Listen To This!

On Sunday I caught the majority of a re-broadcast of a town hall style meeting held in a pizza joint by three Republican leaders (?), Rep. Eric Kantor, R-VA., former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney. This event was billed as a listening tour for the Republican party; an attempt to gather information from the people about the future of the party. What resulted, in my opinion, was a pathetic attempt to move the Republican party back to its rightful place as the subserviant party in American politics. Sadly, they might succeed in this effort.

Many of us can remember the days before Ronald Reagan. The Republican Party was run by the wealthy northern establishment of the ilk of Nelson Rockefeller, Gearld Ford, and Richard Nixon. You had to kiss the rings of the power brokers in order to succeed in the party. The Republicans were out of touch with the working man and, therefore, secured their place as a minority party. The party would take the White House more on the personality of the candidate they put forth than on the ideals of the party platform. Regardless, the Democrats solidly controlled congress and assured their agendas would be considered strongly if not rule.

Then came the Reagan Revolution. Not only was he a great communicator but his conservative ideas struck a chord with the people. He was the right leader to fix the mess caused by Jimmy Carter and the Democrats in the late 70's and set the country on a path to prosperity. He successfully went over the heads of the Congress and saw his agenda implemented. His foreign policy drove the last nail into the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc and, when the dust settled, we are the world's only super power. George H.W. Bush ran on and won with a Reaganesque platform but then governed like a Democrat. George W. Bush ran as a conservative and invoked Reagan's name but spent more like a drunken sailor than an fiscal conservative. So in the last four years the country has turned decidedly back to the Democratic Party. This is more about the lack of leaders in the Republican Party than the ideas of the Democrats.

Let me make this clear: The Republicans have a bunch of wannabes clamoring for a seat at the table. Many of them are faces from the past such as Romney, Jeb Bush, and Newt Gingrich. Most of them have adopted the mantra to forget about Reagan, stop being nostalgic, etc. They are all in on the social engineering that has been occurring since 1964 just with less government control of it. I don't see much difference between them and their Democrat counterparts; definately not enough difference to inspire me to support them.

So where is the future of the Republican Party? If the party is to return to the leadership prominence of the past it will require new visionary leaders. These will probably come from outside Washington, probably governors. There are a number of good prospects in the House of Representatives. You can usually hear them on C-Span giving speeches from the floor during dinner each night. None of them will break out from there. Too much noise and shouting to be heard.

There is a good litmus test to identify those individuals that have potential. If you see the press attacking someone with the fury of a rabid dog, that must be someone that scares them. And since the press is a prominent wing of the Democrat party they must be scared as well. They tried it with Reagan and it didn't work. They did it to Newt, W. and others. But of late their passion has been toward the destruction of Sarah Palin. Since her nomination as VP running mate last summer there has been a orchestrated effort to destroy her personally and professionally. Nothing was off limits. The goal of the media and Democrats is to taint her permanently so she has no significance in the future.

Why does this governor from one of the least populated states invoke such ire? Because she can connect with people! She does not have that blue blood pedigree, (she didn't go to Harvard or even Yale), and she is not rich. Palin is like so many of us, raising families and facing day-to-day challenges that are foreign to most in politics. She is optimistic and communicates a positive message. No wonder they hate her!

So Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are their targets right now but watch for new targets as they dare speak up. I am optimistic that they are out there. Whether they have the courage to seize the opportunity is another question. I hope so.