THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 131, July 12, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
POLITICAL FORCES SHAPING THE 2008 ELECTIONS
By Christopher G. Adamo
AMERICAN POLITICS, POLITICAL PARTIES, POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES, & THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2008: AT
THE PRESENT, NO PROBABLE WINNER SEEN IN THE CONTEST AMONG LIBERALS FOR NOMINATION AS THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY'S CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT -- AMONG REPUBLICANS, DECLINING INTEREST IN SOCALLED "MODERATE"
REPUBLICANS JOHN MCCAIN, MITT ROMNEY & RUDY GIULIANI, GROWING INTEREST IN CONSERVATIVE FRED THOMPSON
AS THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT -- WHAT IS ESSENTIAL TO REPUBLICAN VICTORY IN THE NOVEMBER
PRESIDENTIAL & CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS: MAINTAINING THE SHARP DIVIDE BETWEEN CONSERVATISM &
LIBERALISM & THE REPUBLICAN PARTY'S UNAMBIGUOUS ARTICULATION OF THE CONSERVATIVE MESSAGE
FULL STORY:
So far, the political landscape preceding the 2008 presidential election has defied every attempt by the “old media” to
characterize and thus determine its outcome. Were the original media prognostications correct, at least two thirds of the
American public would already be lining up at the ballot box, eagerly awaiting the starting bells in order to joyously
cast votes for Hillary Clinton.
The reality for the former First Lady is not nearly so rosy. A recent Mason-Dixon poll showed that more than half of
Americans say they will not vote for her “under any circumstances.” As a result, her anticipated cake walk of the
Democratic Party's primary contest has devolved into a very rocky road, with Freshman Senator Barack Obama
(Democrat - Illinois) nipping at her heals in every major survey.
Worse yet, former Vice-President Al Gore continues to enjoy a groundswell of enthusiastic support from the
Democratic Party's Liberal base, even though he has yet to officially declare his candidacy. It is certain that, behind
closed doors, Democratic Party strategists are being strained to their limits by the maddening uncertainty of the
present situation.
Despite the fact that Democrats are gloating over their victory in last November’s congressional elections, the current
situation is absolutely grim in the Congress, where the approval rating for that body, at a pitiful fourteen percent, is
lower than it has ever been. Congressional numbers have not approached such lows since the early 1990s, which, not
coincidentally, was the last time the Democrats held a majority.
On the Republican side, the “conventional wisdom” has fared no better. Only a few months ago, it was all but
predetermined that the Republican presidential nominee would be Arizona Senator John McCain, Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney, or former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Yet the mere indication by former Republican
Senator Fred Thompson of his interest in running resulted in a shift of tectonic proportions within the GOP.
Thompson’s nearly spontaneous popularity has left the other candidates scrambling in efforts to maintain their
respective pieces of the pie. And, with the presumed inevitability of his announcement and likely advancement to
the status of “frontrunner,” the former Tennessee Senator is beginning to feel the heat of the universally adverse and
monotonously predictable media coverage.
So far, Thompson remains impervious to such attacks, and indeed actually stands to gain from them, as long as he
remains true to the ideologies which he has been loudly professing in recent months. The latest assault, based on
an accusation that he was somehow involved in a lobbying effort on behalf of pro-abortion forces, may yet prove to
be just another “dud” projectile being fired at him.
While certainly not flawless as either a Conservative or a presidential candidate, Thompson shows every sign of
being fully capable of weathering this storm. In truth, the very nature of the current controversy may say far more
about his critics, and their disingenuous sermonizing to the public, than it does about Thompson.
Consider, first of all, that those making the most noise are clearly in the political camp of the opposition. Does anyone
really believe these Liberals are trying to help Thompson? Clearly, they recognize that, were his pro-life track record
to be seriously called into question, much of the current enthusiasm for his candidacy would be undermined.
Curiously, in the past, they have incessantly claimed that being pro-life is an enormous political negative, since a
“majority” of both parties ostensibly favor abortion. Yet, now they seek to cost Thompson his support on the basis
that his pro-life record has a blemish on it, albeit an extremely minor one in comparison to that of virtually all of the
rest of the field. So, perhaps supporting the sanctity of life is not such a fatal defect to a candidacy.
Furthermore, by clearly making the case that Thompson may lose support over this issue, they highlight the certain
fate that would befall Giuliani or Romney, were either to win the nomination.
If tying him in such an oblique manner to the abortion lobby could disaffect Thompson supporters, what could
Democrats do to Giuliani or Romney, both of whom have staunchly supported partial birth abortion and gay rights,
along with the rest of the Liberal Leftist cultural agenda?
Ultimately, the battle lines have remained unchanged for the past several decades. The Conservatism that bolstered
American confidence and stature, and that served Ronald Reagan so well during the eighties, still resonates with
the American public.
It also propelled Republicans in the Senate and House to majority status for a dozen years, starting in 1994.
Republican fortunes only changed last Fall, when it became obvious that the GOP had abandoned such thinking.
Contrary to the constant drum beat of “conventional wisdom” asserting that the 2006 electoral upset resulted from
public disenchantment with the Iraq war, every indication before and since last November suggests otherwise.
In the recent past, Republicans have done well in congressional elections, just so long as their Conservatism was
starkly contrasted against the banalities of the American political Left. Once that divide dissipated, so did any
support from the “grassroots.”
The dynamics of the impending presidential race, as well as the congressional re-match of next year, are no
different. Democrats, riding a crest of false confidence, are doing a thorough job of parading their truly Leftist and
anti-American colors. Thus, GOP prospects improve, and rest largely on the possibility that Republican “Moderates”
in Congress do not sabotage the Conservative movement through cowardice and pragmatism.
If he continues to boldly define the political landscape, Fred Thompson could not only win big, but his vocal
advocacy of the Conservative message, contrasted against the Liberal nuttiness of Reid/Pelosi and their party’s
presidential candidate, may yield significant Republican gains in both houses of Congress.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition:
Elections, PACs, & Political Parties
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
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.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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