Q&A Friday #39: Should Republicans Stay Home In November?

by John Hawkins | May 5, 2006 11:55 pm

Question: “Do you think the base will punish the congressional Republicans this November by staying home? Do you think we should?

My opinion by the way is that as much as I would love to see some of those nimrods get punished for their behavior (acting like Democrats) I don’t think now is the time because the alternative would mean that impeachment proceedings will begin next January.” — WSOwen02

Answer: As anyone who reads RWN regularly knows, I have no qualms whatsoever about ripping Republicans up one side and down the other when they deserve it. Moreover, I’m not a “Party Man.” My loyalty is to conservatism and conservative ideals, not the Republican Party.

That being said, the Republican Party is the only vehicle conservatives have to get our agenda enacted. The Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, Reform Party, etc., etc., are never going to amount to anything and quite frankly, there’s not a single issue I can think of where the Democrats are legitimately to the right of the GOP.

Does that mean there’s never a good reason to vote against a Republican? No. Sometimes, when you have a particularly corrupt (see Duke Cunningham) or racist (see James Hart[1]) Republican, they reflect badly on the whole Party and we’re better off without them.

Furthermore, to tell you the honest truth, I wouldn’t mind seeing John McCain or Lincoln Chafee lose their seats either. Chafee is legitimately to the left-of-center, didn’t vote for Bush in 2004, and it’s entirely possible that he might switch parties anyway. Getting rid of him would be like a warning shot across the bow of the other RINOs in the Senate. In regard to McCain, as often as not, when the Senate GOP does something stupid, destructive, and plain old “unconservative,” John McCain turns out to be at the bottom of it. He’s not the only RINO in the Senate, but he’s the leader-of-the-pack and we’d be better off with him out of the way.

Other than those exceptions to the rule, I don’t believe in protest votes. If conservatives want to win the war of ideas, we need to get more foot soldiers, imperfect though they may be, elected and convince more Americans that we’re right. Standing by as liberal Democrats take over is going to take us farther from our goals, not move us closer to them.

So, by all means, rip into Republicans you disagree with and try to push them in the direction we want to go. But, when the times comes, you should go to the polls and vote Republican.

Endnotes:
  1. James Hart: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/archives/week_2004_08_01.PHP#002308

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/uncategorized/qa-friday-39-should-republicans-stay-home-in-november/