Posted by
Craig Freeborn on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 11:48:35 PM
A noted political historian once commented…
If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
—Jay Leno
Well, we have plenty of candidates, but do we have any worth voting for?
In the last three elections, millions of Freeborn Americans went to the polls & thought they were voting for less government, less spending, and greater control of our borders. Now, after 6 years of Republican control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, millions of Conservatives see one big wasted opportunity and believe it makes little difference which party they vote for one week from today.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.” When it comes to many issues, like spending, I’ll even give you nine cents change! Certainly this is true of the 109th Congress.
However, to its credit, the 109th Congress did confirm two conservative justices to the Supreme Court. And, after considerable arm-twisting, passed a watered-down border security bill. There were few other accomplishments for our stalwart elected officials to brag about to the folks back home.
Digging a little deeper, the 109th Congress actually had the poorest record of overall judicial confirmations of any of the last three Congresses. The real kicker is that they accomplished this disgraceful record with more Republican Senators than at any time during President Bush’s administration.
To be fair, the reason they confirmed so few judges was the threat of filibusters by the Democrats – just the threat mind you, no actual filibusters required. (Then on the eve of a return to sanity via a rules change to allow the majority of elected Senators to actually cast a vote on the judicial nominees, seven so-called Republicans slinked over to the dark side.)
Now here’s that penny’s worth of difference. Imagine if you will, what will happen if the Democrats win majority control of the Senate one week from today. Conservatives can expect no confirmation of the judicial nominees currently languishing in the Senate to be confirmed. No confirmation of future nominees submitted by President Bush for the next two years. And no confirmation of the next Supreme Court nominee – yes there’s little doubt there will be one and maybe two justices to step down during the 110th Congress.
As one reader wrote, “the Republicans are disappointing but the Democrats are dangerous.” Disappointing? Yes! Deserving of our support? No! But with the alternative being so “dangerous”, now is not the time to stay away from the polls.
I have never hesitated to criticize Republicans – I’ve actually quit the party on more than one occasion, staying away for years. But the cold hard facts are that Republicans are (generally) more conservative than Democrats. And if we are to have any hope of confirming another Constitutional constructionist to the Supreme Court, it won’t be under the Democrats’ watch.
As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, “You don’t go to battle with the army you wish you had – you go with the one you have.”
I think my son summed it up quite well – if maybe a little graphically – with the following observation:
It’s the difference between an adulteress and a prostitute. The adulteress will cheat on you behind your back about things she vowed to hold sacred. The prostitute doesn’t even try to hide what she does.
I know I won’t get what I want from Democrats, but with Republicans they will give lip service to their principles and – if I keep a watchful eye on them – they may even stay home at night.
Ronald Reagan knew this. I was there when he quipped that…
Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
Yet he stayed with the Republicans, energized the Conservative base, and achieved successes that we still enjoy today.
It is up to us, who profess to be Conservatives, to keep the Republican majority we already have and to energize it to keep its sacred vows.