Eric Cantor, Jeb Bush to host fundraiser in RVA

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) will benefit from a fundraiser being hosted by former Majority Leader Eric Cantor and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush later this month at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia. The long-time friends will team up for the February 16th event that was first mentioned by Cantor at an event in January (see Virginia Republicans look to the future).

Cross-posted at LynnRMitchell.com

Mataconis: 'The GOP and the Conspiratorial Mindset'

The post, "The GOP and the Conspiratorial Mindset," pulls some current political issues out of the shadows as is typical of Doug Mataconis who has never been afraid to face the difficult subjects head on. His latest post at Outside the Beltway addresses the split now going on within the Republican Party.

He began by noting some conspiracy theories that have floated in groups that have moved into the GOP:

Ever since Barack Obama became President, indeed while he was still running for office, there has been a cottage industry of conspiracy theories on the right making seemingly outrageous allegations about the President. They’ve ranged from the now familiar birther conspiracy that, even with the release of the President’s long-form birth certificate, still refuses to die, to claims that the Administration was conspiring to confiscate weapons from legal gun owners. For the most part, though, these conspiracy theories were mostly the province of the Internet and a segment of conservatism that most mainstream Republicans tried as best they could to distance themselves from.

His comment, "Mainstream Republicans tried as best they could to distance themselves from" the constant conspiracy theories, resonates. He then documents that some Republican elected officials have bought into those conspiracies, something that may appease a small but vocal portion of the population.

It reminded of an event in Augusta County in 2009.

In April of 2009, one of the first tea party rallies was held in Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton with a group of about 50 gathering to declare their disapproval of ObamaCare. Immediately following that small gathering, another rally was held at Expoland in Fishersville. The building filled with citizens against one-size-fits-all health care who cheered as speakers talked about fighting against it.

Then the truthers began speaking about 9/11 and accused the U.S. Government of being behind the attacks on the Twin Towers, and something about highway cameras were more than just traffic monitors, and more. It was a stunning turning point for those attending. Almost in unison, at least three-fourths of the crowd rose from their seats and began filing toward the doors, many shaking their heads and wondering who had organized the event. It was organized by the Constitution Party, another of the groups that are part of the overall tea party federation. Their conspiracy theories drove a previously enthusiastic crowd out the doors.

Mataconis ended his post with this sobering comment:

This isn’t to say that every Republican and every conservative is a conspiracy theorist or a birther, of course. There are plenty of them who aren’t and who have a perfectly rational opposition to the President and his policies that doesn’t include the need to allege that he’s involved in some vast conspiracy to destroy the country. The problem is, as it always has been for the past four years, is that these voices tend to get drowned out by the shrill voices of the Obama Derangement Syndrome crowd, and it’s that crowd that becomes associated in the public mind with the party and the movement. That is the price the GOP is paying for giving these people space to grow rather than denouncing him in the manner that they should have been.

I saw Bush Derangement Syndrome during the administration of President George W. Bush and did not like it. Now I see my side of the aisle doing the same to President Barack Obama. Sadly, those voices tend to drown out the voices of others who understand that this country can better move forward with rational, pragmatic, bipartisan leadership.

GOP and tea parties should remain independent

On Thursday, Rep. Eric Cantor made news with his decision to remain independent of Rep. Michelle Bachmann's (R-MN) tea party caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives .

Rep. Cantor, who is the Republican Whip and second ranking Republican in the House, commented on his decision by noting:

"Part of what is so inspiring about the Tea-Party movement is that it is not structured like a political party and, instead, is a truly organic, grass-roots effort. The movement was born outside of Washington and includes people of all political stripes -- Republicans, independents, and Democrats -- who have come together out of frustration with their government in an effort to force it to change . . . .The millions of Americans who are part of the Tea-Party movement will no doubt have a major voice this fall when the bad policies of the past two years come up for review."

The Richmond Times-Dispatch concurred with Rep. Cantor's decision in their Friday editorial:

Although the Tea Party clearly stands closer to the GOP's professed principles, the movement should be wary of becoming a faction within a single party. If the Tea Party identifies with the Republican Party, then it could sacrifice support from disaffected Democrats and independents. (The Tea Party's appeal to Democrats seems negligible, to tell the truth; among GOP-leaning independents the movement's appeal appears strong. The Tea Party itself resembles a 2010 update of Ross Perot's 1992 campaign.)

There are others who have cautioned that the tea party movement should remain independent including Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and senior advisor to President George W. Bush. While many may consider him just a GOP political hack, Rove had some thoughts about this very subject in February when he wrote:

There has been a lot of talk about combining the tea party movement with the Republican Party. And on a small scale, that seemed to happen last week in South Carolina after state GOP representatives agreed to create a "Tea Party Republicans" group to coordinate activities with tea partiers in Greenville and Spartanburg.

This week, however, those arrangements fell apart as some tea party groups dissented from the decision. Other attempts to draw tea party groups into formal alliances are running into similar difficulties. That is a good thing. The tea party movement will be more effective than it otherwise would be if it refuses to allow itself to become an appendage of either major political party.

The tea party movement appears to primarily be a fiscally concerned group of citizens who are worried about the deep debt our country faces in light of controversial legislation that has been spearheaded by Democratic President Barack Obama and passed by the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. That concern encompasses Democrats, Independents, Constitution Party, Green Party, Ron Paul supporters, and others upset with massive spending and taxes involved with cap-and-trade, bank bailouts, the stimulus bill, auto company bailouts, and the mammoth government health care bill.

In other words, the tea party is not made up of just Republicans or social conservatives. The common denominator for all is fiscal conservatism. Beyond that, there are significant differences. Some within the ranks are 9/11 "truthers," "birthers," and those calling for states to secede from the U.S.

While some may be upset with Rep. Cantor for not joining forces with the tea party, there are many others who will agree with his decision. He is a leader in the Republican Party, not the tea party, something the Times-Dispatch also noted:

Institutional issues also argue in favor of Cantor's position. As the GOP's whip (and its majority leader if the party wins a majority in November), he must not be seen as part of any ideological faction. His viability and success depend on his ability to forge close relations with Republicans of diverse philosophical inclinations. There is nothing wrong with joining caucuses based on geography or interest, but Cantor would court difficulties if he formally aligned himself with a movement that has challenged GOP incumbents in primaries.

Karl Rove, while advising that tea parties should remain independent of political parties, also touched on the issue of Republicans trying to become part of the tea party:

The GOP is also better off if it forgoes any attempt to merge with the tea party movement. The GOP cannot possibly hope to control the dynamics of the highly decentralized galaxy of groups that make up the tea party movement. There will be troubling excesses and these will hurt Republicans if the party is formally associated with tea party groups.

Mr. Rove had a final suggestion for both the GOP and the tea parties as he concluded:

The Republican Party and the tea party movement have many common interests right now. But they are, and should remain, distinct from one another. This is one instance when, if they merged, the sum would be less than the parts.

The Times-Dispatch agreed. "Cantor," they wrote, " ... has made the prudent call.

Cross-posted at The Washington Examiner

Arlen Specter loses after betraying citizens, GOP, & lining up with Obama

After Arlen Specter lost the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, I went back through my archives to find the articles I had written about him since his decision last year to leave the GOP.

I still remember when I heard the news the he was jumping what he perceived to be a sinking GOP ship and joined the SS Obama. I was outside planting flowers while listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

The SWAC Girl posts about Specter told the story of the next year ...

- Traitor Republicans (2/9/2009) - Specter votes for the stimulus package
- Arrogant politicians ... not listening to the voters (2/10/2009)
- Defeat Arlen Specter in 2010 ... sign the petition (2/12/2009)
- Could this be true? (4/28/2009) - first reports of Specter defecting
- The power of the ring (4/28/2009)
- Benedict Specter ... fair weather friend (4/29/2009)
- GOP donors demand money back from Specter (4/30/2009)
- What did he expect? (5/6/2009) - Democrats yank promised chairmanship
- Town hells? (8/5/2009) - Specter's condescending attitude at townhall
- Katy Abram ... the new voice of the Silent Majority (8/13/2009) - stands up to Specter
- Politico ... "Forecast for Dem primaries: Ugly" (11/23/2009)
- Specter to Bachmann: "Act like a lady" (1/22/2010)
- Ross Mackenzie: Europe shows America's future (5/16/2010)

Now we've come full circle to the defeat of Arlen Specter who, just a year ago, thought he saw the handwriting on the wall and jumped the GOP ship only to find himself squarely in the middle of a hot griddle of citizen unrest and distrust of the very president he lined himself up with.

The Washington Examiner has all the latest on Specter's loss:

- Specter sunk by Pennsylvania Dems by Susan Ferrechio
- Arrividerci, Arlen by Michael Barone
- "Can Specter have his vote on the stimulus back now?" by David Freddoso

Ross Mackenzie on the Massachusetts Earthquake ... McDonnell in the wings?

My favorite newspaper guy hits the nail on the head again while he opines on Republican Scott Brown's win in the Massachusetts special election on January 19:

... voters in Massachusetts, more liberal perhaps than voters in any other state, said they have had enough of the same ol' Washington same ol'. Obama took office a year ago promising transparency, a post-partisan presidency, history's most open administration. He pledged to put the final negotiations regarding Obamacare on C-SPAN.

Yet things didn't work out that way. We were introduced to a Chicago-ized national politics. Notably on his signature legislative initiative, with public support for it collapsing, he has sought to muscle it through. Secrecy, arm-twisting, and back-room deals have been the norm. His message to the people has been -- as it is even now: We are going to give the people government-mandated health care, and never mind what the people think. And so the divide, the disconnect, so eloquently described Tuesday in Massachusetts, between the people and an administration -- and a national Democratic Party -- out of touch. -- Ross Mackenzie, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Mr. Mackenzie chides condescending Democrats who take it as a foregone conclusion that Barack Obama will win a second term as President because Republicans have no one to go up against him. He reminds them there is new blood coming up through the ranks:

Hey, here are two new possibilities: Bob McDonnell, Virginia's just-installed governor who won a starkly lopsided victory (his predecessor, lest we forget, is Obama's handpicked national Democratic chairman who couldn't deliver for his party his own state). Or, a name hardly heard until the Massachusetts earthquake -- pickup-driving Scott Brown.

Hear, hear.

LTE: Republicans Need a New Contract Called "Rescue America"

["Republicans Need a New Contract" is a letter to the editor in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch from my step-dad. Politics is discussed openly and freely around the dining room table at my parents' home ... our military is openly appreciated and the feeling is our American freedoms must be defended.]

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Your recent editorial, "The Surge," contained profound statements. You stated, "Republicans seem certain to score impressive gains in the House and probably in the Senate." (Major word is "seem.") You followed that with " . . . Republicans approach the 2010 edition with anticipation. They, too, must be aware of arrogance."

Although Democratic arrogance has been unbelievable, I think it has been the Democrats' blatant deception that started the Tea Party movement. The public no longer trusts Obama and the administration he has guilefully constructed. Obama's unfulfilled promises are often seen as outright lies. It has dawned on the public that Obama's purported agenda of "change and transparency" wasn't his true agenda, but one of socialistic redistribution of wealth and control. Obama's claim to create jobs is a sham. The jobs he wishes to create are government jobs. Recent statistics show that in the U.S. there now may be more government (non-productive) jobs than normal work force (productive) jobs, a trend developing since FDR's New Deal.

This is an unsustainable disaster forming before our very eyes. Republicans must acknowledge that in the past they have often been complicit in this development. A continuation of this is sure death for the GOP. The upcoming contest will no longer be Republican versus Democrat. It will be the independents and the nonaffiliated public versus the Democratic and Republican bases.

It is time for the Republican leadership to create and require GOP candidates to pledge to fervently support a new "Contract With America," calling it "Rescue America." It should contain straightforward planks such as making earmarks illegal, restoring honesty and ethics in government, reducing the size and control of government, and defending and protecting the Constitution.

This effort has already been initiated by "we the people" via Tea Parties. God bless America.

Calvin T. Lucy
Midlothian

Michael Reagan: "GOP needs to work together"

The days of "not conservative enough" or "too conservative for me" should be erased from our political vocabulary once the primary process is complete. At that stage, we must join together to help our candidates win elections and begin the critical job of stopping the flow of liberal policies coming out of Washington and numerous state capitals across the land.

The challenges ahead are too great for us not to make this resolution together. For if we fail, I fear our nation will pay a hefty price -- hopefully not an irreversible one. -- Michael Reagan (January 1, 2010)

In greeting the New Year, Michael Reagan's hope is that all Republicans will work together in the best interests of our country:

I am resolute in my conviction that we can no longer afford to wage the type of attacking and bitter intra-party battles that have weakened our ability to coalesce as a party in opposition to the wasteful and damaging policies coming out of Washington. That is not to say that we should not engage in spirited primaries in an attempt to put forth the best candidates for the general election. What it does mean is that once a Republican candidate is victorious in the primary, all Republicans should give them their full support. Moreover, this support must not stop after the ballot has been cast.

The year is before us ... the outcome remains to be seen.

How much influence will tea party movement have on 2010?

Dr. Donald Douglas has an excellent post today about the tea party movement, the fractures within, their influence on 2010, and -- most importantly -- that we should not encourage the tea parties to bring about a third party. This is a subject I've talked about before.

Donald said:

That's something I've covered here. See, "A Battle Within the Tea Party Movement?" My argument? Basically, if the tea parties devolve into a third party movement, we're done. Better for activists to try to centralize their leadership and unite behind the most conservative members of the Republican Party. I have Sarah Palin in mind. And recall the news from a couple of weeks back, that Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann will headline next February's "First National Tea Party Convention" in Nashville, Tennessee.

CNN had a report, "Palin, Bachmann to Headline Tea Party Convention."The tea parties have created the most important movement in American politics today. Both political parties are shaken in their boots at the potential for a massive grassroots earthquake to shake the political system to its foundation. The Republican Party should be especially worried. [Emphasis added]

Donald's post is full of information so I would highly encourage you to read it all.

Rush Limbaugh also believes conservatives should stay with the Republican Party and not fall for the third party debacle that has caused us to lose in the past.

Rush Limbaugh: Fix the GOP ... no third Party

Yes We Can Reestablish Conservatism

Rush Limbaugh, who has had plenty of criticism of the Republican Party over the years, has not wavered on his opinion that there be no third Party. He reiterated on Tuesday's radio program that conservatives need to reestablish themselves in the Republican Party and not break away to a third Party:

I'm detecting a trend here and it's time to let you in on what's going on. First, "The two parties, they're no different." That means we need to go third party. "There's no difference between the parties." Look, for one thing: The Republican Party, for all its faults, has always wanted to win when we deployed the military. Come on, folks! You gotta get real about this. The Republican Party, as bad as it is, is not the Democrat Party. We do have statists in our party. We do not have socialists and Marxists in our party that have any kind of power whatsoever. And none would ever get elected in our party. Now, snap out of this. Get real. Snap out of it! It's time to face this and fix it, not abandon it -- and a third party is giving up on things. With a third party, you're just creating another room to go in and shout. You're just creating a room to go vent, but you're not gonna get anything done with a third party.

Rush later added to his third Party thoughts:

As for our side, the focus must be to take back the Republican Party. That's the way you win. You can draw attention to yourself by denouncing both parties at the same time, and you can think that you're relating to a whole lot of people or being disabused and forgotten about, but you do a grave disservice in doing so because you're never going to win anything. You're going to guarantee Democrat victory in perpetuity. We need a strong conservative movement that takes back the Republican Party and then we have a strong Republican Party. It's hard work but it is happening.

There is a conservative ascendancy here. Why in the world waste what is happening here with this new conservative ascendance and weaken it and split it up by forming a third party? So far, not a single Republican is going to vote for government-run health care. If the parties were the same the vote would be unanimous, would it not? If the parties were the same, all the Republicans would be on board for this, in the House and the Senate, and they're not. I think one Republican in the House voted for government-run health care.

When cap and trade came up, eight Republicans voted for it. The rest voted against it. In the Senate, all but a couple of Republicans voted against the stimulus bill. If the parties were the same, sweeping majorities, health care would already be the law of the land if the Republican Party was the same as the Democrat Party. There wouldn't have been any tea parties. We wouldn't be having to mess around with all these various bills and CBO scores. ... The parties are not the same. We need more of this, and you don't get more of this by insisting that there's no difference between the parties.

Now, I'm the first to tell you, and I'm the first to agree that the Republican Party has screwed up and it needs to continue to find its legs, and with our help, it will have no choice but to become a traditional conservative party. We don't have Marxists in our party. We don't have Maoists leading the charge in our party. Those people have found a home in Obama's party and government but not in the Republican Party.

The problem is that there are people trying to confuse the issue. They're saying, "Well, the Republicans spent too much and they did this and they gave us new entitlements, they spend just like the Democrats, they all spend, they all spend the same." I get that. I fought them on those things. I was deeply upset and opposed to a lot of this spending. I had emissaries from the White House sent down here to try to get my mind right on these things. But they are not, as a matter of ideology, the Republicans are not seeking the destruction of capitalism and the private sector. They are not trying to hollow out the military. They are not undermining our intelligence services and so forth.
...
There's no difference between the two parties. The Republican Party right now has lost its way. This conservative ascendancy can help it find its way. The Democrat Party has found its way, and it's the radical left way, and that's who they are now, and they have to be stopped. And they will not be stopped if a third party ends up being the result of this little internecine war in the Republican Party. They will be in power, the Democrats will be in perpetuity if a third party emerges out of our party.
...
Look, the truth is, folks, that most of us know that the two parties are not the same. We're hearing a lot from the same people, or thinking that surrounded the Ross Perot effort or the Reform Party effort, more generally. It seems that some people are trying to tap into this group and then claim it represents most conservatives, Libertarians, Republicans, when in fact it doesn't. Now, we always had populist movements in this country on the left and the right. But we are not populists, we're constitutionalists, we are conservatives. And when a majority of us are in control of the Republican Party, the Republican Party wins. But it's not gonna win if there's a third party.

Hear, hear, Rush!

In 1992 conservatives broke away when Ross Perot ran as a third party candidate resulting in a split of the vote between Republican George H.W. Bush, Independent Perot, and Democrat Bill Clinton ... and Clinton won with less than 50% of the vote. I don't think conservatives want to see that scenario repeated in 2012.

Good analogy

Fishersville Mike takes a different perspective of the Republican versus Democrat platforms ... by using cereal. Good analogy.

Jack Kemp remembered ...

"Democracy without morality is impossible." -- Jack Kemp

Jack Kemp is remembered by many ... the outpouring of those in the conservative blogging community and beyond is a testament to the man he was.

- Brian Kirwin on Bearing Drift: Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan
- DJ at Right-Wing Liberal: Jack Kemp, RIP
- Riley at Virginia Virtucon: Jack Kemp, it was an honor to know you
- Leslie Carbone: Jack Kemp RIP
- Rick Sincere: Jack Kemp
- Cargosquid at United Conservatives: Jack Kemp RIP
- Reason and Revelation: RIP: Jack Kemp
- Politico: Jack Kemp, former QB and congressman, dies
- WP's Raw Fisher: Kemp: A rare advocate for the District
- Donald at American Power: Jack Kemp,gle 1935-2009
- Hot Air: Jack Kemp - RIP
- Townhall: How Jack Kemp Changed the World
- Politico: Jack Kemp remembered as early leader of GOP

Is the GOP on the edge of irrelevance?

Michael Powell, son of Colin, believes so unless the GOP is willing to do some self-criticism. At NewMajority.com, he writes:

I believe the Republican Party is on the precipice of irrelevance if it cannot rebuild a respect for civil debate-including self-criticism. ... The litmus test politics that has abducted the party, has dulled the edge of its ideas, discourages those who respond to intellectual rigor, and repels too many from the party who are unwilling, as a condition of admission, to sign an oath of allegiance to a set of talking points.

He goes on to address the issue of new media, new communications, and how those ideas draw young people raised in a digital revolution. Anyone in the blogging community knows how much the liberals have been ahead of us in technology ... but we are working to catch up.

Then Powell addresses the changing demographics of this country, saying we are a "browning" nation:

The Party also must be more sober about the demographic transformation that is taking place in America. We are a browning nation, but a Party seemingly incompetent in connecting with America’s diversity and its ascendant multiculturalism. We are stuck in antiquated notions of race. My kids saw Barack Obama not as black but as modern. His race and enlightened manner of dealing with it captures how the young see themselves.

He ends by saying politics is not a faith:

While Republicans are a proud party of values, politics is not a faith. It is an instrument for winning the consent of the American people to steer the nation that they love into a future they believe in. It is a sacred responsibility.

Words worth heeding....

A conservative quits the Republican Party

Sobering and thought provoking ... a conservative quits the Republican Party.

From On High: "GOP still lost in the wilderness"

Jerry Fuhrman at From On High has voiced what many Republicans are privately asking themselves:

... as long as there are "Republicans" out there who think it their duty to emulate Democrats and constantly raise taxes, the GOP will remain (an ever shrinking) minority. Why vote Republican when you can get the real deal?

That, in a nutshell, says it all.

"Never give in" ... blogging and campaign clean-up

Blogging has to be sporatic while we gather in signs and do the final campaign work that is necessary after an election. Later I want to delve into the stats and write about many issues as the opportunity presents itself.

Meanwhile, a recurring theme I've read in liberal blogs is that Republicans lost the election because they went too far right.

Wrong!

Republicans lost their way and did not stand up for their conservative values but, instead, listened to the liberal left and tried to become more central.

Sarah Palin is unabashedly conservative, pro-life, pro-2nd amendment ... and she drew HUGE crowds to her campaign speeches.

For my 81-year-old mother to attend the Sarah Palin rally where she had to walk a quarter mile to get in line and stand, waiting to get in ... all without knowing if she would find a seat once inside ... is amazing because she has had health issues for several years. That was how badly she wanted to see Governor Palin ... that is how much she wanted to wave her Chick sign and show her support.

The rising star of the Republican Party is Sarah Palin. Did she drag down the GOP ticket? No way! She was the one who buoyed it ... she was the one who generated so much energy and excitement from the grassroots ... she was the one whom we could identify with as a mom, wife, everyday person.

Sarah Palin from Alaska, that land of common sense, and Joe the Plumber are the face of the future of the Republican Party.

My husband is a Teamster truck driver. His union backed Obama and hit us with a barrage of mailings and robo-calls the past two months -- spent millions! Yet an estimated 40% of Teamsters are reportedly Republican. My husband is the face of the Republican Party that the Democrats claim as all their own -- a blue collar, hard-working Union man who has hard-core conservative beliefs, similar to Todd Palin.

A friend who is hard-core conservative is a builder ... I am a homemaker ... another friend is a house painter. We are the Republican Party.

Watch for great things to rise from the ashes of our 2008 defeat ... conservative leaders will rise who understand that when we stick to our conservative values we win elections. When we compromise and try to be like the Democrats, we lose.

I am an optimist so this is but a bump in the road to me. The trolls can stop leaving nasty, gloating comments on my blog because they are not affecting me. Many of them were sore losers in 2000 and 2004 ... now they are sore winners needing a big dose of good manners and civility.

I believe in the words of Winston Churchill:

"This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -— in nothing, great or small, large or petty —- never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." (29 October 1941, Harrow School)

Never give in....

Yankee Phil has some similar thoughts about Sarah Palin.

Ronald Reagan on the Republican Party

"We have a rendezvous with destiny. Either we will preside over the great nightfall for all mankind, or we will accept the leadership that has been thrust upon us. I believe that is the obligation and responsibility of the Republican party today."

-- Ronald Reagan (Southern GOP Convention, Atlanta, GA, 12/7/73 - "Why the Conservative Movement is Growing")

The Republican Party and the conservative movement....

William Rusher has a good article out at Townhall.com and printed in today's Waynesboro News Virginian titled, "Republican Party, conservative movement," in which he discusses the background of the conservative movement and where it is today. He writes:

The two political parties have, at one time or another, encouraged many of these movements to seek fulfillment in supporting them. (Before the Civil War, for example, the Democratic Party was, in addition to much else, the political instrument of the slaveholding interests.) From their start -- but, above all, from the launching of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal onward -- the leftist movements (to the extent that they have not founded parties of their own) have tended to support the Democratic Party. And from its inception the conservative movement has found its home with the Republicans.

He concludes by saying the conservatives and Republicans are not separating.

At the moment, however, the Republican Party and the conservative movement still seem comfortably wedded. The marriage began in 1964, with the party's nomination of Barry Goldwater for president, and has lasted ever since. Many analysts assumed that the relatively liberal wing of the GOP would revive after Goldwater's crushing defeat and resume control of the party. But this never happened: Nixon's nomination in 1968 resulted from a decision by the conservative movement (albeit a bad one), and Reagan's election and reelection simply nailed down the alliance. Today, practically all Republican candidates proclaim their conservatism, and almost all conservative leaders vow their allegiance to the Republican Party. It has been a remarkably fruitful union.

The big tent?

SWAC blogger SixtyFour81.com has a thoughtful post about the "big tent" that is proposed by many for the Republican Party. Odd how I never hear anyone talk about the lack of a "big tent" for the democrats....

The GOP is strong....

Okay, so I couldn't stay away from the political stuff for the whole vacation. I admit it ... I'm a political junkie. This morning I'm catching up while it's early and the wireless signal is working (it still keeps going in and out on me), and then I'll head out into the Rockies once again....

On the state of Republican politics in general, and Virginia in particular, I read two great posts that were worth mentioning because they both look at the struggles within my own Party. Chris at Spank That Donkey has Why I Support Hanger: Four Last Years. And James Atticus Bowden at Deo Vindice shares his thoughts in A Party Divided Shall Stand.

Great insight into the Party....