A Political Party in Name Only

Written by John Biver

If you’re to the right politically, aghast at what the Obama Administration is doing, and frustrated with the gross ineffectiveness of elected and non-elected Republicans who haven’t been using the power at their disposal, you’re a member of a growing club.

Like a lot of clubs, though, this one is, as of yet, still mostly consisting of complainers and protesters instead of people involved in constructive political action. Sure, there are many conservatives volunteering time and donating money to elect better people. The problem is, they constitute only a fraction of what will be required if we’re to save the country.

A friend of mine says that boiled down to its essence, a political party consists of a message and messengers. Too often the Grand Old Party has had neither.

And that wouldn’t be a problem except for this: The road to the triumph of conservative principles will eventually have to go through the Republican Party. Why? It has a ballot line. The other smaller parties, such as the Libertarian Party and Constitution Party, show no signs of being able to grow beyond a single digit protest movement.

We can’t fix the nation — or our state — or even our local governments — without first cleaning up our own political back yard. There is no need to whine about the liberal media in the age of the Internet and talk radio. And no one is stopping groups of concerned citizens coast to coast from carrying their message door to door.

If you think it’s an accident that the country is speeding down this wrong road of excessive government and debt, you are mistaken. The political left has been serious about disseminating their information, electing their candidates, financing their interest groups, and making things “politically possible” for their own purposes.

It’s time for the political right to rise to the challenge.

In his Inaugural Address President John F. Kennedy reminded us that we are heirs of that first Revolution in the 1770s. Now we have to act like it.

As Thomas Paine wrote in 1776:

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must,
like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

In simple terms — we’ve got too many ineffectual, uninspired, and poorly motivated elected Republicans in office. We won’t get better people without an effective political force capable of threatening them and their political careers.

There’s plenty to complain about — but just complaining won’t get us anywhere. Action is needed. In a series of articles beginning today we will look at what the Republican Party at all levels can and should be doing, and what conservatives can do outside of the party if, for the short term, that’s the more useful path for their energies.