And just like that, the Republican Establishment/Mainstream Media frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination is relegated to also-ran status. If not, he soon will be.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, now fully embroiled in a potentially career-ending crisis involving abuse of power and political cronyism, will no doubt try to revive his presidential aspirations. But he first has to survive the current political firestorm–complicated by his state’s proximity to the largest media market in the world — and show he hasn’t been using his authority to inflict damage on his political enemies.
You know, kind of like the current occupant of the Oval Office has been.
Sadly, there actually are people — a lot of them — who really believe Christie wasn’t acting like an unindicted mob boss while running New Jersey. But, they will also have to eventually come to grips with the fact that, if their view of Christie were true, he would then have to be inept on a “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job” kind of level. Fort Lee will be Chris Christie’s Chappaquiddick.
No doubt the Republican Establishmentarians are now reeling. But before Paul Ryan starts measuring the drapes, maybe we should examine how the GOP got to this place, where a guy who walks like a (very large) Democrat, talks like a Democrat and in nearly every way acts like a Democrat — who happens to have an “R” behind
his name — becomes the favorite of many influential folks in the Republican Party.
But, let’s be honest. A lot of folks who didn’t necessarily like America’s Favorite Republicrat are just as guilty of the same crime.
Ron/Rand Paul.
Rick Perry.
Michele Bachmann.
Sarah Palin.
Rick Santorum.
And the list goes on.
They’ve all had supporters who turned a blind eye to their respective candidate’s enormous deficiencies while proclaiming said candidate to be the best thing since sliced Wonderbread. And, when those deficiencies came back to bite them, those “principled” supporters suddenly developed blind spots as big as a Mack truck.
Yeah, I’ve been there, too. It’s human nature, I suppose. Given a leader handpicked by God himself, the Israelites — left to their own devices but for a moment — crafted their own graven image to worship. It didn’t end well for them, either.
There is a way out, though.
Thirty years ago, when conservatism was on the rise after spending decades in the proverbial dustbin, Republicans won on issues. Democrats tried to challenge with personalities. Somehow, we got the notion — probably because our standard-bearer at the time, Ronald Reagan, was bigger than life — we needed to have equally impressive personalities. But, unfortunately, our “graven images” weren’t nearly as cool as the Democrats’.
We didn’t learn our lesson then. Perhaps we can use the impending fall of Christie as a “teachable moment” within our own movement. It’s time to get back to what wins with the American people: the issues.
To get back on track, we have to stick to our principles, not the personalities the Mainstream Media tries its hardest to stick us with. That approach — going with the prescribed “most electable candidate” — has failed, time and time again, since the early 1990s.
In general, conservatives — and many more Americans — believe in the same core principles. That’s how the United States of America has survived so long. It’s our greatest strength. So, as one very smart man once opined: “We must hang together, or we will surely hang separately.”
That means conservatives of different stripes — Tea Party activists, members of the Liberty Movement and evangelical Christians — need to reach across the divide and work together to advance a candidate who will espouse the vision for America championed by The Founders. Crossing our arms, throwing our chin in the air, and taking our ball home, refusing to play the game anymore will only make matters worse.
Trust me. I know.
Eight months ago, I became sickened by what I was seeing around me. Progressive liberals disguised as Democrats were tearing our nation and its founding principles to tatters and progressive liberals disguised as Republicans who couldn’t get out of the Democrats’ way fast enough.
So, I dropped out. I was going to take care of mine and to H-E-double-hockey-sticks with the rest of you. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I just hope I’m not too late, because I fear this is our last chance to get it right. If we don’t, we’re going to have to burn it all to the ground — “CTRL+ALT+DEL” isn’t going to be enough.
Follow Us