Occasional thoughts, sermons, parables, and rants from a Constitutional Republican who is sick of Progressivism in America.
31 May 2009
Why I Am (Still) a Registered Republican
I have seen several statements--on fliers, on television, on Twitter, on blogs--about becoming a Republican, or turning conservative. Many people have said that they've been a Republican since the Reagan years, or even because of Ronald Reagan. Others, like Dennis Miller, moved toward conservatism because of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. I respect that. Growing and changing one's mind is part of living.
There is a quote I've seen attributed to Winston Churchill that goes something like, "A young man who is conservative has no heart; an old man who is liberal has no brain."
Apparently I'm heartless. I'm sure you've heard tales of the "heartless conservatives." I guess I'm one of 'em. I have always believed in individual achievement bringing rewards, self-reliance, all those conservative ideals. I cannot remember ever wishing that some powerful entity would take wealth away from, for instance, Howard Hughes and give it to me.
Like many others, I am totally disgusted with the Republican party. There is a sizable portion of the party that seems to be for lowering taxes, but not for shrinking the State Bureaucratic Apparatus (what many people call "the government"). They believe that lowering tax rates will result in increased revenue, which they can then spend on their pet programs rather than the Democrats' pet programs. These people are not truly conservative.
So to the title of the post: Why I am (still) a Registered Republican. The fact is that there are two major parties in the United States, and anyone not running as a member of one of those two parties is not at all likely to win an election. Of the 535 voting and half-dozen non-voting members of Congress, only two identify themselves as Independent (and Joe Lieberman is listed as "ID", which I suppose means "Independent Democrat").
In the general elections, I have endeavored to find the candidate whose philosophy and positions most closely match my own. Most candidates that run as Democrats have a philosophy nowhere near my own. I have voted for Republicans, and for Independents (mostly the American Independent Party), and even for a Libertarian or two. But my county does not hold a primary election for independent and minor-party candidates.
I register as a Republican so that I can vote for the most conservative candidate in the primary elections. I have also started attending local "town-hall" meetings at the county's GOP headquarters. That gives me a chance to hear what our Assemblymen and State Senators are doing, and perhaps express my position for their consideration.
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I have to redo my long previous post into a shorter version. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteYou do have heart. As a former liberal, I discovered this during an epiphany which help evolve my political thinking.
My daughter began attending a school where all competition was shunned. No grades were given and there weren't any repercussions for bad behavior. The kids weren't even allowed to shout "We're number one!" when they formed, on their own, soccer teams because it my hurt the other team's self-esteem. They spent most time sitting in circles talking about self-esteem.
As the class mom, I saw how chaotic the school was and went to talk to the school director. He told me the school was only in chaos due to some kids who'd vandalized the class and were the rowdy sort. When I said, "Kick 'em out so the other kids can learn", the director said they couldn't because that would hurt their self esteem.
I later returned to pull my kid out and advised the school (after I had an epiphany) - rather than level the playing field for all by lowering standards, give the kids something to strive for, let them find their talents. I said if all the kids are allowed to find what they're best at - rather than worrying if one kid will outshine the other - they'd create a better society.
I realized that while this school had good intentions, they were hurting all the children.
I only later realized this school wasn't simply chaotic, but based on socialist John Dewey's philosophies.
*I will go into more detail in my own blog soon. My longer version was deleted.
I came to realized liberals often have good intentions, but conservative have true heart by their actions.
If my blog doesn't show up, it's aprilbaby.typepad.com & my Twitter name is h8groupthink.
Scott, I find your logic interesting. While I wouldn't say it is incorrect, if everyone voted using your logic a non 2-party candidate would never, ever have a chance.
ReplyDeleteSo, what if a Libertarian ran for president and she embodied your views better than any other candidate in the race? Would you still vote Republican simply because they were the lesser of the 2-party evils, and more "likely" to be "electable" than an outsider?
I understand your reasoning but disagree with it. One should vote their conscience, based on the character of the candidate and their stance on the issues that matter.
Like you, I am disgusted with both parties. However, even though I think we should all vote our conscience, it is difficult to not weight our decisions toward one of the 2-parties because we don't want to "waste" our vote. This is wrong thinking. Our vote is NEVER wasted as long as we vote our conscience. If we bend that decision toward the lesser of 2 evils, they win every time.
I know it can be frightening to vote outside of the 2 party system. But I feel it is important, more now than ever, to vote our conscience if we are to ever restore America to our founding principles.
I would love to see a forum where the sane (non-socialist) voters could get together and discuss their likely votes. But nothing would prevent the socialists from polluting it.
Good people of honor and integrity can, and have created new parties by doing just that. Republican party was formed from the remnants of the Whig party.
I must vote my conscience, whether one of the two parties or not.
-- my 2 cents
Salvus: Sorry I didn't respond earlier. I don't really expect people to comment, so I don't check them often.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the last two paragraphs, you'll see where I said I have voted 3rd-party in general elections. In fact, I voted for Bob Barr in 2008, because I was so repulsed by McCain.
I am registered as a Republican because Nevada has closed primaries. I came from Oklahoma, which also has closed primaries. I forget that not all states are that way.
In short, I agree with you.