Monday, January 3, 2011

Conservative Americans and a Conservative Political Party


Conservative Americans and a Conservative Political Party
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


I am pounding a drum, upon which, I have beat a rather consistent rhythm over the past few years -- the need for a third political party for America –and this time a truly conservative political party.

I am not convinced the Tea Party is in the fight for the long haul. I suspect the Republican Party feels the same way. I expect we will see a flurry of activity, when the new congress opens this week, orchestrated by the GOP and designed to give the impression that they (the GOP) does intend to comply with the demands of the Tea Party. But, I am afraid – it is only another façade and not intended to last very long.

Washington’s power has a beguiling effect upon new comers. For the first time in their lives many f them will know REAL power and they will find it compelling and addictive. Soon they will fall in line with all the other power brokers in Washington and, for all intents and purposes, become useless to the conservative cause in America. The GOP is counting on that and so is the Democratic Party.

Don’t misunderstand. The Tea Party was a grand idea and it produced a firestorm of much need patriotism in America. It was the force that brought a near purge of the Congress of those wishy-washy, limp-wristed politicians who had nearly brought America to her knees.

As the new Congress goes to work this week, Tea Party members and supporters, myself among them, are concerned that the Tea Party will not press home its advantage and make an effective effort to rescue America from the socialist agenda of the Obama Regime and liberal-socialists in Congress.

So, I am stating what I believe to be a fact: Conservatives need a political party of their own in order to have the wherewithal, and the power, to make a difference in the Congress, itself.

The new Presidential Campaign has already begun. Frankly, as of today, I see no way we conservatives can beat Obama in November of 2012 -- without an organized political party with all the tools needed to get the job done.

There is also the specter hovering over the GOP of another slate of impotent candidates for president that conservative voters will not support -- ensuring the defeat of the GOP in its run for the Oval Office.

For instance, there is absolutely no way we conservatives will vote for someone who doesn’t represent a drastic change from the current policies of spend, spend, borrow some more -- and spend it, too!

And another thing: I am tired of "big tent political parties.” I'm tired of being told I must share the GOP tent with liberal Republicans, and moderate Republicans, and the hosts of special interest groups who feel it is in their best interests to be under that tent. I want a party I can point to with pride and say, that’s my party -- a CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL PARTY!

Yes, I AM convinced that we can have such a political party. It will take work, determination, and the ability to ignore the naysayers who insist that a third party will not work.

I must tell you… as I have before … that I have a great deal of difficulty supporting a Republican Party, which does not represent me. And I repeat: I will leave the Republican Party, which has been my home since I registered to vote the first time, on my 21st birthday, in South Carolina... as soon as I have a political party, which actually represents me, as an alternative.

As I wrote two years ago: “We desperately need a Conservative Party. Someone in this formerly great country must step up to fight the rampant socialism the current crop of Congresspersons and Senators and even the President are “locking-in” in the minds of the those voters not equipped to think for themselves and not in possession of all the material they need to make an informed decision in the voting booth. They won in 2008 because they bought Obama’s message of socialism. It was a sparkling victory for ignorance in the USA.
If we conservatives want to change that, then we are going to have to do it ourselves and stop relying on the Republican Party to do it for us. That means we MUST have a viable Third Party… and the sooner the better!”

Some readers will think, I suspect, that I am jumping the gun – again. That’s OK. Maybe I am. But I must tell you; I have this gut-wrenching feeling that we conservatives are about to be snookered again.

I am expecting the current GOP leaders to make a great show of complying with the wishes of the Tea Party conservatives early on and then slip right back in to their “democrat-lite” mode while the country flounders on the verge of sinking beneath the waves of history for ever.
I am convinced that America needs a third political party – a conservative political party -- and I will revisit this issue in the future.

J. D. Longstreet

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