The Devil You Know...

If I hear one more talking head with a liberal bent tell me what the Republicans need to do to win an election I think I'll scream. Their careful, insightful analysis always ends with one conclusion:

Republicans need to be more liberal to win in the future.

Well there's a shocker. Now why didn't I think of that?

Is it just me or does the idea of making yourself more like the other guy seem like a really stupid thing to do? Beyond the fact that I doubt the media's true motives in trying to ascertain what might be a winning strategy for a party they openly despise, it just seems pointless to blur the lines between liberal and conservative in order to gain power. Know what happens when you do that? You wind up with Olympia Snowe...or Jim Jeffords...or Arlen Specter. You get what we on the right lovingly call R.I.N.O.'s--Republican In Name Only. Those members who, if they don't jump ship outright like Jeffords and Specter, vote almost overwhelmingly with the Democrats like Snowe and Susan Collins. Or the kind of Republican who, after seeing the political winds shifting, decides to embrace the other side to show how moderate and non-partisan they are.
Case in point--Lindsey Graham.

Graham, in a recent town hall meeting, said he didn't want the Republican party to be the party of "the angry white guy". Graham has spent the last year since his election in "08 making his constituents regret sending him back to the Senate. He voted for Sonia Sotomayor to be confirmed by the Senate despite having "serious hesitation as to her judicial fidelity regarding matters of race and the 2nd amendment". He was so spineless that he couldn't bring himself to cast a no vote for fear of looking like...a conservative. He voted for amnesty during the heated immigration battle near the end of Bush' final term. He partnered with John Kerry on climate change legislation that would raise taxes on every American who uses any kind of energy...which means every one of them. He talks incessantly of reaching across the aisle to the President to forge a coalition that will make America better. Better than what? Cuba? Venezuela?

He stands as a testament to what happens when you stop listening to the people and start worrying about keeping your power firmly in place.

Oddly enough, nowhere in the hallowed halls of ABC, NBC or CBS will you ever hear a pundit say that liberals need to be more hawkish on national defense or more fiscally sane when it comes to our skyrocketing national debt. You'll never hear them tell Barney Frank to tone down the rhetoric about how evil business is but they've got advice to spare for every conservative in D.C. who has a problem with government run health care.

Another case in point is a race in upstate New York that under ordinary circumstances would not rise to the level of national attention. Congressional District 23 has captured the eye of much of the nation partly because it was a seat vacated due to an Obama appointment but mostly because there are 3 challengers to the seat. A democrat a Republican...and a Conservative.

You read that right. As if it doesn't say enough about the fracturing of the Republican party, it gets worse. The RNC is currently running ads against...the conservative, Doug Johnson in favor of Dede Scozzafava, a moderate assemblywoman. I use the term "moderate" here because the RNC chose it for her. She's anything but moderate. She's embraced the Obama party line and has accepted an endorsement from ACORN. Yes...the same ACORN that has no trouble giving tax advice to pimps and hookers. She favors abortion rights and gay marriage and taxes like a liberal.

I wish I was joking here, I really do. I wish I could say that this is all just a dream starring John Podesta and James Carville, but it's not.

Instead of targeting the Democrat, lawyer Bill Owens, the RNC chose to target a conservative because he represents a serious threat to their choice. Johnson has won the backing of some fairly heavy hitters on the right despite his soft spoken demeanor and because of his staunchly conservative views. Names like Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Rush Limbaugh and the right leaning Club For Growth.

Newt Gingrich, when queried about why he has decided to back Scozzafava said, “Our best chance to put responsible and principled leaders in Washington starts here, with Dede Scozzafava.”

Really Newt? Our best chance? Calling Scozzafava a "moderate" is a kindness she doesn't really deserve. She's a liberal in a conservative district who's savvy enough to know how to get elected. Have no doubt she will show her true colors once there.

Gingrich said of his endorsement,

"My number one interest is to build a Republican majority. If your interest is taking power back from the Left, and your interest is winning the necessary elections, then there are times when you have to put together a coalition that has disagreement within it." In other words, "Ok, so she's more liberal than Bill Clinton but at least she might vote with the party once in awhile."

So Newt, what you're telling me is that I should sacrifice my principles just to get an (R) in office, consequences be damned?

I don't think so. I used to admire Gingrich for his clear delineation of what conservatism was. Now I think he's succumbed to the idiocy that strikes all power players in or out of D.C.

"Whatever it takes to get power. Then, whatever it takes to keep it. Principles, morals and voters be damned."

On this day, I am officially an independent conservative. I will wear the moniker of Republican no longer.