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9/4/2008
Wigderson: Last night I saw the future of the GOP
Last night I saw the future of the Republican Party. Regardless of what happens in the November elections this year, the Republican Party has its nominee for president for 2012. The path charted by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin last night is the path to becoming a majority party, and we have our standard bearer.
Yes, I have seen better speeches delivered, although few. I have also seen a lot worse. But the message in Palin’s speech last night gave the speech its drive – its oomph – and that is what we’ll remember long after this year’s convention confetti is swept away.
We discovered again the Republican Party is conservative. The values of a strong defense and a respect for our military are core values. The party stands again for less government rather than more. And the party is pro-life.
We learned the party is populist in spirit. From the appeals to small-town America to standing up to the special interests – “Big Oil – Palin charted a new path last night. With her attacks on the media and the Washington elite, the spirit of the Reagan movement returned to the convention hall.
And the party is reformist. Palin’s accomplishments were cast in that vein, in theory to compliment Senator McCain’s reputation as a reformer in Washington. But what made Palin’s reformist message unique was not only it directed at the opposing party, it specifically mentioned her accomplishments in taking on members of her own party. Certainly that has to be a first in the modern party convention era.
When Palin was picked, one prominent local liberal wrote to me that McCain’s choice did not have an eye on the future. I replied that all of my enthusiasm for Palin was precisely because I saw in her the future of the Republican Party, a new generation of leadership that understood the party needed to be changed. Last night I saw my words vindicated.
James Wigderson blogs regularly at Wigderson Library & Pub.
COMMENTS
A different view of the Republican future:
Though I am not sure if the Republican Party should be saved, or if we should stomp on its proverbial fingers as it clings to the precipice which it may be about to fall off, let me say that I HOPE the vision of the future I saw and participated in 15 miles away from the RNC is more accurate. Ron Paul talked of how the system is broken and how both parties supported the legal plunder of taxation, the legal counterfeiting of the Federal Reserve, an allegiance to the United Nations, an organization which wants to destroy our sovereignty and freedom in bringing about one world government, and our propensity to wars and meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, and both parties support the assault on our liberties that is rapidly making us a police state.
It will be interesting to see if the Republican Party sticks to its present big government course and dies, or supports the vision of Ron Paul so that both the party and the nation can enjoy a future of peace, prosperity and freedom.
Ken Van Doren (Thu Sep 04 08:36:56 2008)
If the Reps are so "conservative", why did "W" (supposedly more conservative than his dad) grow the size of the govt? Why the further erosion of Christian values, upon which our country is based?
(Yes, it was! Read ALL the founding fathers--even T. Jefferson--who coined the phrase "separation of church and state" in a PRIVATE letter to a Baptist church who were worried the govt might try to curtail their activities--even he mandated that Bibles be placed in all the schools.)
I fear her speech may simply be an attempt to lull those of us who are true conservatives into supporting a morally bankrupt party.
Emily Matthews (Thu Sep 04 09:27:53 2008)
It's not a morally bankrupt party, it's just that we haven't had very many strong leaders for a while...I loved Palin's speech and it also inspired me that there is hope in making a better future for this country.
Alicia (Thu Sep 04 10:37:52 2008)
"I fear her speech may simply be an attempt to lull those of us who are true conservatives into supporting a morally bankrupt party."
I'm not sure what a true conservative is. Sarah Palin isn't because .. why?
You can compromise a little and have some input on the process. This would seem optimal if your goal is to have some say-so over the next twenty years.
Or go it alone with fragments of the 'really truly' conservatives in the GOP. Maybe you can find a few Birchers and form a softball team ...
Please don't forget that politics is the art of compromise and at the end of the day it's about governing a whole bunch of people with a lot of differnet ideas of how to get things done.
A political movement that holds to it's ideology at all costs is doomed to irrelevancy.
Brian Dunbar (Thu Sep 04 11:19:40 2008)
After watching the RNC production of Sen. McCain's life, followed by his speech, I kept asking myself why a nation would elect as their President an inexperienced, wildly liberal U.S. Senator over a more experienced and moderate U.S. Senator who had, in the most hard-fought terms, demostrated a lifetime of dedication to America.
Sara Palin's words kept ringing in my ears: "...this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate." I've been wondering if Sen. Obama actually wrote the two books credited to him. Considering his poor performance when speaking without prompting, I'm stuck wondering exactly what original thought(s) he actually has.
Wouldn't it be a shame if, instead of a political maverick, we elected a puppet of the corrupt Chicago political machine to the highest office in our land?
I ask the same question I've asked the Messiah's followers since this political season started: "Name one substantial thing Obama has accomplished in his political career."
Duke (Fri Sep 05 09:10:20 2008)
' "Name one substantial thing Obama has accomplished in his political career." '
Created and led an organization that ran (is running) the most successful presidential campaign in history.
Which is a silly qualification for the presidency, but you gotta admit it shows a lot of political smarts.
Brian Dunbar (Fri Sep 05 09:25:30 2008)
You didn't read what I'd written carefully enough: Can you say, "Chicago-Political-Machine."
If you take Obama's past political campaigns into account, and consider HOW he got elected to where he is, you'll notice The Machine has expanded its influence from city and state to national politics. The stench is unmistakable!
And I'm not convinced that running a highly partisan political campaign is a substantial qualifier for the job of President of the U.S. Under that definition Carl Rove or James Carville should be the President.
Duke (Fri Sep 05 10:04:00 2008)
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