The Republican party has done a lot of stupid things lately, but its dumbest has been to prematurely anoint John McCain as its candidate. Republicans have lost much ground in the last year or two, and they seem almost giddy, with their coalescing around the worst possible Republican candidate, to lose even more.I haven't agreed with everything Mike Huckabee has said in the 2008 presidential campaign, but here's something I agree with:
"Republicans have decided that elections are a messy thing, and anointings and coronations are much better,” Huckabee said on MSNBC. “It’s that kind of attitude that is going to be the death of the Republican Party in this country."I've heard some of the Utah minions of the Republican machine chastise Huckabee for staying in the US presidential race. Additionally, Doug Wright of KSL radio challenged the governor to stop thinking that he is God's gift to the world and get out of the race. "What could he possibly be thinking", Wright recently said on his show. What despicable attitudes. Mike Huckabee is in the race because the Republican party is not a monolith--or so I thought.
Mitt Romney is a sellout. Sure, he did just what his party wanted, but that's exactly what makes him a sellout--to the people who supported him, and to the country. To make matters worse, he offered all of his erstwhile delegates to John McCain, as down-payment et obsequium to the Republican kingmakers, in order to get the nod as Republican nominee in 2012. I, for one, will have a hard time voting for Mitt Romney under any circumstances now.
Many have called Mitt's actions the pragmatic thing to do. I call it the violation of principle. If Mitt Romney was so beholden to the Establishment and to his Party, I wish he would have never run. This would have given the more genuine candidates--Paul and Huckabee--a better chance. Now we're seemingly stuck, at best, with socialism lite.
So, as it stands, here is your presidential poll. Do you prefer:This was the sort of politics in which Rome engaged during the days of its last, dying gasps.
a) Socialism forced down your throat?
b) Socialism with a deceitful smile?
c) Socialism mixed with imperialism
That's it. You choices do not include "none of the above."
I applaud Mike Huckabee for staying in the presidential race. I am also very appreciative that Ron Paul continues to make a go of it, despite the fact that every Establishment media organ has been instructed to ignore him.
In the last 60 years, every presidential race has been the same--except for when Ronald Reagan snuck in there; John Hinckley almost corrected the mistake on behalf of the Establishment, though. People, voters, fellow Americans: it doesn't have to be this way. Romney proved his ineptness and untrustworthiness by trying to ensure that the stale status quo will continue for years to come.
The real heroes in this campaign season are those who refuse to bow to the party hacks of putrescence. Governor Huckabee and Congressman Paul--keep the faith!
“These are issues that keep us going 20 hours a day, because we care deeply about whether our party is going to stand for something — or if all we’re going to do is just a say, ‘We want to be elected and not those guys.’”The pragmatism of Mitt Romney and the majority of the Republican peasants has become a consistent exercise short-sightedness. If we knuckle under to the Establishment candidate, then that's what we're always going to get--the person they want, and never the one that we want or that is best for the country.
Huckabee argued that the Republicans “have lost touch in many cases with the common, ordinary people out there driving trucks, handling the freight, lifting heavy things.”
He noted that it is the members of the base who are the ones needed when it comes to the general election.
“You alienate that strong base of the party, and you’re going to find it very difficult to beat Democrats,” Huckabee said.
Someday we'll break the stranglehold monopoly that the Establishment has on our presidential (and other) elections. Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul may not win this time around, but they can be to our future as Barry Goldwater was the forerunner to Ronald Reagan.
Perhaps then we can throw the rascals out of both parties, and not just undergo a perpetual exchange of one set of court jesters for the other. When that day occurs, it will be refreshing to have cleaned up the cesspool that US politics has become.
It looks like McCain may be hanged by his own campaign finance reform rope.
ReplyDeleteCan we say poetic justice?
I've haven't heard anything about this so far, but it would be good news if it were true!
ReplyDeleteI have a post about it on my blog and some links for more information.
ReplyDeleteI actually ran across your post last night when I was perusing the Utah Bloghive. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like McCain is planning to simply ignore the rules. Hmmm....
By the way, I finally remembered to add "Oblogatory Anecdotes" to my blogroll.
We have not been free from party establishments holding major sway in American politics since Washington. Yes, Reagan bucked the GOP moderates that had been running the party for years, but his ascendancy was more a symptom of the fact that the moderate wing of the party had lost clout, largely due to Nixon. As the more conservative wing ascended, so did Reagan's chances. The GOP conservatives were always there, but power among the different groups that make up the GOP has always been traded back and forth, even from the days of the Whig Party. The situation in the Democratic Party is similar.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is that this stuff has always been with us. We're not going to be free of party establishments controlling nominations anytime soon.
The funny thing about this post is that McCain actually bucked the party establishment. Romney had the support of a significant part of the conservative base. He also had more establishment support than did McCain. But in primaries where more voters actually had a say in matters, McCain repeatedly beat Romney, despite Romney significnatly outspending him. The establishment was thinking Romney, while a lot of voters were thinking McCain.
Like Huckabee, Romney won establishment-controlled caucuses. But in all but three instances where more actual voters have been allowed into the process (primary elections), McCain has prevailed.
Once it became clear that McCain was going to win the nomination, the establishment swung in tight behind him. Romney followed suit. This is a case of the establishment following the voters. In 1980, the old moderate bulls went head-do-head with Reagan -- and the voters. They lost, so they lost their power. Today, the establishment old bulls are trying to stay in power. They are simply trying to benefit from the way this thing is obviously breaking.
It's nice to have a lot of altruistic ideals with respect to politics, but doing that will always leave you disappointed. When you see politics for what it really is, and you recognize that politicians largely respond to the actual incentives in the system rather than to ideals, you are able to understand and work with what you have without terrible disappointment.
Expecting too much or the wrong things from politicians will always lead to dissatisfaction. Adjusting one's expectations of politicians to reality relieves a lot of stress. The answer, of course, is to trust politicians with less control over our lives.
In the presidential poll, I vote...
ReplyDeletea) Socialism forced down your throat.
I actually wanted to get some T-Shirts made a year or two back that said "Republicans for Hillary, at least then we'll know we're going to get screwed up front".
I didn't do it for 2 reasons:
1 - Someone beat me to the RepublicansForHillary.com domain name.
2 - I no longer consider myself a republican.
Right now, if Paul doesn't get it, my vote goes to the candidate with the least establishment type connections. That would appear to be Obama right now.
Reach,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your perspective. It is always interesting to see what's happening long term rather than myopically as I tend to do.
I think, though, that McCain has always been the Establishment's candidate--not the Republican party machine, but the Establishment that has its fingers in both sides of the political menagerie.
I completely agree with your last statement that "The answer...is to trust politicians with less control over our lives."
UK,
I agree about Socialism down your throat; at least we know what we're getting. I'm starting to worry about Obama, though. With all the people swooning over him, it's interesting that they don't pay too much attention to his actual policies.
My vote for president (unless Ron Paul makes a miraculous stand against John and the Establishmentarians) will be outside the Republican or Democrat parties, very likely.
Frank
ReplyDeleteThank you for adding me. You have been a fixture in mine for a long time.
As far as the McCain being in the Republican establishment. Republicans have a bad habit of nominating the person who has been around the longest ie Bob Dole, or who is considered the next in line. It may work for choosing a prophet but it's a poor way of choosing a candidate.
I hadn't thought about it that way (prophet vs. president), but you know what? You're absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteBob Dole was a terrible candidate to face Bill Clinton. It was almost as if the republicans were inviting Clinton to win.