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Despite serious problems with the position, there remain people for whom it is true Evangelicals and other “Christians” cost the GOP the election in 2008. The question must be asked why, when no data supports such an opinion, do people continue to hold it? To be sure, some dislike that Christians believe in Creation and not Evolution and that homosexuality should be sinful and not celebrated. But where is the political damage in such views? If Christians hurt the GOP this cycle, then in prior elections: A) the GOP was primarily a haven for FisCons who are now being driven out by SoCons and their issues; B) key issues were more secular than religious or values based, and ; C) revulsion for Christians arose, basically overnight and with no warning, driving FisCon swing voters out of the GOP. Let’s consider these points.
A - Fiscal Conservatism is, indeed, a draw to the GOP due to fiscally conservative planks in its platform. Some FisCons are socially Moderate or Liberal and, thus, disagree with Socially Conservative FisCons. This duality has existed for years. If Fiscally Conservative yet Socially Moderate or Liberal voters abandoned the GOP in 2008, they did so because the GOP abandoned Conservative fiscal ideology as evidenced by budget items like Medicare and Bailout spending, not because a longstanding “live and let live” agreement with SoCons suddenly flared into a civil war.
B - Consider the terms “Values Voters”, “Moral Majority” and “Religious Right”. They support the view of a strong contribution from Christians to the political process, past and present. One can still debate the matter, of course, but however the question of SoCon political significance is answered, it refutes the premise Christians harmed the GOP in 2008. If they were not influential from 1980 through 2004, where did they gain the power to derail the GOP in just 4 years? If momentum is now in their direction, why alienate them? Wouldn’t prudence dictate courting them? If they were influential in 2004 and before, then “A” above applies and the origin of any rift is elsewhere. Either way SoCons didn’t drive FisCons out of the party in contempt for ignorant, religious cousins.
C - Is there then a Republican rift so serious it may have cost the GOP the election? There is, but not in the way it is being spun. It does not exist between Conservative Republicans and Christians. For the most part they share fiscal and social positions. The rift is between Liberal Republicans and Conservative Republicans, including Christians. It is Liberal GOPers proclaiming Christians as the culprit. The strategy is to use religion within the GOP to divide secular Conservatives and religious Conservatives leaving secular Liberals to divide and conquer all Conservatives.
Secular Liberals hope to change the basis for coalition from fiscal issues to social issues. They prefer the cornerstone be Social Liberalism with a welcome to Fiscal Conservatives than Fiscal Conservatism and a welcome to Social Moderates and Liberals. That they do so using religion as the wedge is a classic implementation of the pragmatic philosophy emodied in the adage, “My brother and I against my cousin. My cousin and I against my enemy!” Secular Conservatives should be wary of this olive branch and wonder when Secular Liberals will come for them with no one left to object.
The question I’ve pondered is, “Why this wedge and why now?” I found my answer in the biblical description of God as “the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come.” Those pushing Christians out of the Party are comfortable with the God Who “was”. That God is a fairy tale good for morality plays but with no claim on current morality. Likewise, the God Who “is to come” is a fairy tale valuable as a threat. Gone for years and not expected back today, He can be used to club the faithful and to strip their allies from them.
What is problematic, however, is the God “Who is”. If Christianity exists in a positive light, people will ask about the God “Who is”. They’ll find the backstory of the God “Who was”. They’ll find the happy ending of the God “Who is to come!” The authority of the God “Who is” threatens Liberals, GOP Liberals included. Rejecting God’s authority, the only remaining authority to acknowledge is their own. This must be protected from all usurpers, real and perceived. If that means religious people get thrown under a political bus, it’s a small price to pay.
This Christmas season, we’ve heard talk about Christ - His birth, life and death. Most of it has been positive. But never forget Caiphas said, of this same Christ, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Pharaoh and Herod also believed destroying God’s Deliverer was the path to political power, security and longevity. History records the legacies of these men and their schemes. Secular Liberals, injecting that same ant-Christian vein into today’s “politics that is”, won’t fare any better. In fact, biblical accounts of this behavior in the “politics that was” should serve as a warning for modern practitioners. The “politics which is to come” don’t always turn out as you expect if you remove the God Who is.
Without doubt, there are other factors at work, as well. But to those ridiculing Christians for believing God speaks to them in their hearts; to those who can’t understand how that could happen - try reading the headlines with what the Book calls “an ear to hear”. You never know what you might hear if you are listening for it.
Unchecked, the Right may succeed in disemboweling itself. Staunching the bleeding is hard as restricting faith to the heart prevents mental use of biblical warnings about divided houses. Worse, successful “kills” deplete the Right’s strength. We agree on more than we disagree. There are some very real differences and these will need to be worked out. But using exclusion as a tool in this working out is precisely the wrong approach.
Coexisting is not the same as embracing. Social Conservatives can work with Libertarians without embracing the legalization of all drugs and eradication of all borders. Libertarians can reciprocate without “walking an aisle” or surrendering any presumed intellectual superiority. This strengthens us all at little cost. Intentionally devouring one another, on the other hand, not only thins the ranks physically, it depletes stores of philosophical and principle based strength as well.
Consider the Christians. What is to be gained and what lost if we politically excommunicate them?
No more sheep bleating about abortion and the sanctity of marriage. No more accusations of ignorance over Creationism or Intelligent Design. If that is all that’s lost, perhaps it’s a good thing to give believers the “Left Foot of Fellowship” as they exit the building. But what else do we lose?
We lose the foundation from which to fight the relativism of the Left. The culture we enjoy did not simply arise from nothing. Christianity provides instruction to those who value it. Imperfectly built structure? Absolutely. But a valuable structure, nonetheless. 16th Century Europe birthed two influences on developing Western Civilization. The Renaissance, steeped in “Man is the measure of all things”, gave us Humanism and the French Revolution with its horrors. The Reformation, steeped in “God is the measure of all things”, gave us the means to judge the behavior of all men, even Kings, and the American Revolution with its Freedoms and Rights.
Evangelicals who would force Libertarians from the ranks produce a similar drain. The works of Hayek, Rand and von Mises may not be theological masterpieces in the Christian sense. But their impact on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness cannot be overestimated. We need people who champion their beliefs as we need those who champion Christian faith.
Those with their minds made up will accept no argument to the contrary. To them I offer a hearty Godspeed and Fair Winds. You are going where I cannot and dare not follow. But for those who agree, and more importantly to those who are unsure, I offer a welcome to the Don’t Go Movement. Based on the premise that which unites us is more important than that which divides us, DGM is a community dedicated to working together despite differences. The New Testament word for “unity” is “symphonia”. The unity of the disparate instruments in a modern symphony is not all sounding the same. Rather it is all sounding together, at the proper time and with their individual contributions.
At DGM you’ll find a broad range of philosophies and principles. While all are Right of Center, not all who are Right of Center hold them. It makes for spirited debate. It makes for a learning experience. And serving in unity makes us a near unstoppable force when we turn, as one, to focus on that which we both hold dear.
Join us won’t you? Woodwind or brass, percussion or string, we’ve got a chair with your name on it. Come lend your passion to the pieces we play. You won’t be sorry!
What should the President do if he finds himself in the midst of wrapping up a war that has claimed the lives of many and divided a country; presiding over an Economy that has generally prospered despite the war and finds himself at odds with international partners because of the war?
If you are Abraham Lincoln you issue a proclamation of Thanksgiving. Let me be clear. You issue a proclamation of Thanksgiving not merely for the blessings you enjoy, but you pointedly name and offer homage to the Source of that blessing, “… The Most High God … our beneficent Father …” Whose ” … Almighty hand … works in human history to accomplish … the Divine purposes ….” If you are Abraham Lincoln you gratefully acknowledge God’s gifts while beseeching Him for His mercy for “… our sins … [and] … for our national perversenenss and disobedience ….”
But of course, as is widely recognized by many of today’s Republican intelligentsia, such public displays of religion and Christianity should be returned to the privacy of one’s heart where they speak to no one; they should be avoided because of the damage such expressions of faith do to the Party’s efforts to be about The People’s business; they cannot help but push thinking and rational people away from the Party and towards the other side which has sensibly removed God from every last public place. A Party and a President who does such a thing deserves to be in the minority and will be seen by history as presiding over the destruction of the Party and its principles.
For the rest of Lincoln’s proclamation which, as some historians have discovered, contributed to the healing of a nation; the unifying of a nation and the ascending of a Party to power and prominence, read on. Or you can just go back to your Turkey and dressing and shake your head at those Right Wing Religious nuts and their silly ideas about human dignity and worth, the nature of man, the struggle between Good and Evil and other interesting but irrelevant things …
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the field of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than theretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
In testimony wherof I have herunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
For millions of Americans, the results on November 4th were sad but not surprising. They signaled the failure of an ideology which held power for years, promised much and delivered little.
To some, the failure was due to problems inherent in Free Markets, Capitalism, Limited Government, Social Conservatism and the rest of the foundations of Conservative thought. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Barack Obama’s message was electing John McCain meant “4 more years” of George Bush. He was right. Unsaid was that electing him would be worse! Apart from the War on Terror and SCOTUS picks, what Bush accomplishments would Obama have problems with?
Bush has grown Government with a GOP controlled Congress for 6 of his 8 years. Obama is unhappy about that? Congress passed the Medicaid spending increase. Obama is unhappy about that? Congress passed Kennedy’s Education Bill. Obama is unhappy about that? Social Security Privatization failed. Obama is unhappy about that? Immigration? The Bailout? Obama is even talking about Welfare disguised as Tax Cuts for heaven’s sake! One could go on and on.
On too many issues and at too many levels, Conservative principles did not fail, Conservative principles failed to be upheld!
There were bright spots. The defeats of Harriet Meiers’ nomination, the Immigration Reform bill and the Dubai Port Deal come to mind. Common to these successes was the grassroots involvement of everyday Americans refusing to allow Government to take the nation in the wrong direction. We did it then, we can do it again.
This morning, the #dontgo Movement gives us that opportunity! #dontgo was founded by Eric Odom and Allen Fuller on a Friday in August when Nancy Pelosi and Democrats turned off the lights in the People’s House and went home. Big Government and Democrats didn’t have time for you. But many GOP House members believed different! They stayed and told Democrats, “Don’t Go! Come back and finish the People’s business!” With no cameras or microphones, those voices went basically unheard.
Until Odom and Fuller put up a Twitter hashtag - #dontgo. The word started trickling out. Until Odom and Fuller put up a website #dontgomovement.com so cellphone video, pictures and blog posts could get out. Until the MSM picked up what grassroots, New Media activists were doing and for the next month, the message “Don’t Go!” followed Nancy Pelosi from book signing to book signing! Better, tens of thousands of people rallied to one of the most successful grassroots efforts on the Right in years.
That was 2 months ago. While the issue birthing #dontgo is no longer a rally point, people are still looking for a voice to speak to Big Government to foster change! Good news. Odom and #dontgo didn’t stop working and growing when the microphones moved on to the next issue. This morning brings us this:
“Center Right Movement Heats up the Internet”
Conservative Bloggers See Netroots As Key To Advancing Policy
On Monday, November 10th www.dontgomovement.com will host an e-launch party to celebrate its fully-functional website and new online radio show devoted to advancing conservative netroots activism.
#dontgo originally began as a simple internet tag that the founders would put on their blog posts while tracking the energy debate by the US Congress on August 1st, quickly it became used by hundreds of activists including members of Congress not just to track the energy bill, but to energize and push conservative values. Soon thereafter the site was created and to date has 30,000 opt-in email subscribers.
The #dontgo Revolution takes web-based strategies and tactics that Democrats used in the last election cycle to advance conservative views and values. The mission is to develop a fifty state strategy of blogs and internet social networks that would get more conservatives active in their communities leading into the 2010 elections.
Communications Director Juliana Johnson states, “As we witnessed in the 2008 elections web-based strategies are imperative. Conservatives have time and time again failed to use the internet to attract voters and get more people active. We hope that with the launch of this website we will be able to effectively wage the battle of ideas with the left in cyberspace.”
Monday’s radio show (online) will air at 5pm CST. In order to listen please go to www.dontgomovement.com and on the right there is a button “listen to #dontgo radio”.
CONTACT: Juliana Johnson, Director of Communications
(312) 575-9500 (office)
(847) 691-9278 (cell)
julianatjohnson@gmail.com
If you’re a an eActivist - a blogger, vlogger, podcaster, internet radio host or wiki editor - head to dontgomovement.com and sign up. If you’re a traditional activist - a door knocker, phone caller, envelope stuffer, poll watcher or election day driver - head to dontgomovement.com and get involved. You’ll be building the state-by-state, city-by-city, block-by-block structure needed to rein in Liberals regardless of Party. And you’ll enable the election of politicians who won’t just campaign to the Right, they’ll govern that way, too!
This is not just a hope! We’ve seen when people work together, they can bring real change. Your passion has moved you in the past. #dontgo gives that passion an effective outlet. Come join us!
I don’t agree with everything this young man says. But his passion and his general observations make some eloquent statements. Men and women such as this are the future of the Right. Why do I say so? Just one quote …
“It’s one thing to reach across the aisle to the other side. It’s quite another to have so much gravity that the other side of the aisle comes to us!”
UPDATE: Christian Grantham, WKRN blogger at Nashville is Talking, reported, via Twitter, that a TN GOP press release earlier today incorrectly charged Tennessee’s Election Board with changing Tennessee election law at the last minute in such a way that would make it easier to commit vote fraud. WKRN will run a story on their 5PM news broadcast wherein a state election board representative will deny any such change in election law ever took place. I emailed the state GOP regarding their take on the new information and was referred to a statement from Randy Stamps, State Director for the GOP. “We are happy to hear that Mr. Brook Thompson has stated clearly that only Tennessee driver’s licenses will be accepted as a form of identification at the polls. Democrat volunteers and operatives led our Republican volunteers to believe Mr. Thompson’s opinion was different than he has indicated today. It is important that everyone understands that Tennessee’s election laws will be enforced on Election Day and the standards will not be lessened for political expediency.”
Perhaps they long for the day when TN was a player in Presidential elections. Perhaps they’re trying to make up for failing to deliver Tennessee for Gore in 2000. Perhaps they’re jealous of all the attention going on in Ohio. Perhaps they want to take away Pennsylvania’s significance by making a grab for Tennessee’s electoral votes. Who knows why they’re doing it.
But there is no denying that Tennessee’s Democratic Party is pulling out all the stops leading up to the election tomorrow. The state Election Commission, literally hours before the election, has changed Tennessee’s election law making it easier for Democrats inclined to commit vote fraud to do so. It wouldn’t be much of an issue except the national trend among Democrats this election cycle is to embrace vote fraud as a legitimate tool for election day success.
From ACORN’s illegal activity across the country to Ohio’s Secretary of State’s refusal to enforce her own state’s election laws and now Tennessee changes its election laws at the last moment. Not to make the process more secure. Tennessee has made the process even more vulnerable to fraud. But perhaps there’s a silver lining in this dark cloud. We’re getting yet another object lesson telling us loud and clear what to expect from an Obama led Democratic Party. What am I ranting about? This presser from the Tennessee GOP tells the tale.
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Republican Party challenges the last minute changes authorized by the Tennessee Division of Elections. Three days before the election will take place State Election Coordinator Brook Thompson notified a Republican Election Commissioner of significant changes his office had made to voter identification (voter ID) standards that will now include out of state driver’s licenses.
Robin Smith, Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, stated, “In order to be registered to vote in Tennessee a voter is required to be a resident of Tennessee. But now the state election office is loosening standards and allowing people to use out of state driver’s licenses to vote in Tennessee.” Smith continued, “Something doesn’t add up. With numerous reports warning of fraudulent voter registrations taking place in other states we asked the Division of Elections maintain current voter integrity standards not loosen them. I call on Secretary of State Riley Darnell and Election Coordinator Brook Thompson to immediately end this practice. Loosening standards and undermining the law in Tennessee or its intent put the integrity of the elections in jeopardy by and will just encourage fraudulent voting here in Tennessean.”
Tennessee Code Annotated section 2-7-112 (03-C-ii-c) provides instruction for ‘evidence for identification’ to verify a voter’s identity and clearly states that “…a valid voter’s registration card, a Tennessee driver license, social security card, credit card bearing the applicant’s signature or other document bearing the applicant’s signature.”
Voters can provide additional documents to verify their Identity, but it is clear that the law was written to have only state residents participate in electing Tennessee officials.
Smith continued, saying, “Thanks in part to legislation blocked by Democrats in the past, there is very little that can be done to ensure that someone who has already voted in Alabama cannot then vote in Tennessee. The least we can do is to not allow an Alabama drivers license to be used as proof of Tennessee residency and identification.”
Other issues have also emerged during early voting, including recent voting machine irregularities that have occurred with no promise for immediate correction. In multiple counties, voters have attempted to vote for John McCain for president on the [ESS iVotronic] touch screen systems but instead, votes were displayed for Barack Obama. Despite the request for immediate intervention, information was provided by a technician acknowledging the issue with blame being cast to ballot layout, approved by the Secretary of State’s office, and the calibration of the machine to be for an individual 5 feet 2 inches in height.
In addition, the process for certifying poll watchers for county election sites was challenged by Brook Thompson despite previous approval; the questionable use of interpreters accompanying voters who could neither speak nor read English was permitted; and threats to halt poll watcher training were leveled against Republican Election Commissioners.
“Tennesseans deserve confidence in the voting process. Amid national stories of deliberate fraud, the Tennessee Republican Party stands prepared to file civil and criminal charges in any case proven to attempt to defraud the voting process,” continued Chairman Smith. “The disgust of the public toward politics is justified when incompetence and willful disregard for our laws is on full display. We urge Secretary of State Darnell to intervene immediately to make any corrective and necessary punitive action.”
I would close by saying “Shame on you Democrats” but it appears that along with all the other “change” Democrats are championing this year, the definition of “shame” is among the top contenders for redefinition. It used to be people were embarrassed by shameful behavior. Tennessee’s Democrats seem to be proud of it.
While I’m unwilling to concede just yet that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States, it would be foolish to deny that possibility. Even if John McCain wins, the status of Conservatism in the GOP and politics generally is troubling at best.
Politicians and The People, with few exceptions, seem determined to abandon sound, proven truths for the warm, fuzzy rhetoric of the Economic and Social policies of “Hope!” and “Change!” It’s difficult to blame The People. They gave the GOP a shot at letting Conservative ideology work it’s magic on the country for years. Turns out the Pols weren’t as Conservative as advertised.
The years after the Reagan era are defined by a GOP wanting more to breed and less to lead. GOP strategy was “What must we do to increase our power and get re-elected?” instead of “What must we do to serve the people and earn our re-election?”
The nominations of Bob Dole, W and now John McCain coupled with the strategy of many GOP House and Senate candidates has reinforced that approach. A notable exception, AZ Representative John Shadegg, says even at the height of 1994’s Republican Revolution the GOP’s advice was his most important job wasn’t to represent his district or promote his constituents’ values; it was to get re-elected.
This approach has tainted Conservatism in the minds of the people. It has become identical to, or at least wed to the GOP. Thus the sins of the Party become the sins of the Principled. Even if Conservatives object, pointing out they never countenanced bad behavior by the GOP (The Bailout, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Reform) The People still see them as part of the problem and not the solution. How else to understand what happened to Rick Santorum, George Allen and others?
Such losses make the Democrats’ job easier. Each defeated Conservative frees up time, energy and moneyto defeat those remaining. Squishy GOP members voted with Democrats enough to permit them to establish portions of their agenda and to regain solid Congressional majorities. Two things will follow: those who believe the Left can be reasoned with and appeased will be rudely awakened and the country will suffer. To date, only the second is happening.
GOP snubbing of Conservatives has produced much soul searching. The choices are stay in the GOP and work internally for change or leave to found or join a third party. I’m not advocating either choice. But enabling the status quo is not an option. We each must decide what the best use is of our time and talents. To decide, regardless of who wins the White House, a few things should be influential.
It is impossible to predict the consequences of next week’s election. It is, however, quite possible to predict what will happen if Conservatives do nothing. Surrender and chains being unacceptable options, regrouping and fighting on will have to do for now …
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