One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. – Plato
Do not disgrace the very ground our founders and our ancestors died for. Vote like your life depends on it, because it does.
(H/T KG)
Frank Luntz being interviewed about the economy and politics on Fox Business Network, 8.31.2010. Frank’s site, The Word Doctors, is here.
People have to get involved, and I say now when people complain that they don’t trust anyone, I say, “are you going to vote in November?”. And I have alot of people telling me “no”. I say, “well then shut up”. Here’s the deal, you get a chance to have your voice heard, if you won’t go to a townhall meeting, if you won’t vote, if you won’t email and call your member of congress, then shut up and stop complaining ’cause it’s your fault and people like you that don’t participate.
“…they want to be heard, they want someone to listen, and the people who are most afraid and frustrated are moms…”
On December 8th, I put up a post about O’Reilly endorsing the idea of a 3rd political party to run in the 2010 and 2012 elections. I stated that I although I love the idea of a 3rd party, the timing for such an event would be devastating and guarantee Obama another term, and the dems would destroy whatever liberty we have left.
For a long time I believed that everyone should become an independent or a non-affiliated voter and then make the two parties bring us candidates we would vote for. I no longer think we have the luxury of time to make that happen, and here’s why. In many states, if you are an indie, you are not allowed to vote in primaries so smaller and smaller percentages of the two major parties would be putting forth candidates for everybody to vote on. Just look at NY-23 where the dem and the repub were barely indistinguishable, and then imagine that across every district in the nation. Neither of these parties are interested in “selling” candidates to indies no matter what they say. Democrats have been the party of corruption since the very beginning with their continued support of slavery. Republicans have been corrupted by progressivism. I believe the plan needs to shift to all indies changing their registrations to Republican and then working for the candidates they believe in and voting out all the rinos. Find constitutional candidates, support them, volunteer for them, donate, knock on doors, and then get them past the primary and general elections. Once that happens, you ride the crap outta them to make sure they behave or vote them out again. You can never be asleep or uninvolved again.
I guess I wasn’t clear enough about my meaning when I stated that I thought all indies should register as republicans. This DOES NOT mean you are espousing the current republican mantra of roll over and play dead; this espouses being part of the BORG Movement that absorbs and cleanses the republican hierarchy of all the RINOs through sheer numbers, and using the RP as a means to defeat the democratic socialists. The RP has an extensive infrastructure already in place, and a third party just does not have the time necessary to be effective in the 2010 elections.
I guess I wasn’t the only one with the idea, and this gentleman has stated it much more succinctly than I ever could have.
By Eric Odom
I put up a generic poll that now shows overwhelming support for the movement to move in on the GOP as its vessel for 2010 and 2012. There were a lot of logic based arguments against the idea, but some of them are completely off the mark. In fact, some of them expose the misconception that currently plagues the movement as a whole.
Let’s look at an example.
The 2009 TEA Parties began as an appeal to freedom from government control, just like the original Boston Tea Party. Aligning with either just the Republicans or just the Democrats is a mistake. We must make it clear this movement is about letting the people decide, not the politians. I’ve seen too many instances of either party trying to cram a candidate down the throats of the grassroot people, regardless of what’s being requested by the people. California’s upcoming senatorial race is a good example, where the RNC is choosing Carly Fiorina, yet the majority want Chuck DeVore.
The people didn’t join the TEA Parties because they wanted republican or democrat. If they did want that, they’d go to their local RNC or DNC office.
At some point, the tea party movement needs to get over its apparent fear of politics. Or maybe its hatred of politics, which is understandable, but not necessary at this point if we wish to be successful in the electoral fight.
With regards to the comment above, since when has anyone suggested the movement “align” itself with the existing establishment? A common misconception among tea party activists is that the mere suggestion of using the GOP as a vessel to carry our agenda and candidates immediately means we wish to align ourselves with its existing ilk.
The individual who made this comment talks of the party as if it’s a mystical, grand group power house political machines that dictate their will on us regardless of what we want or say. When in reality, the party only does what it does because we allow it to.
We have no one to blame but ourselves.
Love or hate the Ron Paul movement, you have to admit they put up a fantastic example of how possible it is to literally take over a party. Their problem, in my opinion, was marketing and lack of critical mass.
The tea party movement has both. Especially the critical mass.
To my fellow patriots in the movement, I would suggest we stop playing the victim card when it comes to the Republican party. If we’re victims, it’s because we let a noisy minority beat us our of the process.
We need to stop complaining about the party structure as it exist today and move in to take it over. Go to meetings, meet with precinct captains, start organizing groups, start getting angry and start raising hell at the local level.
And as a final note, there is nothing wrong with the suggestion that we move in on the GOP. Let’s not pretend the suggest means something that it doesn’t. (emphasis mine)
We have two options in 2010. One is very risky… the third party route. If we win, we gain much. But if we lose, we lose our country. And in turn, our liberty.
The second is far less risky, but involves the use of the GOP as a vessel for our movement.
The reality is, there are some VERY powerful people controlling our country. They aren’t going down easy, and at this point, I’m guessing they hope we’ll choose the first option.
About eric:
Eric Odom is project manager for Blogivists.com. A web strategist by trade, Odom is currently working to develop infrastructure for activists within the liberty movement.
In Clark County, Las Vegas, Nevada, for example, two nights ago, the majority of the republican party in Clark County actually resigned because so many tea party activists had moved in and started taking over the party at the local level.
I think the reality is that the republican party needs to understand it can’t win as an entity that supports moderate republicans, and a good question to ask, well a statement, I don’t think anybody can say with a straight face that John McCain would have won last year if he had become a little more moderate.
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