Conservatives must pivot momentum (scroll for update)
Lest it take them over the cliff
Last night Politico reported on a statement by Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) supporting his long time friend and ally, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Senator Graham has come under increasing fire for his willingness to partner with Senator John Kerry (D-MA) on controversial “Cap & Trade” legislation. The issue, seemingly left for dead in the Senate after a contentious vote in the House, was given new life by Graham’s tacit support based around the inclusion on of language supporting nuclear power, offshore drilling and natural gas exploration. The criticism has gotten so intense here in SC that the Charleston County GOP recently censured Graham for his actions.
Wilson’s office released the following statement to the Politico:
Lindsey Graham has been a great leader for our state and party. I appreciate everything he has done for me and his tireless work in helping Republicans at all levels of government. He’s a team player. Ronald Reagan always said that people who agree with you 80 percent of the time should be considered a good friend. Reagan was a wise man and if we want to build a strong, vibrant Republican Party we should follow his advice.
Not long after the statement was posted, Wilson himself began taking heat from Tea Party activists. In the span of a few minutes emails and blog comments began circulating accusing Wilson of being a supporter of Cap & Trade and a RINO sympathizer. Never mind that Wilson has been a very vocal opponent of the energy legislation and cast his vote against the measure in the House. These activists, full of anger with no productive outlet, have begun turning on their own.
Please allow me to interject some common sense here and maybe use this insanity to dispense with a bit of advice. Wilson and Graham are friends. When your friend is attacked, you try to stick by them. I don’t know this but I am guessing that the Graham camp probably asked Wilson to show a little love given the conservative “street cred” Wilson has garnered since the infamous “You Lie!” incident. Wilson, being a friend and a gentleman agreed. There was nothing wrong with the statement, except that it threw cold water on the white hot anger of the conservative grassroots movement. It logically stated that we must work together under our common bonds to achieve success.
You see it wasn’t that long ago, in the opening hours after Wilson’s unfortunate comment that Graham stood by and defended his friend in the national media. He said:
“The president in the United States, in my opinion, set the wrong tone in that session,” Graham said during an interview on Fox News. “It doesn’t justify what Congressman Wilson said — I’m glad he apologized — but I quite frankly was offended by the whole tone. “
“I thought it was a partisan pep rally instead of a chance to bring the country together,” Graham added. “And when it comes to Congressman Wilson’s future, I will do everything I can to help him get reelected.”
In case you don’t follow politics as closely as some, it took the Wilson camp some time to dig in and begin getting forward momentum. In the first 24-48 hours, the situation looked like it had the potential to go very badly. To Team Wilson’s credit, they did a remarkable job of pushing back against the tide, but it was folks like Graham who were in early that helped stop the bleeding while Republican leaders in the House were begging Wilson to capitulate.
This leads me to my unsolicited advice to my fellow conservative activists. Stop looking to be outraged for the sake of being outraged. Take the energy that has been generated over the summer through Tea Parties and Town Halls, and pivot that to something positive and productive. If you do not, you will be marginalized in the minds of mainstream America and the narrative being pushed by your enemies will have been confirmed. You can rally and shout, God knows there is plenty to be upset about, but at some point you must offer more than that. If you continue to demand the heads of anyone who dares to step out of line then you will quickly find yourself all alone.
It is time to organize and begin putting forward positive ideas and strategies for success in 2010 and beyond. It is time to support ideas and candidates and to strategize a path forward. Senator Graham may be wrong for lending his support to the boondoggle that is Cap & Trade and he should hear about it, but this is about shaping the phenomenon that is emerging within the American electorate into a campaign to renew the country under its founding principles. The time to teach people about conservatism is here. The time to see who can scream the loudest has past.
Remember, Democratic activists are the perpetually offended and outraged. We must begin to work with our allies (yes, even those we don’t agree with on some issues) to mount a return to core values and launch a winning strategy.
(Update) Good Lord people: I don’t give a rats ass if the commie-hippie protest industry that is the left wing did this to President Bush, thinking-people do not burn effigies of American political figures. NEVER. I don’t care what your excuse. You have a tin ear and no ability to advance your message. You are a failure to your cause. Please jump off the cliff. Thanks for giving our enemies a million stories to write. Do you people understand that there is not room for error of this Neanderthal nature?
You put into words what I was thinking last night. The comments left on the blog made me sick. tearing one another apart is not the answer for good strong change. Michael keep up the good work. You have a wonderful way with words.
Wow…that might be a bridge to far. We must stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Who are these people?
I support them 100%. Pelosi and her kind should be called out in for what they are doing to destroy this country. They should be tarred, feathered and run out on a rail.
The tea party movement is the embodiment of what normal every day working people SHOULD HAVE BEEN doing all along. Vigilance is demanding and tiring but it IS necessary.
Wilson has always been milquetoast on about every issue he supports and, like his good buddy, Graham, voted for the TARP bail out of rich, elitist bankers and more.
Being in his district, I have, on multiple occasions asked Wilson to take the lead on many important issues promoted now by the tea party movement. He has always been the reluctant conservative. For example, he was afraid to speak up too much on illegal aliens because, as he told me personally, he didn’t want to appear “racist.”
SCREW THAT! The press will always vilify true conservatives. Wilson should have never run for office if he can’t take the heat.
Until his “you lie!” comment, Wilson has done a great impression of the Invisible Man. (Even there, I really think Wilson did not expect his comment to be heard as he was probably expecting a general hub-bub from his section as had occurred on the two previous statements by Obama.)
Wilson has been the recipient of a LOT of campaign cash directly from Graham’s surplus. There’s more than friendship involved there. Graham has funneled cash to as many potential rivals in the primaries as possible. He also had $305 million worth of earmarks in FY2007 to buy off as many Dems as he could for the 2008 elections. It worked.
Now Graham and McCain are prancing all over the country to find neo-con candidates and funnel cash to them for the Republican primaries next year. They’re taking the true conservatives’ backlash and attempting political jujitsu to transform it into a neo-con victory at the polls.
I would say that, in doing so–as he has openly bragged about–Graham, along with McCain, have continued their personal vendetta against conservatives with principles in the party.
If there is infighting, especially given Graham’s vicious ad hominem rhetoric (that I have personally witnessed on several occasions) it is Graham and McCain–along with enablers like Wilson–that are trying to make the party a permanent minority.
What we need are MORE attacks on these corrupt politicians and MORE vigilance by the citizens. Their outcries against Wilson’s support of Graham are a welcome sound to those who have watched the creeping socialism aided and abetted by gutless wonders in the Republican party.
Contrary to many people’s intuition, a basic reality in dealing with politicians is that they only respond to pain. We need to make it as painful as possible for them. It has worked for the left for a long time and, yes, even at the risk of looking like them on the surface, we need to get JUST AS ACTIVIST in our politics if we want to save this country.
For those who might still be hesitant, I submit that we might as well try this since McCain and Graham’s big tent HAS NOT WORKED! (Part of the problem is that the tent is inclusive of Dems and liberal Republicans but NOT libertarian/Constitutional conservatives.)
We need FIGHTERS in D.C. and at home. We need folks who will be willing to go down in flames vs. “staying in the game” with their own Dem-Lite Constitutionally illegal programs. More often than not, we may find ourselves making real progress in returning our country to a true federal republican form of government.
We need the politicians to always keep the argument on the Constitutionality of each and every submitted bill. If the idiots complaining about reading long bills don’t want to read them, they can stop at the FIRST Constitutionally questionable item and vote AGAINST passage of the bill.
It’s really that simple.
We need it that simple. Complexity (fascism/socialism) breeds gray areas that in turn breed corruption. The Constitution is all about keeping it simple. If we were to return to it, we’d find most issues settled at the state levels rather than the leviathan, omnipotent central government solutions that moderate and liberal Republicans frequently complain about but never DO anything about.
If a politician is soft on socialism/fascism, he’s a huge part of the problem. At the very least, he should be criticized until he comes around or is replaced with someone more conservative. If we don’t recognize the necessity for this strategy and actually implement it, we’ll keep getting outmaneuvered by the liberals.
Only an idiot would run for president next election, especially if he or she is a Republican.I would not trust any man or woman that thinks this mess and this deficit that has been created will ever be paid off.Practice up on the value of the Yaun so you won’t get shorted when the Chinese call in their markers. Might be a good chance they will write this mess off that has been thrust on our grandchildren . If we go broke where are they going to sell their products?