Participatory Democracy
Super Tuesday II has come and gone and Sen. McCain has clinched the Republican Presidential nomination. Clinton and Obama continue their internecine warfare for the Democratic nod and, thankfully, Pastor Huckabee is finally out of the race.
As we look at the political landscape, what policies do the remaining candidates offer and are we satisfied that conservatives will be represented in the administration of whoever the winner of the general election is? I think the obvious answer is no.
I will be the first to acknowledge that Sen. McCain is the most conservative of the three remaining candidates. He will prosecute the Iraq war successfully and for that I am grateful. I think he will remain a budget hawk as well. I remain skeptical about his commitment to immigration law enforcement and I am not convinced he will nominate another Roberts or Alito to the SCOTUS.
Both Senators Clinton and Obama are so far left that I honestly worry about the future of the country if either of them win. Clinton’s husband decimated the military during his tenure in office and Hillary will do the same in order to fund the “million ideas” she has for the country, all of them involving federal spending. Obama has already promised to cut “tens of billions of wasteful spending” from the armed forces’ budget. This is also the man who voted “present” 130 times while in the Illinois legislature, but did manage to vote “No” on a bill designed to require medical care be given to a baby born live after a botched abortion.
Those of us on this site remain Mitt Romney partisans, but MR isn’t in the race to represent our interests in this election cycle. That is why I titled this post “Participatory Democracy”. If many of our interests are to be represented this Fall, it will be because we, through our participation in the democratic process, see to it ourselves.
If Mitt was still in the race, I wouldn’t worry about the military. MR wasn’t talking about gutting their budget, he was talking about raising it back up to historical levels. If Mitt were still in the race, I wouldn’t worry about Supreme Court judges or the abortion issue. If Mitt were still in the race, I wouldn’t worry about illegal immigration……But, he’s not.
So, where do we go from here? To Congress. You always start at the top (the presidency) and if that fails, you go down one notch to the legislative branch. As conservatives, it is incumbent on us to remain more involved in the political process than ever. We will not automatically be represented on our hot button issues as we once might have been. Now it is our responsibility to do everything we can to promote conservative principles at the Congressional level, so that we can influence the policy initiatives and the spending levels of the next administration. If it is Clinton or Obama, we are going to have our hands full for the next four years. I say for the next four years and not for the next eight years, because I believe that either one of them will inspire massive buyer’s remorse and that the electorate, after suffering under their wrong headed policies for four years, will have the same reaction to them as it had to Jimmie Carter after his four feckless years in power.
If it is McCain, we will have to be ready to shut down any future amnesty proposals, just like we shut the last one down in the summer of 2007. We have to be sure we let our representatives in Congress know how we feel about the issues and that we are paying attention.
These politicians are very good at counting votes and they know that the body politic is split right down the middle. Any strong stance they take is automatically going to anger about half of their constituency, so they have to know that we have their backs or they will cave to the special interest groups.
Presidential politics, to me, is the most fun. Congressional politics is mostly just hard work, but if we disengage from the process, the liberals will be pleased to craft the legislation for us. You can just use your imagination to envision what they will come up with.
Let’s stay involved during the course of the next four years. Let’s continue to monitor the activities of the U.S. Congress so that we will have a vibrant, powerful, informed and united conservative wing of the Republican Party, ready to assume power in four years, with Mitt Romney as our standard bearer in 2012!
~~John Cronin~~
March 5th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Rove wants Romney as Veep. John, what do you think?
March 5th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
McCain has no chance in winning this Election come November. The Country has moved slightly to the left of center. Conservatives are now in the minority, that is why McCain is the nominee and not Romney.
McCain is TOAST.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
MIT 10,
Mitt has been so strong on the illegal immigration issue that I can’t see him having to swallow what I believe is the inevitable move by the pro amnesty forces within this country to legalize the activities of upwards of 20 million people who have entered this country unlawfully. As you know, during the early campaign MR was labeled a “flip-flopper”, so if he is McCain’s VP, I would assume it will only be a matter of time before he is forced to “spin” a McCain plan for “comprehensive immigration reform”.
This would completely destroy his credibility and blow up his chances for a successful run for the Presidency in 2012. I sincerely hope that I am wrong and that McCain has “heard the American people” and that he has learned his lesson on amnesty and border enforcement. Obviously, no one but Senator McCain knows for sure what he intends to do once he takes the oath of office, but, based on his recent track record, I would err on the side of caution and assume that another bill similar to the one we defeated last year, may be in our future.
IMHO, Mitt should stand clear of this ticket. Gov. Romney poured his heart and soul and close to $50 million of his own money into his primary campaign. We begged the Evangelicals and some of the right wing to support the only full spectrum conservative in the race who had a realistic shot at winning to throw their support to MR while it still mattered.
Well, evidently they knew best. They flirted with Giuliani early on and he tanked. Then they flirted with Thompson a little later and he tanked. Then they dated Huckabee for three months and he succeeded in derailing the only candidate who offered them most and in some cases, all of what they say they wanted. Now, they are looking around at what they have wrought and I don’t think they like what they see. The only remaining choices are a radical liberal, a far left liberal and a moderate liberal.
I would prefer to see Gov. Romney become the “face of conservatism” and to barn storm the country this Fall, helping to elect conservative Republicans and raking in the political IOU’S. I’ve said in before, but I feel it bears repeating. 2008 is to Gov. Romney what 1976 was to Ronald Reagan.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
All Romney needs to do is make it clear that he maintains differences of opinion with Sen. McCain. As long as he is clear that he is signing up onto the ticket for a common goal: winning the war, etc., and that this ticket is about unity.
Under certain circumstances, it might have been better for Romney to stay away from the McCain ticket, but if Romney doesn’t get it, another relatively young, relatively conservative candidate (Pawlenty, Sanford) will - and they could be extremely hard to defeat in a primary.
Has a sitting VP ever been defeated in their party’s primary?
March 5th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I would be suprized if Romney is offered the VP slot. I think that a younger Govenor will likely be a running mate this time around as Matt has offered. Perhaps, a female candidate?
Romney will still have some of the bagage that he had this time around whether it was real or just a perception. I would think he needs to solidify his conservative credentials to a greater extent than by merely running again.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Qualye pulled out of his bid for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, citing health problems related to phlebitis.
Dan Quayle is currently the Chairman of an international division of Cerberus Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm, and president of Quayle and Associates
March 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Quale was not a sitting VP, he was a former VP at that point. But I think for all intents and purposes, the clout of his title would have been about the same as if he was the sitting VP. It would have been interesting to see if he could have pulled off the nomination if he had stayed in.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Thanks John. In order for Romney to win in 2012, I think the dems would need to win and not solve the problems America faces and then maybe all those liberals would be ready for a conservative leader.
I think McCain could win if Hillary is the nominee. And I agree with Matt A. that it would be hard for Mitt to defeat the republican VP in a primary.
Regardless of who McCain chooses for his VP and taking into account that Mitt may not want the VP slot, I think it was very impressive that Rove is pushing for Romney as the VP. Mitt has impressed the who’s who among the republicans.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:27 am
John,
This is such a well-written piece. Thank-you!
March 6th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Karl Rove is a political genius, and when he talks, people do listen. Actually I was a bit surprised he said Romney should be the VP. Thinking along the lines that so many are, that Romney should make a run in 2012. I think VP is a good idea. But, I really don’t think McCain will ask him. Sad, because momentum for Romney is still going and he would be the perfect choice for VP. He suspended his campaign and he still beat out Huckawas. Anyway, lots to think about, and great article John. When I read where you said Obama voted NO on the abortion bill to help a child of a botched abortion, I actually got physically ill. That right there speaks volumes. How can these people live with themselves!? I have had some heated debates again with the libs lately, ugh…..you cannot debate them, it is exahausting………..sigh, but I still try……
March 6th, 2008 at 4:43 am
Off the subject but does anyone have that picture of Romney with the tear in his eye? I wanted to show my son. It was so moving. My computer crashed over a week ago and I lost EVERYTHING….sigh I was looking at the pictures above. I think for me personally I have hit bottom. I mean as far as being so sad that Mitt is out. Sometimes things just plain hurt…….. God bless
Elizabeth
Utah
March 6th, 2008 at 4:51 am
I put in the wrong email address above. I tried to change it, but it won’t
sorry
Elizabeth
Utah
March 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Stephanie Davis,
Thank you! It’s always good to know that a post is appreciated.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am
By the way, I kinda liked Kevin Madden. Do you know what he is doing now that Mitt is no longer in the race?