My Body, My Money, My Country

We constantly hear that only moderate centrist Republicans can win in some places. And that is true. But what kind of moderate? What kind of centrist? I think that it has to be a moderate with strong principles. A strange beast to be sure. At least in this day and age.

The last time the Republican Party was truly centrist and wildly attractive was when it was a libertarian Party under Ronald Reagan. Socially moderate, fiscally conservative, strong on national defense. Does that mean that social conservatives were unwelcome? Of course not. It just means that moral socialism was not the political center of the party. It means that government stays out of your business and you are free to live your life as you chose.

What too many of our elite mean by centrist is socially moderate, not too fiscally conservative, and don't scare people with heavy weapons. i.e. RINO. I prefer a little absolutism.

My body, my money, my country.

Now moderation may be a good thing. But you have to have principles so at least you will know when you are deviating from them. So you don't go too far. RINOs have no discernible principles. And thus they can never tell when they have gone too far. The evidence of that was the drubbing the Republicans took in 2006 and 2008 when the Party stood only for a strong national defense. Everything else was negotiable.

Are the kind of Republicans I'm describing going to be popular every where? Not at this time. Social conservatives are going to dominate in some areas of the country. But what about other places like Wisconsin, California, and Illinois? In places like that social conservatives do not do well, at least State wide and in many districts. In those places it is good to have a more socially liberal candidate. But not a RINO. Because without principles you are just drifting with the wind.

I'd like to close with one of my favorite and often repeated Reagan quotes:

"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." - Ronald Reagan

and how about another that describes the improper relation of government to the people:

"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Coalition Warfare

Voting coalitions are ruled by the least commited members.

So the question to the cultural conservatives is: do you want 2004 to be the Republican high water mark or would you like to extend the string.

BTW I have yet to get an answer from any of my "we need a law" anti-abortion friends on why a black market in abortion services and abortion drugs would be a good thing.

All I hear is "if there was a law there would be no abortion". Sure. Well I suppose it is nice to have faith.

So tell me if your faith is so strong why do you need a law (men with guns) to enforce your position?

So what have the cultural conservatives learned from alcohol prohibition? From drug prohibition?

I'd say aproximately nothing.

I actully had a commenter on the subject say that abortion was different. OK. So what happens to policing and criminal justice when 300,000 miscarriages a year are each turned into a murder investigations? Aren't 30 or 40 thousand murder investigations enough?

What will reality look like (as opposed to utopia) if you get your wish?

I call this whole exercise Republican socialism.

In any case if you get your wish expect to see the Democrats make gains. A lot of RINOs will leave the coalition.

Look at how Keyes did in Illinois vs. Bush.

So is this the high water mark or the beginning of the end?

Do you want to make gains on the economic front and on the war or is abortion so important that you would give up further progress in those areas?

And how pray tell is it that smaller government people want to enlarge government in this area?

Oh. Well.

BTW I voted Bush/Obama. If you look at Illinois Bush got 1 million more votes than Keyes.

And that is just one RINO state. You take hits like that (or even 1/4 of that) in States Bush won and you would be howling like a post election Democrat.

Well any way I predicted these post election Republican purges in May of '03. I knew the cultural conservatives could not withstand the scent of power. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Did any of you remember Bush asking for the RINO vote in the last days of the campaign ("you may not agree with all my positions but I want your vote")? So you going to throw them off the bus now that you have won? That is not nice. People remember.

Welcome Instapundit readers.

I guess they have too many votes

I'm now in official opposition

I said before the election, to my friend Roger Simon, that if Bush pushed policies I didn't care for I was planning to go into opposition as soon as the policies were proposed.

That didn't take long. It appears that Bush is pushing his gay marriage ban again.

I guess Bush has too many RINOs in his coalition.

Didn't he learn anything from the Alan Keyes fiasco? The so called cultural issues are not as popular as Bush. He is working to peel his support.

And over at the National Review they are trying to push Arlen Specter out of the party.

I guess they have too many votes.

--==--

23:23z

Newt Gingrich echoes my sentiments.

Gingrich, who engineered the 1994 Republican victory in Congress, said party gains could be short-lived unless steps are taken to build on Tuesday's winning coalition. "The Republicans will determine whether this is a high-water mark or a launching pad," he told Reuters in an interview.

09:39z 08 Nov 2004

The Diplomaid makes a point that it is unwise for us to have one party that is too strong. Maybe this should be as good as it gets? Maybe it is time the middle took over the Democrat Party? Right now they seem lost.

17:45z

Insta Pundit points out this fine Virginia Postrel piece on why a party of moral scolds is not a good bet. When the Republicans go down that road they lose. When the Democrats go down that road they lose. She points out that according to exit polling 60% favor gay marriage. Well outside the margin of error even for unreliable exit polling.

Jack Ryan Republicans

Here is a comment I made to one of my cultural conservative friends who said cultural conservative were the new American center:

Main Stream Media think they are the middle too.

They are no more correct than you are.

Think of how the Senate/Presidential race went in Illinois. Bush got 45% of the vote - 2,313,415 votes. Keyes got 27% - 1,371,882 votes. If you parse the numbers about 130,000 voted in the Presidential race that did not vote in the Senate race (more unhappy Republicans?).

Keyes didn't get the votes of the Jack Ryan Republicans. It shows.

Republican Socialism

I live in Illinois, a RINO state. Our local State Senator Dave Seyverson has his fingers all over the Keyes/carpetbagger deal.

Keyes has gone negative on Obama from the get go. The Latest was the "Jesus" vote deal. You know. The bit where Keyes says Jesus won't vote for Obama. And Republicans derride those who say they are the party of the American Taliban. I know - they are no where near as bad as the Taliban. But why even make the slightest move in that direction?

To tell the truth as a RINO I do not want to see the Rs with a big margin in the Senate. I want the Dems to obstruct. I want the Republicans to compromise.

Why? Because I hate Republican Socialism.

Republican Socialism

Nationalize the flag
Nationalize permissible eating, drinking, and smoking habts etc.
Nationalize people's sex lives
Nationalize women's bodies.

Just as ugly in my opinion as Democratic Socialism.

==

The Rs are just as bad as the Ds:

"Men with guns (government) are the solution to my favorite social problem."

Well that is not my America.

So my question is:

What have Republicans learned from alcohol prohibition?

Evidently nothing.