Conservatives Must Vote Republican in 2012.
Posted by Ken Gardner in Blog, Politics on June 19, 2011 7:51 pm / 25 comments
In our American system, the Presidential candidate who wins the most votes in a state wins that state’s Electoral College votes. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the Presidency.
We are also a two party system: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Democrats are a left wing party, while the Republicans are a center-right to right party.
President Obama is a Democrat. Politically, he is on the far left. He has governed accordingly. You know the results only too well. Obamacare. The drilling moratorium. Our fiscal trainwreck, out-of-control spending, and massive new debt. The unemployment. The stagflation. The onerous government regulation. The list goes on and on. And at its core, the huge expansion of federal government power and corresponding loss of our economic and personal liberties. Obama is indeed fulfilling his campaign promise to “fundamentally transform” America, from what our Founding Fathers originally envisioned to something much more closely resembling many sundry socialist countries around the globe.
To reverse this and begin restoring America to its former greatness, we must defeat Obama in 2012. This requires that we accept some cold hard realities about our electoral system.
We are not a Parliamentary system like Britain. We have a winner take all system. Even if President Obama gets only the bare 270 Electoral College votes, he wins the Presidency and does not have to share power with the runner up. So, winning is everything in 2012. And “winning” is defeating Obama. Nothing less will do.
If you are a conservative or libertarian who votes for a third party candidate, or does not vote at all, you make it easier for President Obama to win your state’s electoral votes. If you are a genuine lover of individual liberty, the prospect of another four years of President Obama should horrify you. If you focus too much on GOP imperfections while forgetting Obama’s much worse transgressions, you will be making the same mistake as Bruce Lee’s young student. But with far more dire consequences for your country.
Only by voting GOP do you make it less likely that President Obama will win your state. That’s how our system works. If you refuse to vote for the GOP candidate because he isn’t “conservative enough,” you are cutting off your nose to spite your face. Moreover, if Obama narrowly wins re-election because of enough people like you, you are bringing four more years of unmitigated disaster on your country.
The voting booth is not the place to send messages to the Republican Party about how unhappy you are with them. It is the place to send a much stronger message to President Obama about what he is doing to our country. You should be far angrier with Obama than any GOP candidate. If not, you need to rethink your priorities. Seriously.
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25 Comments
While many of us who are politically active can understand the logic of your post and will hold our nose if and vote for the Republican even if it is Romney nominating a moderate or liberal Republican is a guaranteed loser. We can only manage to generate enough excitement to win if we nominate a candidate who actually believes in our parties platform. If we nominate someone only slightly more conservative that the DEM’s the voters go for the DEM candidate who is proud of his positions rather than the REP who acts ashamed of our positions.
Sorry, no sale. If they nominate a Romney or Huntsman it’s 3rd Party for me. Either will push us further down the statist path, discrediting “conservatives” with their inevitable failure.
Better that it crash and burn with Obama’s imprimatur if that’s what’s destined for us.
Spot on, Ken! I hope people will listen and learn.
If the debt and deficit numbers were not near as bad, a protest third party vote would be more defensible. However, considering the financial situation now, $14+ trillion national debt (and in the area of 100% of GDP), budget deficit of $1.6+ trillion (about 25% of GDP) and no sign that the Obama administration understands the seriousness of the problem, a protest vote will send us past a tipping point.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the struggle over our country’s finances doesn’t end after the election. We need to write letters and make phone calls to our representatives and senators so that the heat stays on and they know what we want. We should have their back when they do the right thing, and voice our displeasure when they do the wrong thing.
Let’s hope the enthusiasm for potential third party candidates run out of steam soon. Their choice are only between coming in second place or third; either way, Obama wins and America is infinitely worse off. I hope voters who want Obama out of office in 2012 are able to use their heads in this critical election and act as a united front instead of throwing tantrums on election day. it is the optimal strategy. There may be candidates I would prefer to the one who eventually gets the GOP nomination, but I will vote for the GOP candidate no matter who it is, no matter who else is running as a third party candidate. And I would hope that people who don’t get the GOP nomination would have the patriotism to drop from a race they can never win anyway.
I have a few problems with the “vote Republican at all costs” position. First, do we believe that some of the candidates, specifically Mitt Romney, will have the courage to cut the government back to its necessary levels? There is no indication that Mitt Romney is a small government conservative. So what then happens if we do elect Romney and he doesn’t do what is necessary to grow the economy and cut the size of government? The GOP gets trounced in the 2014 and 2016 elections. I am looking way down the road I know, but we have to build a conservative majority just as FDR built his New Deal Coalition back in the 30s in order to permanently turn this country’s situation around. So should I or any other GOP voter vote for someone who we believe will not fix this country’s problems? Is that how we should vote? For the person that can win? Seems tacky. Secondly, Congress will be completely controlled by the GOP in 2013 so the president’s agenda will be all but dead. I understand and respect Ken’s argument but Obama is in a weakened position now and voting GOP may make some of our problems somewhat better but depending on the candidate, we could be in worse shape in the long run. This is all speculation on my part but I believe it is something to think about.
Largebill: I agree that we need to nominate the best conservative who can win. And that he (or she!) be someone who can excite the GOP base as well as attract indepdendent support. Thats’ a separate issue and I have written about it separately here: http://www.therightsphere.com/2011/06/the-right-way-to-apply-the-buckley-rule-in-2012/
Conservative_76, here is what I do know: Obama is the worst possible President on all of the issues that you list. No matter who the GOP nominates, that person will be far better than Obama. As for 2014 and 2016, we should cross those bridges when we get there, but I know this much now: the future looks a heck of a lot bleaker if Obama wins re-election.
“ The Democrats are a left wing party, while the Republicans are a center-right to right party.”
Yowzaa! Goebbel’s is surely burning in hellfire right now, with an ear to ear smile.
Obama is such a Lefty that he’s getting sued by his “comrade” in Communist world domination, Denis Kucinich, for violating the Constitution in order to give the M.I.C another playground to kill and maim foreigners in. He’s such a pinky that he dropped the public option almost as quick as Lindsey Lohan drop’s her panties..The African American unemployment rate is almost double the national average, and he’s playing golf with the House Boner, who btw, is willing to threaten the world economy so as to “compel” “leftwing” democrats into capitulating to the “center-right” Republican plan to eviscerate the social safety net, emasculate labor, accelerate the destruction of the environment in favor of short term profit and material gain, and essentially give corporations and the plutoclass an remarkably well lubricated backside called Government to screw plebeian Americans as often and as ruthlessly as they fell like…
Shaa!!
Keep smoking that good, good!!
The only wasted vote is a vote for a Republican or a Democrat. The dictatorship of the Republican-Democrat two-party state is a grave threat to the people of the United States. Freedom and independence today begins with political freedom and independence from BOTH ruling parties.
Sorry, that old dog don’t hunt. But I’ll bet this is exactly the same song and dance that Democrats were getting hammered with about Obama in ’08. Well, yeah he’s an extreme leftist voted in on the New Party ticket for senator and you know he’s lying about some stuff, like being a real Democrat, because he knew he couldn’t get elected unless he convinced people he’s a moderate Democrat. But that’s ok, cause we sure can’t risk having another dangerous Republican like Bush in there. Obama couldn’t possibly do more damage than Bush, right? And I’ve heard from many Democrats that voting for Obama was the biggest mistake they have ever made. No sir, if we keep buying this from the power parties (both waltzing us left at the speed of sound) then what was the point of waking up and getting involved? Here’s what we’ve learned. If it implemented statewide mandated healthcare without apology and if it’s endorsed by Al Gore and would have to split hairs in a debate with Obama…..then we don’t care what party it runs under….it’s not a Republican.
I’m not a Romney supporter. But he has promised that if he is the nominee, he will repeal Obamacare and not replace it with something similar. Given how big an issue this will be in 2012, he will have to do it, and probably will be more than willing to do it. Has Obama made a similar promise? No. If anything, getting re-elected will only embolden him to try to push the country even harder to the left.
Romney, for all his faults, would be a far better President than Obama. And the same holds true for all the other GOP candidates.
Romney may even have to promise he would veto any cap and trade environmental bills that come to his desk in order to get elected, just like Obama promised transparency and no lobbyist appointments and all kinds of other stuff he never intended to do. Likely the states and the Supreme court are going to repeal Obamacare no matter who gets elected. The EPA has now been given the power to regulate what Congress was unable to legislate with cap and trade already. So, a candidate who is endorsed by Al Gore is not going to be a leader who reigns in that power so that it is representative of the peoples will and controlled by laws made by their representatives. This isn’t just a “get Obama out”
election. There is much damage which will need to righted by the next president. It will take a strong leader, solidly grounded in conservative principles to get that done and light a fire under Congress to do their jobs instead of relinquishing their responsibilities to other departments. I’m an old school Republican and if the Republican party puts up a popular RINO as our only choice against Obama, I would not vote for them. It’s like hanging a deodorizer on a big pile of dog crap. Making it more acceptable to the voters will not make it acceptable to the future of this country. It’s exactly how we got to this awful place on the edge of a cliff. I trusted Bush too. But many of his policies are the same wrong ones now used by Obama to usurp more power into the executive branch, end-running our checks and balances branches and representative government. We don’t have the luxury in 2012 of making this a party race. It must be an issues race and we are running out of precious time.
Regarding Romney and his promises, I don’t want promises. I want a candidate I can trust to do the right thing based on a history of taking and holding certain positions and articulating their understanding of those issues. A promise made during campaign time (and for Romney it’s been campaign time since 2006) means nothing and means less than nothing if at odds with the candidate’s history. Beyond all that, if Obama-care is going to be a campaign issue (and it will) then Romney is worst possible opponent.
Again, I do NOT support Mitt Romney. I DO think that Romney, for all his many faults, would be a far better President than Obama. Which isn’t saying much.
Ken, great insight and great points. Seriously, to be worse than Obama would be a tall order for anyone, even Jimmy Carter.
Having said that, the time for us to squabble amongst ourselves over the GOP pre-candidates’ faults and failures is NOW. Once a candidate has been nominated by the 2012 Convention, we MUST back him or her at no-less than 100% effort.
It’s THAT important.
Good article Ken. We are not at a point where we can risk a third party candidate. As bad as Romney may be, I don’t see him purposely destroying the country. For all GW Bush’s faults, I would still much rather have him back than Obama. We cannot afford another 4 years of these policies.
JR, I’m fine — even great — with working out our disagreements now rather than later. The problem I see — which prompted this post in the first place — is too many people saying that if candidate X wins, they’ll stay home or vote for a third party candidate because of Candidate X’s stand on issue Y or Z. Never mind that Obama is as bad or worse on Y or Z, not to mention issues A-W as well. We all should air out our agreements, but recognize and accept that even our worst candidates are better than Obama. And be prepared to support even that candidate, if the choice is between him (or her) and Obama.
Dan, thanks. Even if the candidate is Romney, I think he would be a much better President than he was a Governor. The United States, as a whole, is much more conservative than Massachusetts. And Romney would have access to the best conservative minds in the country to help him.
if the GOP wants my vote, they better give me a candidate that i can believe in. i voted ron paul and ross perot. i will NOT be voting for romney, gingrich, pawlenty or anyone who does not represent MY values. what a stupid stupid thing for you to suggest! if the GOP doesnt like losing, then they had better step up to the plate (for once!).
Lauren, I respectfully disagree. I think ANY GOP candidate will be far superior to Obama. Right now defeating Obama, the Dems, and their left wing ideas has to be our top priority. And the fact of the matter is that of all the GOP candidates, Romney is the only one who is actually polling even or ahead with Obama.
That’s not to say that I support Mitt in the GOP primary; I don’t. I don’t intend to vote for Mitt in the primary. I believe that we can win with a more conservative candidate, and I intend to support the most conservative candidate who I believe can win in the general election. Winning is everything. But if the GOP does nominate Mitt, we must support him in the general election because otherwise it’s four more years of the epic trainwreck that we have already seen the last 31 months. I don’t want that.
If Obama would play the game the way the Blue Dog coalition plays, I would vote for him over Romney. What is not helpful to me, as one who has voted Republican in the past two elections is to see the republican or GOP position framed as anti Obama. It doesn’t help and has me googling Why should I vote Democrat in 2012.
many flaws in his argument. I don’t want to have to shop for medical insurance when I am old and have a pre-exist. condidtion. Can you imagaine the cost?????? I paid into my SS I want it,
If conservatives want to cancel medicare and social security then my husband & I want a check from the government for every penny we’ve paid into it for the past 45 years. Money we were PROMISED would be there – but the greedy government couldn’t leave it alone and let it gain interest could they? They had to spend it down. I have voted Republican for 35 years, but this time I probably won’t. You don’t cut people off in the 11th hour. Ponzi scheme my eye. Do any of you have any idea what things were like in this country before these programs existed? Do a check of your history of breadlines, etc.
Neither party will fix this country! They’ve had more than enough chances to prove where they’re headed. We need to return to the Constitution and limited government. Most of our Federal programs are not even the responsibility of the Feds, and should either cease to exist, or be run by the States. There is no real difference between Democrats and Republicans in regard to size of government, scope of power, deficit spending, etc. Obamacare would just give way to Romneycare…but neither party is talking about how the whole idea of federal health care is unconstitutional and none of the Federal Govt’s business! I will NOT vote for a person who will depart from the Constitution. I will not choose the lessor of two evils, but will vote according to my principles. If all Conservatives did that, we would squish the Republican Party with 1 or 2 election cycles, just as they did to the Whigs, and replace them with a Constitution-oriented, responsible limited-governement party. A new party is the only hope for this country. I’m voting the Constitution Party and hope that my vote will allow them to begin to grow into a viable choice for the nation by 2020. Republicans have failed.