Need For Fresh Blood Doesn’t Mean That Everyone Else Sucks
By swamp_yankee Posted in Archived — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Personally, I’m tired of all the dumping on Republicans in office. They’re politicians. They work with lobbyists, they raise money from interest groups, they serve those that got them elected and they engage in compromise. That’s what politicians do.
Do they get stale? Of, course. That’s why the real challenge for the GOP is about branding and marketing. We do need new leadership because we need to reformulate the brand. On a base level, campaigns are not about grandiose principles or ideological battles. They are as primitive and superficial as the cola wars. During elections, Democrats versus Republicans is not that much more complicated than Pepsi versus Coke or McDonalds versus Burger King.
We must move from Bush and established Republicans because they are stale and we new a new brand and a new image. The answer certainly is not to look back at Goldwater, Reagan or whoever. That stuff is fodder for fellow conservatives and think tanks. It’s not going to intrigue or excite the family at Costco, who know and care more about last night’s episode of Lost than they do about the Supreme Court or Federalism. Washington and Lincoln were great too. Do we need to invoke them as well? Must we get back to Washington? At least the Democrats are smart enough to look ahead and not base their campaign on FDR and JFK.
The answer isn’t to move Left either. The principles may remain the same, but so do the fickleness and aspirations of the American people. They always resent and grow tired of established power regardless of party or ideology. They often succumb to the easy but empty promises of a candidate who has not been in office as opposed to a poltician who has been tarnished and hardened by years of political grind as an elected official.
There is no conservative utopia. Conservatives who look to Republican politicians to solve all their problems might as well be liberals. Conservatives are not idealists. They do not believe the absence of government is some sort of panacea anymore than they believe government can solve all our problems.
It’s too bad that Republican rule did not result in all our politicians acting like saints. It’s too bad that Republican rule did not vanquish all our enemies and make everyone rich. But do we need to bash establishment Republicans like we are Democrats. We do need new leadership, not because the old ones suck, are corrupt or failed, but because they have outgrown their usefulness and they are stale.
People grow tired and get bored with politics and politicians. They want to believe in something greater than the status quo, which leads to the dangerous seduction of nefarious elements in our political process. We can’t compromise our core principles, but we can change the messenger. Fresh faces, bold communicators, and charismatic candidates. Fresh untainted blood full of hope and optimism to challenge the threats to our Republic. But that does not mean eating our own, tarnishing good men and punishing anyone who ever engaged in compromise or delivered on a promise to their constituents regarding a local issue.
The scene showed young fighters with the 'eye of a tiger'. This is true in politics as well.
The purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better.
Dr. Theodore Dalrymple
I like your post you make good points. However, I have one quibble that I would like you to clear up for me in the context of your post.
You are saying that we should not "eat our own" in these trying days. I read your post that we need better marketing. That is fair enough. I do not agree with you though.
In the context of WHY the American electorate is incredibly turned off by the Republican brand right now, we have a number of Republicans who have turned Congress into their own personal fiefdoms. They use earmarks as their own personal legalized cash cows to enrich themselves and their friends. They have no personal convictions beyond the audacity to believe that no one has any right to criticize them. The Republican members of Appropriations comes to mind for me.
Is it your position that even though the public sees what they are doing and are really turned off because of their actions, we should pat those Republicans on the head and tell them how much we love them and want them in our party?
Warning: Snark on:
I know during the immigration debate everyone just sat on our hands and kept silent knowing that deep down inside that the members of Congress knew we would be unhappy about what they were doing. In the goodness of their hearts they changed their minds and shelved the whole idea of amnesty because they were able to read our minds and sense how it was unpopular. Isn't that your take on that affair?
Snark Off
Now I ask you Swamp Yankee, should we sit on our hands and not clean the garbage out of our own house in Congress? After all won't the American electorate sense telepathically how sorry our members of Congress are going into the election and vote for them.
Or should we demonstrate with actions to the American public we are sick of it too and start cleaning our own house. This I think is how you restore trust with the American electorate.
Making promises and asking them to trust us that we will take care of it "after" the election isn't credible anymore.
Now one final point of clarification. I am not advocating a whole sale slaughter in our ranks. I am advocating sending a message to our Congress Critters that the game is over and it has to be cleaned up. We are on to their stink and we don't like it either. Then they can repent and clean things up themselves, then we can actively campaign against those who don't think this applies to them, and want to go back to the old ways that got us here.
I intend to send the message that I don't like the stink anymore, then campaign against those who don't want to help fix it. If you feel this is a "eat your own" campaign, I'd love to know how you go about restoring order in your own home when things get out of hand, as it has here in Congress.
I am a strong advocate of simple ideas that work at home that should be applied to Congress, ya know, balanced check book, cutting off funding (allowance) to kids who use it for doing bad things (especially if they lift it out of my wallet when I wasn't watching), etc, etc.
I'd like to know why you advocate doing nothing when the kids behave badly? Or do you opt for ennablement in hopes that in the goodness of their hearts they will start to behave eventually?
I am curious.
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("My name is 'Wubbies' - it is not plural nor possessive. Welcome to my World.")
What I get from reading this blog is that the GOP should not keep living in the past and complaining about folks like Hastert, Delay, Frist, and Pres. Bush. We can go on offense attacking the Democratic-controlled Congress with today's GOP candidates instead of just dwelling on the issues of yesterday.
Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business … frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise.Ronald Reagan
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
... think it is okay to continue to act like they did in the past is a CURRENT problem. Should we turn a blind eye to it?
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("My name is 'Wubbies' - it is not plural nor possessive. Welcome to my World.")
Unfortunately I read a lot of posts with wailing and gnashing of teeth over Foley, Craig, Hastert, Frist, and Pres. Bush. I consider a lot of these trolls, and I do not consider you a troll. I just think that we need to be less geared toward arguing about yesterday's scandal headlines, and more geared about arguing about the failures of the Democratic-controlled Congress and what we offer to differently if we control Congress again.
Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business … frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise.Ronald Reagan
... you look at my blog you will see I am only posting on our current Congress Critters who are guilty of these sins and show no signs of changing.
I reference Jerry Lewis, and other members of Appropriations and Don Young from Alaska, etc, etc. I have no intention of living in the past either. Larry Craig is still fair game too since he is still there too. However, I am more concerned with the House members.
My question in respects to this post is should we continue to call out these guys? I have no intention of wasting time on things of the past, except for those who have not learned from it and are still there in Congress.
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("My name is 'Wubbies' - it is not plural nor possessive. Welcome to my World.")
My rant was partly based on the need to look forward and the need to recognize that elections are about marketing. We often hear lofty rhetoric about principles and ideology. Our problems are the result of a general malaise. We are suffering a general malaise because we are identified with the party that has been in good times and bad over the last couple years and right now headlines are real bad.
I started my post with the quote: "They’re politicians. They work with lobbyists, they raise money from interest groups, they serve those that got them elected and they engage in compromise." This is a reality is been happening since 1776 and will continue till we are no longer a democracy. Why are we shocked that Republican politicians act like politicians. They are still politicians.
Pegging everyone a RINO because they live in purple or blue districts and don’t vote like they live in Kansas or Georgia is absurd.
Not recognizing that Reps and Sens are elected to represent THEIR district is equally absurd. They don't go to Congress just to deal with national headline issues. The go to make sure the interests of THEIR constituents are represented. If they represent farmers, it is their elected duty to represent farmers. There are nuts and bolt issues like building bridges, cleaning parks and keeping local jobs that they all must address. They are not all pork barrel pigs. They are not all earmarxists. If we want to sustain a majority we must recognize this need.
It is also absurd to denigrate leaders who have done no wrong other than preside over a period when the Republican brand has grown stale for reasons outside their control. Its time for them to move on, but they are not villains. Tom Cole or whoever else is not a villain. We just need fresh marketing.
We had an old theme that worked for a while. We had a team that worked for a while. Our opponents created a new theme and a new team as a direct result of our success. It is designed to trump our old theme and team. Now we need to devise a new theme and bring a new team. A theme and a team that addresses the weaknesses of the ascendant Democratic majority and addresses the issues of today with fresh fire, perspective and blood, while grounded in traditional conservatives principles, isn’t’ rehashed rhetoric from the Cold War era or the Bush years.
Go beat you brains in because some Republican somewhere voted to bring home money for bridges in his dilapidated city. Go ahead and beat your brains in because some Republican in Connecticut has an ACU rating lower than Republican from Oklahoma. Whatever.
All this stuff is natural and sometimes it is needed. There are no saints in politics. No one wins100% of the time. Everyone is hated by someone. Stop worrying about things you can’t change and focus the re-imaging, re-branding, and re-deliverance of our conservative message tailored to address a new age and a new electorate that is delivered by new leaders.
"First you win the argument, then you win the vote." - MARGARET THATCHER.
So let's start winning the argument.
There are some who aren't very helpful - like Don Young. We should not allow the follies of some to harm the good ones. "Throw 'em out & start over again" makes for a good soundbite; however, it is like the old cliche about throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
One of the good ones is Marsha Blackburn, from TN-7. She's been a staunch conservative & is a keeper. Yet, she has a challenger running on an "anti-incumbent" platform. There is no reason for her to have a primary challenger based on her performance. (yes, I think he may be somewhat of a "plant," though people who know him have told me he's not)
We need to separate the wheat from the chaff, to use another cliche - while understading that there is not a one size fits all situation with congressional districts. It's not easy to do, but well worth the time & effort.
better marketers - new blood marketers - Highlight Pence, DeMint, Jindal, Palin, Sanford, Myrick, et al and Steele and more black repubs for God's sakes.
more later
Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson