Republicans find themselves in a similar situation.

We conservatives look back on the Reagan years with great nostalgia.

After Reagan we had George H.W. Bush.

Remember, "Read my lips...no new taxes?"

Then it was George W.

Most fondly remembered for, "Mission Accomplished!"

And now we are like the 2007 Dolphins.

We must rebuild...but how?

Let's start with the basics.

We did not lose this election because we did not embrace enough people who were "moderates" (read: stand for nothing), or because we did not "reach across the aisle."

We lost this election precisely because we DID embrace the wrong folks.

And because we stood for nothing.

Until Governor Sarah Palin entered the race as VP candidate.

Then, nine weeks (out of over two years of campaigning) before the election she comes in and shows John "reach across the aisle" McCain what he should have been doing all along.

He tried to get the idea, but it just never jelled with him.

He was obviously uncomfortable when he tried to be on the attack against Barack Obama (BO), and looked stilted, almost robotic, war injuries notwithstanding.

If conservative Republicans want to make any headway in the next elections (two years away), they must re-find themselves, totally DUMP the so-called moderates and left-wingers among them and focus on, and only on, those Palinesque leaders who will champion the real conservative cause.

If you are a "moderate" Republican, why don't you just get out of the Party and join the Democrats. At least then we'll know who you are and where you stand.

If you are a "lefty," what on earth are you doing in the Republican Party to begin with?

We don't need you.

We don't want you.

Go away and let us get on with being who we are.

"But Joe!" I hear you whining, "Won't that lessen our numbers and give us less of a chance to win?"

Absolutely NOT.

It will come as a surprise to you who think this way, but there are MORE conservative Republicans than there are of you.

Many conservative Republicans stayed away from the polls, or even went so far as to vote Democrat, to show their disgust with the state of the Republican Party.

So I'm telling you, dearly beloved Republicans, if you want to win next time, and the time after that and so on, you had better heed my advice.

Get back to your roots.

Once again be the anti-slavery party; the Party of Abraham Lincoln; the Party that passed the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution; the party that passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875; the Party that founded the NAACP; the Party that sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools; the Party that established the Civil Rights Commission in 1958; the Party of Earl Warren, who drew up the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation; the Party who cast the most votes for the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s; the Party of the FIRST Affirmative Action program in 1969 and the Party that approved the spending of over $200 billion to fight AIDS in Africa.

We need to become the Party of Judeo-Christian values; the Party of Economic initiative (so that no Democrats can ever again reject suggested regulations on entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); the Party of trust and integrity; the Party of smaller centralized power and the Party of Constitutionalism.

The question now is, DO YOU, MY FELLOW REPUBLICANS, HAVE THE GUTS TO BECOME WHAT YOU MUST BECOME TO WIN?

We'll see.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I whole-heartedly agree that that is exactly what you should do. And I am a liberal. So why do I agree? Because I know for certain that Sarah Palin is SO not what any majority of this country would ever vote for. Ever. Never going to happen. She speaks only to your base, your right wing nutjobs, if you will, and there are so few of you you'll never make it. So, I agree, go that route and if you do, you guarantee that the Dems will be in charge for a very long time. This country has changed and it's not going back. Get over it. Obama 2012!

Joe said...

anonymous: I do wish you were man (woman)enough to use your name. Failure to do so leads me to believe that you have something to hide or are one of those "nut jobs" of which you speak.

I do realize, however, that you are unlikely to do so because you are stereotypically paranoid, like most left wingers. Afraid of ideas, and willing to resort to name calling instead of meaningful discussion.

In fact, Sarah Palin is SO what the majority of this country would vote for if folks like you would stick to discussing facts instead of character assination.

You are highly skilled at assaulting someone's character and then pretending that you didn't do it.

Typically you are vulgar, and don't know why, in a civilized society, vulgarity is neither intelligent nor useful.

Your concept of freedom is license: I can do what I want, when I want, how I want, where I want, to whomever I want, and for whatever reason I want.

You have "I" trouble, and don't even know why it is both wrong and hurtful to society.

Then you pretend to be for the "little guy," a condescending attitude if there ever was one.

Thank you for being the poster child of cowardly liberalism on my blog, and on this post.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I do agree with you 100 percent....However, we do not have any control of who our part is going to nominate, yes we do vote in the primaries, but when the party nominates a candidate not to our best liking, we must still support him, not like the piss-poor job that was done to McCain. We can not just say OK, lets teach their party a lesson and sit this one out and let a SOCIALISY win instead.
That’s the way I see it. Take the lesser of the two evils because the most evil is going to be a real horror show. As we can see now. And now we are stuck
Perhaps, just perhaps if we did support McCain, we could have won.
I know that I did.
If you are hearing him now, and I mean TODAY, he sounds just like HITTLER
He is calling for a civilian military force along with the regular military .. Sounds like the SS to me.

Anonymous said...

"Once again be the anti-slavery party; the Party of Abraham Lincoln; the Party that passed the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution; the party that passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875; the Party that founded the NAACP; the Party that sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools; the Party that established the Civil Rights Commission in 1958; the Party of Earl Warren, who drew up the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation; the Party who cast the most votes for the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s; the Party of the FIRST Affirmative Action program in 1969 and the Party that approved the spending of over $200 billion to fight AIDS in Africa.

We need to become the Party of Judeo-Christian values; the Party of Economic initiative (so that no Democrats can ever again reject suggested regulations on entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); the Party of trust and integrity; the Party of smaller centralized power and the Party of Constitutionalism."

Great point Joe and you're right about how the Republican party needs to find its base again. We need to go back and find our core values and fight for them.

Great blog too. I'm looking to add you to my links page if you're willing to return the favor. Let me know.

Anonymous said...

Joe, as usual you are spot on. I think that is exactly why we lost the election.

The GOP lost sight of the principles and ideology that make up us Conservatives. We need to fight more than ever before. My friend Robert and I just started a new blog called Conservative Conviction and I would love to have your input there! Check out my blog, there is a link to it there. Keep up the good fight!

Robert said...

Joe, thanks for your visit at our place and please come back. I am adding your place to my personal blogroll! Jenn is in charge of adding links, so I will let her take care of it on our page.

I would say that the left wing rads like anonymous here just doesn't get it. Palin is a great leap toward what we have been looking for and haven't been given by the establishment. The right wing hasn't been getting it either.

The left also doesn't get it about the conservative base. I hope they continue to remain in the dark until 2012. There are significant numbers of conseravtives that the party abandoned. The establishment spent too much time listening to the MSM that last 14 years and actually believed they needed to moderate their stance.

I hope we finally realize where we need to be and press forward!

Robert said...

I should have also said "Go Fins!" I am a Dolphins fan from a whole nuch of years ago. Bob Griese came to my scout troop one night..I have been a Fins fan ever since!

Joe said...

Robert: Nice to see you here, and congratulations to you and Jennifer on your new site.

So, if you are a Dolphins fan, whence cometh thou? Are you a Floridian such as I.

As for my having been born in Miami, I really don't claim the place any more. Nevertheless, I cannot abandon my Dolphins.

Robert said...

I am in the Birmingham, Alabama metro area and have never been to Miami actually. I am a college football lunatic, specifically my beloved Auburn University. I rarely follow pro ball, but I have always like d the Dolphins and had a friend play offensive line there the last few years. He is retired from football...if I could be so lucky....

David Wyatt said...

Congratulations bro. Joe on your Dolphins! They officially have at this point a wining season! Amazing considering the dismal one they had just last year as you pointed out! I only trust that my hapless Bengals can do as well next year! God Bless you, & as per usual, excellent post.

Rose~ said...

Joe,
You're absolutely right. The conservative movement is ready for a comeback in the party and that is the silver lining to Obama. I am excited to see how it will happen.