THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 149, August 9, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE LIEBERMAN DEBACLE?
By Christopher G. Adamo
AMERICAN POLITICS, RADICAL POLITICAL IDEOLOGY, & THE FUTURE OF AMERICA'S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: DOES
CONTROL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BY THE EXTREME POLITICAL LEFT SPELL TROUBLE FOR DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
IN THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION? WILL SOCALLED "MODERATE" REPUBLICANS AGAIN RUIN AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES TO GAIN ELECTORAL ADVANTAGE FROM A POPULAR BACKLASH AGAINST THE
RADICALISM OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS TO REGAIN
THE HIGH GROUND IN THE CURRENT ELECTION CYCLE
FULL STORY:
So the dearest dreams of the extreme political Left have come true. Joe Lieberman
(Democrat - Connecticut), historically a very Liberal Senator from a very Liberal state, was
nonetheless defeated by primary challenger Ned Lamont, who can now boast a
greater acceptance among the Democratic Party’s Liberal Leftist “purists.”
Lamont not only toes the Democratic Party line on every precept of ultra-Liberal social
orthodoxy, he also embraces the “cut and run,” defeatist philosophy of Representative
John Murtha (Democrat - Pennsylvania) and the Howard Dean Leftists now in firm control of the
Democratic Party.
Lieberman, on the other hand, was intellectually honest enough to admit the
futility of attempting to contend with Islamic terrorism on a purely
defensive basis. And intellectual honesty is utter poison to the Left. So,
Lieberman must go.
Conservative commentators and pundits have generally been enjoying the
situation, believing that they would reap political advantage from either a
victory or defeat of Lieberman. In truth they are only partially correct.
A Lieberman win could have been interpreted as a rejection by the Democratic Party
grassroots of the hardcore Leftist ideology promoted by the likes of Howard Dean
and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Democrat - California). Such an event would have
left the Democrats scrambling to reinvent their agenda, only ninety days before
the general election.
On the other hand, Lieberman’s defeat moves the radicalism of Lamont, Dean,
Pelosi, and their kind to “front and center” in the media and among Democratic Party
political hacks. Yet, despite the vehemence of individuals like George Soros
and his comrades of the Leftist fringe, their message does not resonate.
Outside of a few blue state Democratic Party strongholds, most of the nation soundly
rejects their countercultural and anti-American beliefs.
So, the potential does indeed exist by which the Lamont victory could spell
trouble for the Democrats in the general election. However, the Conservative analysts who have
expressed such hopes may be forgetting another political reality, a political reality regarding the
Republicans, one that cannot be omitted from the mix. And, if recent history is
any harbinger, despite the phenomenal opportunity this situation affords
them, the Republicans will fumble this one as well.
Just as Israel can reap great benefits from a decisive rout of Hezbollah in
Lebanon, but only if it stays the course until the job is complete, so does
the GOP stand to expose these Democratic Party troubles as an internal confrontation
between forces of the Left and the “hard Left.”
But this will be the case only if the GOP asserts itself as a strongly
contrasting Conservative and patriotic alternative. Unfortunately, it has done little to
lay such groundwork in recent months.
On the issue of the War on Terror alone, Republicans have remained
relatively steadfast, consistently refusing to play along with the “cut and
run” strategy (if cowardice and retreat can be called a “strategy”) being
incessantly promoted by the Democrats. But, in other major areas of concern
to the nation, the Republicans have an abysmal record of capitulation to
their opposition.
All too often, impending fallout that Democrats should reap as a result of
their extremism is softened or even completely dissipated by Republican
willingness to meet them halfway.
Worse yet, the willingness of Republicans, to some degree, to play along with their political
adversaries’ opposition suggests the inherent rightness of
the Democrats' Liberal philosophy, with the differences between the two major political parties being
thereafter perceived as only a matter of degree. A few key issues of recent
years prove the point.
Despite being a powerhouse of Conservative ideas during his tenure as Speaker of the U.S. House
of Representatives, Newt Gingrich once sought to placate his opposition by embracing
the “Earned Income Tax Credit” (a euphemistically termed welfare check to
low-income individuals who paid no taxes). Thus, a plan to allow productive
Americans to keep more of their earnings was degraded to the status of just
another government giveaway.
During President George W. Bush’s first term, the enormously expensive Medicare
prescription drug program eventually enjoyed the endorsement of then U.S. House
Majority Leader Tom Delay. Delay contended that the new entitlement, soon to
cost taxpayers in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars, made a good
statement in favor of eventual “privatization” of Medicare.
Recently, debate over the massive invasion of illegal aliens from south of
the border presented true Conservatives in the Congress with an opportunity
to clearly distinguish themselves from those on the other side of the aisle.
Sadly, the combination of White House and media pressure has ensured that no
effective measures will be passed, unless accompanied by a “guest worker”
caveat that thoroughly nullifies any true border enforcement.
Ultimately, the Lieberman spectacle could signal a Democratic Party implosion in
which the Party maneuvers itself into an untenable position that will please
neither those on the Left nor its more moderate members. Nevertheless, a
Democratic Party whose members realize that they must remain committed to
their agenda (Liberal though it may be) is more likely to prevail than a
Republican Party that rallies around and preserves the political career of
such turncoats as Arlen Specter.
It is becoming clear that, as a result, Republican “moderates,” seeking to
beat the Democrats to the punch, may have, in fact, maneuvered themselves into
a political posture that is quite possibly even more unpalatable to their
own voting base.
Time is running out for the Republican Party to regain the high ground in this election
cycle.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
-------------------------
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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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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