By Ghost of John Brown
I know - some of you may not want to hear me talk about third party candidates. I've already said plenty here, and here, and here. This article is not for those of you that are already considering or have supported third party candidates. This article is actually for the dyed in the wool Republicans and Party officials. The Hill recently reported that according to a Gallup poll 52% of Republicans would support a third party candidate. If that doesn't scare the Chardonnay and Brie out of Country Club Republicans, I don't know what will.
Many of us have pleaded and labored with establishment party officials for years to pay attention to the grass roots and conservative Republicans. There are MANY stories that will remain in the background. We've talked with candidates. We've talked with Party officials. We've written stories. We cajoled, and we've made some angry for our desire to keep voters from running to third party candidates. I know that I have certainly angered some. We can't tell the behind the scene stories, but we have been spurned and patted on the head by the Party. Having 52% of Republicans ready to support a third party candidate is what we have been trying to warn you about.
Take Mark Kirk for instance. He has certainly upset many of us in the conservative wing of the Party. Let's fast forward to 2016. Let's say that Senator Kirk will continue to poke Conservatives with a stick, like he has been. Here's what will happen. He'll have a primary challenger. The Party will feel the need to defend Senator Kirk because someone will say "he's the only one that can win in the general election". Kirk will waste millions and our challenger will waste millions too. In the end, we'll collectively be out millions and the Party will alienate Conservatives even more. Does that sound like a great scenario?
There are a couple of choices here: a) Ignore the conservatives and watch them stay at home like they did in 2008. You lose. b) keep poking conservatives with a stick and watch them not walk, not saunter, but RUN to third parties like they did in 1992 and 1996 with Ross Perot. Again - you lose. or c) In the immortal words of Austin Powers - "throw me a frickin bone". Give us something. Try just a little bit to pretend that you understand what we are after. Do this, and you might keep the party together.
I don't think that we are asking too much. Roughly, here is what we are asking for:
- Don't spend the government into bankruptcy
- Do at least a little bit to keep babies from getting killed
- Don't let Muslim extremists blow us up.
- Protect the borders
That's pretty much it. Sure, there are a couple of other things we can throw in there. But, by and large, if we saw Congress do those things, I think the majority of Conservatives would be pretty happy. It wouldn't take much. Pass a balanced budget, we are ecstatic. Eliminate partial birth abortions, wooo, we are getting all starry eyed. We just need a little bit. Just a teeny, weeny, little bit so we know you are concerned with how we feel about things.
How about another idea for the Party establishment. The next time you recruit for candidates, maybe, just maybe, you could select a conservative candidate with as much vigor that you recruited a candidate like Mark Kirk. Wow, that would be novel.
Let's be really frank about this. The ONLY reason that Joe Walsh was able to beat Melissa Bean by 300 votes was because the Green Party candidate took over 6,000 votes away from Bean. The ONLY reason that Bill Brady had a shot against Pat Quinn was because the Green Party candidate took 100,000 votes away from Quinn. The ONLY reason that Mark Kirk was able to beat Alexi was that the Green Party candidate took 117,000 votes away from Alexi. Seeing a pattern here?
At the Federal level, we have had the same thing happen. Ever hear of a guy named Ralph Nader? In 2000, Nader garnered 2.74% of the vote in a year that Al Gore actually got more of the popular vote, but Bush got more electoral votes. The pivotal state was the State of Florida, where Bush beat Al Gore by about 500 votes. Nader received over 97,000 votes. Had Nader not been on the ballot in Florida, we would be saying "President Gore".
The Green Party is the single greatest advantage that the GOP has. Why in the world would the GOP risk giving the Democrats a similar weapon?
If the Illinois GOP and the national GOP wants to avoid the rise of a third party, they need to start acting like they really care about what conservatives think.
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