The people have spoken and they decided that more of the same was needed. The same leadership team that lost the Republicans the House is once again at the helm. So, what's a conservative to do when their elected officials don't seem to be listening to the message the electorate and their pundits are sending them? When their base wants them to be more like Regan and less like Bush 41. Do they leave the Republican party and form their own party? Mark Tapscott thinks it might be time to leave and Captain Ed (via) sounded like it he thought it might be an option, as well as Steve at No Neutrality.
But let me remind those of you who are thinking this way, please remember the election of 1992. Remember when another Clinton was running and there was a third party candidate in that election. I would hate to see history repeat itself. So, let's not go there.
I'm happy to see that Captain Ed's readers have talked him into a more positive direction:
Given that our choices of leadership have become so constrained that Trent Lott represents the lesser of two evils to some, then it is incumbent on conservatives to start finding better choices for these offices. Over the next few weeks, I'll be dusting off my Not One Dime More domain and developing some initiatives designed to do just that. I'm tentatively calling this the First Principles Project, and I'll eventually need plenty of help from the CQ community. Right now, though, here's your task: find viable candidates for House and Senate seats. That process has to start now. We waited too long to develop and champion challengers in the midterm cycle; we need to start finding the men and women who will follow the First Principles and use them to build broad coalitions and charge into office in 2008. I'm hoping to set up a new clearinghouse for these potential candidates where CQ readers can get to know them and their positions and start supporting them early enough to make a significant difference. I'm hoping to partner with other bloggers on this project.(via)If you have suggestions or comments, for now just leave them in the comments section of this post. I'll be setting up a new e-mail and website for this project if it generates enough interest. If we can't create our own political party, then conservatives can remake the Republican Party, one candidate at a time.
I would also recommend not giving another dime to the RNC and directing all money to the Club for Growth. Why should the money of conservatives go to someone like Lincoln Chafee who's blocking Bolton's nomination out of spite against Republicans for not supporting his run?
So, no more talk of third parties, it would take too much time and effort to grow one to the point it would be workable for 2008, let's take back the party and force the issue. If the current batch doesn't get it, we should start replacing them in the primary with conservatives who do.
