THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 258, December 9, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
REPUBLICANS SQUANDER THEIR "POLITICAL CAPITAL"
By Christopher G. Adamo
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, U.S.A. -- CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS VERSUS SOCALLED "MODERATE" REPUBLICANS: THE
REPEATED FAILURE OF REPUBLICANS TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THEIR VICTORIES IN CONGRESSIONAL & PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS, STAND UP FOR & TRANSLATE INTO NATIONAL PUBLIC POLICY THE PRINCIPLES, BELIEFS, & VALUES SHARED BY THE
CONSERVATIVE GRASSROOTS & POLITICAL BASE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, RESIST THE PRESSURE ERERTED BY THE
POLITICALLY BIASED & INCREASINGLY IRRELEVANT LIBERAL MAINSTREAM MEDIA, PLAY HARDBALL WITH THE DEMOCRATS, &
SHOW UP THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS, NAMELY, A COALITION OF NARROW SPECIAL INTERESTS LED BY
UNSCRUPULOUS, SELFSEEKING POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS & DOGMATIC LEFTWING LIBERAL IDEOLOGUES (I.E., A BIG MESS & A
NATIONAL DISGRACE)
FULL STORY:
Following the Republican landslide victories of the 1994 midterm elections, Conservatives watched in amazement as Republican
“moderates” proceeded to completely squander the ground they had gained, culminating in the defeat of Bob Dole in the 1996
presidential election. In the aftermath of the 2004 presidential and congressional elections, ominous signs point towards a
repeat performance.
Apparently, Republican Party operatives didn’t really comprehend why, in the middle of Bill Clinton’s first term, they won big.
And to this day, political analysts still don’t seem to grasp the situation. Among Conservatives, the conventional wisdom is that
the newly realigned GOP congressional majority had wrongly presumed too much of a mandate, subsequently shocking the
American people with an excessively bold agenda.
In truth however, the exact opposite took place. And if the Republican Party doesn’t quickly come to grips with this fact, it may
find itself facing larger defeats in 2006 and 2008 than the Democrats just received.
By formulating the “Contract with America,” Newt Gingrich brilliantly highlighted the contrasts between America's two major
political parties. In presenting America with such a clear choice, Newt Ginrich ensured that the Liberalism of the Democrats
would be on parade. The rest is history.
Yet in the aftermath of the 1994 elections, intense media pressure caused Gingrich and the Republicans to backtrack. Bob Dole’s
“enough is enough” surrender to Clinton’s bloated 1995 budget sealed Dole’s fate in the following year’s presidential election.
Despite Republican wins, the political Left still dominated.
In reality, the much-heralded “Republican Revolution” simply never happened .Where, for example, was a single bloated
bureaucracy eliminated, or required to face even modest budget cuts at the hands of the Republicans?
Far from committing any Conservative “excesses,” it was the abandonment of such things which disillusioned the “grassroots”
and convinced them that “business as usual” still reigned supreme in Washington. Hence, they stayed home on Election Day in
1996.
So, how have Republicans fared during the brief “lame duck” congressional session following this year’s election? Initial signs
are not encouraging. Rather than confronting the Democrats’ obstructionism, and their continued pandering to the counterculture,
Republicans are once again waffling, conceding, and capitulating.
The recently passed “National Security Reform Act” is a prime example. Key to American security is regaining control of its borders.
Amazingly, Congress decided to remove a provision from the security reform measure that would have clamped down on the ability
of illegal aliens (such as the nineteen hijackers of 9-11) to obtain drivers’ licenses. According to opponents of the provision, such
discussion belongs in other legislation. Yet if the mass influx of undocumented foreigners isn’t relevant to the security of the nation,
little else is.
Beyond all of the excuses, the reality of the situation is that the Republicans in the U.S House of Representatives and in the U.S.
Senate have no stomach to confront the illegal alien issue, for fear of media backlash. They apparently remain clueless as to the
receding relevance of the “mainstream” media, or the fact that their acquiescence to it will cause an enormous rift with the “base”
from whom they so recently garnered electoral victories.
On another front, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada highlighted the tight spot in which Senate Democrats presently
find themselves. Completely abandoning any pretence of bipartisan cooperation, Reid pressed forward in the footsteps of his
predecessor, the recently deposed Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
On a weekend talk show, Reid sounded like the standard, cliched, Liberal Democrat of the Washington “insider” crowd, promising
obstruction and rancor, but not surprisingly accompanied by the standard Liberal demands that Republicans “reach across the
aisle.”
If a groundswell of disapproval occurs in response to his caustic diatribe, Reid, being another partisan Democrat and Liberal
Senator from a “red state,” could eventually face a fate similar to that suffered by Daschle. Fortunately for Reid, Senate Republicans
may well ride in to his rescue. Fearing possible negative ramifications from altering the present Senate rules that allow legislation to
be stalled by a forty vote filibuster, Republicans are again showing their reluctance to play “hard ball” when confronted with such
obstructionism.
Presently, Democrats have been using this technique to thwart the appointment of judges who would uphold the United States
Constitution. So, Conservatives are left wondering what possible ramifications could be worse than a continued decimation of the
Constitution.
John Kerry’s Liberalism, when viewed against the backdrop of the War on Terror, provided the contrast that yielded significant
Republican congressional gains, and a victory for President George W. Bush. If Republicans continue to erase that contrast, they
will eventually erase the victory.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian. Adamo maintains his own Internet website, which is located at
www.chrisadamo.com.
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An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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