PrintJune 17, 2008
Conservatives must act
"These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine on December 23, 1776. It was a deeply demoralizing time for American independence fighters, with Gen. George Washington in constant retreat, always just managing to dodge defeat by the British. Keeping American morale strong was the crucial ingredient for victory then, just as it is today.
By comparison, we are living in a time of domestic peace and prosperity --- but we are under constant, minute-by-minute propaganda assault by the Left-wing media. That is demoralizing. It has the worst effects on our politics and culture. By stacking the US media and our schools, the Left keeps traditional American values and customs under constant assault. That is why you feel the way you do when you listen to the big media. It is enormously damaging.
Today, as in 1776, the biggest battle is once again about our courage and optimism. Conservatism is embedded deep within the American spirit. But it requires constant loving care and outright cheerleading to feel free to express ourselves. You are not alone: Sixty million conservatives can't be wrong. (And that's a lowball estimate.)
Six months before November 2008, many conservatives are down in the dumps. John McCain is behind in the money race. George Will thinks we are doomed --- an amazing thing to say, half a year before a toss-up election. Even Rush is in a sulk about John McCain.
But the stakes are higher than they have been in the last fifty years. No major US political party has ever nominated a radical Leftist before --- and Obama can't hide his real loyalties. Even Bill Clinton was more of a 'moderate' Democrat. Obama is a True Believer in the Left, like a younger Hillary Clinton after a sex change and a major sun tan.
The last attempt by the radical Left to conquer the US presidency was defeated by Harry Truman in 1948. Well, the Dems have now allowed a true radical to win their nomination, and they seem to be thrilled by their new messiah.
Will the American people be taken in by the Left? That's the crucial question that will decide the historic election of '08.
Well, get off your duffs, friends. Conservatives must be activists. The big media will cover for Obama --- and all we have on our side are about 60 million intelligent voters who still think for themselves. That's a good starting point, but it has to be turned into an electoral majority in the next six months. We must puncture the rock-star balloon of the most dangerous presidential candidate in fifty years. It can be done. It has been done with Dukakis, Mondale and Kerry. All we need to do is tell the truth.
If you like John McCain, help him win just as hard as you can. If you don't like him, don't jump off a cliff. What about all the others true conservatives who are running? They need money, volunteers, and constant pressure on the media to give them a fair shake.
Since the media are in a financial crisis, they have to listen better than before, or go bankrupt. It might be useful to remind them, politely, of that basic fact of life.
Candidates and Resources.
Remember, the US Senate is our last line of defense against a tyrannical Left in America. If by November we have fewer than 35 sane and sensible US Senators, the Left can override any veto by a potential President McCain. Or if Obama becomes the first hard-core Leftist US President, he can only be stopped by a solid one-third of the Senate. So we must win enough Senate races. That is as important as electing a president we can believe in.
For the crucial US Senate races, check out RealClearPolitics: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/senate.html
Here are some important races. Notice that five GOP Senators are retiring. That means a loss of incumbent advantages in five states. The GOP challengers in thos states will need your help to keep those seats. For more details, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_2008
All the GOP incumbents need your help.
Conservatives include Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. They are excellent. Pick any of the ones you like --- and remember that even the wobblies need support, because they will add to overall the GOP strength. Give 'em whatever you can: Your work, your money, and your enthusiasm.
Senator Norm Coleman is running in Minnesota against Al Franken, the so-called "comedian." Franken is a particularly obnoxious fellow, a real conservative hater. Hugh Hewitt just called him a "tax-cheating pornographer." Well, that could be the good part. Franken would be an instant star on the Left if he won. Don't let it happen.
Elizabeth Dole (R) is in a very close race with the Democrat, Kay R. Hagan (D). Remember, just a single Senate race means national repercussions, and perhaps irreversible victories for the Left. We need every single vote we can get. This is a matter of survival for American conservatism.
I have mixed feelings about Gordon Smith of Oregon, Susan Collins of Maine, and some others. But this time it's sink or swim. If we lose the wobbly Republicans, we lose the last Constitutional defense to the assault of the Left. Think about it. And help.
Vulnerable Democrats:
Mary Landrieu is a lifetime member of the notoriously corrupt and incompetent Democrat establishment in Louisiana, the local politicians who were so disastrously "stuck on stupid" during the Katrina fiasco. She is opposed by conservative John N. Kennedy, who was recruited by Karl Rove. Landrieu is only 3% ahead at this point, and Republicans in Louisiana are on a roll with Bobby Jindall showing the way. Louisiana badly needs a two-party system. Go, Kennedy.
Frank Lautenberg is running neck-and-neck with Dick Zimmer (R) in New Jersey. If you remember how Lautenberg was slipped in after Bob (The Torch) Toricelli was forced to resign for corruption, you'll have a good idea of who deserves to win in New Jersey. Don't let Lautenberg get another six years.
The House.
Use Wikipedia and RealClearPolitics to research your own House members. I have a great love and admiration for Colonel Alan West, a man of immense integrity and moral courage. He is running in the Florida 22nd Congressional District. One man with courage can stand against dozens of spineless ones, and this man has it. http://www.allenwestforcongress.com/
Organizations.
The American Conservative Union has a list of office holders who need help. The Club for Growth has been doing an outstanding job electing fiscal conservatives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_for_growth Pick one with a chance to win, and pitch in to help. http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2008/04/club_pac_endorses_mcclintock_i_1.php
GOPUSA has a good state-by-state list of candidates and election news. http://www.capwiz.com/gopusa/e4/
The GOP is still the major vehicle for conservative politics, and they are a lot better than the alternative. For fact-based talking points, see the GOP opposition research site Meetbarackobama.com. http://www.meetbarackobama.com/
Senator Jim DeMint is starting a conservative PAC. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002894056 Check it out. If you like it, suppport it. Otherwise, consider the National Senatorial Republican Committee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Senatorial_Committee
Remember, we need as many GOP Senators as possible, with the strongest possible conservative core. This is a test of political will and political strength among the American people.
There are many good conservatives running. Use your own best judgment. See who they are, who their opponents are. See what you can afford in time, energy, making phone calls, money. We can save the US Senate. We can save our growing farm team in the House. We can win local elections. And we can win the presidency --- not for perfection, but to stave off the worst assault on American values since 1948.
If Barack Obama wins in 2008, by 2010 or 2012 the voters might realize what a dismal mistake they've made. But that might be too late. It gives the radical Left between two and eight years of unrestrained power, plus two or three Supreme Court Justices. Look at what socialists have done with their untrammeled power in Great Britain, which is now dying as a country. You can see where we could end up. Do you want Eurosuicide for America? That would be bad news for the whole civilized world, not just America.
Bottom line: Electing conservatives is vitally important for the country. Ronald Reagan endorsed Jerry Ford, a liberal Republican, in 1976. You can't doubt who Reagan would endorse in this campaign. Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good.
True conservatives must be activists. (Yes, this means you!). If you're not helping, you're just dead weight on the dog sled. Mobilize your conservative friends. Set up a blog. Give money. Walk precincts. Make phone calls. If you have a favorite candidate, ask them what they need.
Senator Barack Obama is obsessed with race, class and gender. Deep down, he is not a healer, but a divider. Obama will make permanent the racial spoils system using "affirmative action," by appointing three Supreme Court justices. The pro-abortion crowd will then be in the saddle for decades. Obama will spread his 2,700 radical appointees throughout the Federal goverment, to entrench political correctness in our military, our foreign policy, our tax structure, our daily lives.
Like Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama will try his best to dismantle our defenses; he will cut our nuclear deterrent, according to his advisor Joseph Cirincioni, leaving us at the mercy of a militant China, Russia, and rising rogue states. Saudi money will reign supreme in Washington --- even more than it does today. With a Democrat Congress, Obama will put his pro-Islamist advisors in positions of power --- for one little indication, David Bonior just joined his campaign. People are policy, and Obama's people are radical Leftist, pro-Islamist, race-and-gender spoils hacks.
Obama wants to retreat from Iraq just as that country is beginning to stabilize, giving Iran's terror master free sway in the Middle East. He will have the US economy bow down to the global warming fraud and its eager little host of bureaucrats. He will drive jobs abroad. He has already promised to tax and tax in order to spend and spend --- on the racial spoils system, on nationalizing one-seventh of the economy for healthcare, on a thousand little things we don't need. Obama intends to install HillaryCare without Hillary; call it MichelleCare. But Michelle is a racial Commissar, an enforcer for the racial spoils system. All that vast power will be used to promote their private political ambitions. That's why all the Leftie and Islamist organizations are going wild for Obama. http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30284_9-11_Truth_Blogs_Marxists_and_Terrorist_Sympathizers_Allowed_to_Remain_at_Official_Obama_Site
It's high time for the conservative American giant to understand that it is a giant and act like it.
The Left will try to demoralize us through the media, day after day. Don't let them. Do something active every single day for the next six months --- that's 180 days. This may be the most important thing you do this year - or any year.
If you feel down in the dumps about our chances, just keep in mind Thomas Paine in 1776:
These are times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. http://www.ushistory.org/PAINE/crisis/c-01.htm
This is not the first big challenge in American history. But it's ours, and we owe it to the past and the future of this country to win this one.
Now go and do something constructive.
James Lewis blogs at http://http://www.dangeroustimes.wordpress.com/
