Update: R.I.P. GOP

Update 1/28/08

For those following this thread there is some good news to report. The last two paragraphs were written at a time of emotional distress, but with the passing of time, the emotion has passed also. Having time to think and talk with others I have changed my intent of action. I will not be leaving the GOP. Instead I am joining with many other like minded citizens to take back our party. At this point in time, the only way we can see that the GOP will ever listen to Conservative concerns again, is to encourage others to vote for true Conservative principles by writing-in the name of Fred Thompson. The GOP is our party and we are taking it back.   

R.I.P. GOP

Although the heading seems a bit dramatic, it is the opinion of this author that we have seen the last days of the party of principle. The exact date of this deathwatch was Jan, 19, 2008.

More directly related to this passing are the principles of Conservatism. For the historically disabled, a great man once had his own explanation of Conservatism. It went something like this... Conservatism is a three legged stool made complete by the strength of three principles.

One leg represents the fiscal Conservative. This is where a Conservative Government would take in only what it needed to operate while finding any, and all manner of saving the people's money. Of course making government smaller would lend to making government less expensive and thereby allowing citizens to keep more of their hard earned money.

Another leg is that of the social Conservative. The biggest concern for the social Conservative is the barbaric use of abortion in this country. There are other modern day issues like same sex marriage that concern the social Conservative, but the abortion issue is the monster issue, as well it should be.

Finally, the third leg of Conservatism is that of security. This is the easiest to explain and understand. The security Conservative wants a strong national defense to protect the homeland from all enemies within, and those foreign to us. The logic is incredibly simple, yet profound. If we cannot protect ourselves from our enemies the first two legs will never matter.

For many years the Republican Party has been the party that came closest to these principles in theory and in practice. Then we had a president come along who defined, embodied, and led by example that gave us the three legged stool analogy of what it meant to be a Conservative. This president was Ronald Reagan. By his own will, and by his own examples, he showed us how important these principles were to all free men and woman. Because of him we had phrases introduced into the political lexicon such as 'The Reagan Revolution', and 'The Reagan Coalition'.

Each Republican president since Reagan has in one way or the other tried to live up to the three legs of Conservatism with varying degrees of success. Along the way something started to change that was so subliminal that very few people even noticed. We got the very first hint that something was going wrong when the term 'Compassionate Conservative' was used over and over during the presidential bid by George W. Bush. The few that sent up the red flags were mostly ignored. Something that I must sadly admit to.

So where does that leave us today? In my estimation, it leaves us in a terrible fix.

Since the years of Ronald Reagan there have been many a politician that has held office in many capacities, with the most important being the Congress and the Senate. Those that have held these offices have mostly claimed to follow in the footsteps of the venerable Reagan. But as we know, these claims have been disavowed by the passing of time. Those that call themselves Conservative Republicans have in large part turned away from the three legged principles and proven to more like the Democrats when voting on bills and arguing issues. These Republicans have been responsible for the term RINO (Republican in name only) finding it's rightful place in history.

We are at a pivotal point in history, so what do we do?

Here's what I'm going to do, and I hope others join me. First of all, I will be writing in my candidates name on the primary and the general election ballot. My candidate has dropped out of the race but the conservative principles he espoused are the real conservative principles, so I'm voting for conservatism, not a candidate. Shortly after the general election I will be quitting the GOP. After 30 years of supporting the party, it's not an easy thing to do. I may rejoin the party if we ever get another real conservative that runs for office.

The only other option is to hope somebody starts a new political party that actually sticks to conservative principles. I personally like the name 'The Conservative Party', and would support it with money and votes. Some Republicans would argue that I should hold my nose and vote for another candidate as a third option. This option is not even a consideration unless I'm willing to compromise my principles. Some things I will not do.