Why You Should Support The GOP Even Though They Can’t Find Their Behinds With Both Hands.

by John Hawkins | May 18, 2007 2:59 pm

The Republicans Really Are the Stupid Party[1] column I wrote for Townhall has probably already generated more email than any other column that I’ve ever written.

Most of it is just some variation of, “I agree with everything you wrote,” but the 2nd most written group of responses say something like, “I agree with most of what you wrote, but to hell with the Republican Party.”

Let me tell you a little bit about that argument and why I don’t subscribe to it.

Right off the bat, let me say that I am not a “party man.” I’m a conservative first, a Republican second, and my goal isn’t to see “my side win,” it’s to move our government to the right.

But, here’s the reality: We have a two party system and the third parties are never going to be anything more than gnats buzzing around the rear ends of the donkeys and elephants. People who argue otherwise are only deluding themselves.

So, if two parties are going to control the machinery in DC from here to eternity, then conservatives and libertarians have to make a choice: do they want to be part of the Republican party or not?

Some people would argue, quite correctly, that the GOP in DC is insulated, arrogant, and not true to conservative principles. Their response to that is to abandon the party.

I think they have it exactly backwards.

Once you leave the Republican Party, Republicans will no longer care what you think and let’s face it: the Democrats don’t care what anyone to the right of Ted Kennedy thinks about anything unless it’s two months before an election. That means if conservatives and Libertarians opt out of the Republican Party, they lose their chance to have a meaningful impact on the political process.

So, what you need to do instead is do MORE for the Republican Party — but not just for anybody in the Republican Party.

That’s why I created a political blog in the first place. It’s why I created Rightroots last year and helped raise more than a quarter of a million dollars for Republican candidates in the last 3 months of the campaign, none of which were incumbents. It’s why I’m consulting for Duncan Hunter[2].

Yes, I do make a living doing this, but also, the more I do for the Republican Party, the greater the ability I have to influence the course of the party.

Now granted, I’m just one guy — and a very small fry at that. But, when the small fry like me finally get to a critical mass and flex our muscles as a group, we’ll make the RINOs in DC jump through hoops.

You may shake your head and say that’ll never happen, but it already has once. Up until Goldwater and Reagan changed the balance, the Republican Party was dominated by Rockefeller Republicans. But, over time, the potency of conservative ideas built up the sort of grassroots support that Reagan and Company needed to take over the Party — but it was never easy. Remember that Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of the Republican Party and one of the greatest Presidents who ever lived, actually was defeated for the nomination in 1976 by that squishy mediocrity, Gerald Ford.

Today, we need to do the same thing that Republicans did back then: take back our party for conservatism.

So, with that in mind, always look for ways to move the ball forward for conservatism.

* That means you vote for that squish on the ballot instead of the Democrat who doesn’t agree with you on 90% of the issues. But,

* If that squish is challenged in a primary by a real conservative, vote for the conservative.

* Contribute money — not to the squish, but to organizations and candidates that represent your beliefs.

* Volunteer to help out candidates and organizations that represent your beliefs.

* Vote in polls, send emails to your representatives, write blog posts, and look for ways you can make a difference.

In other words, get more involved in the Republican Party, not less, so that you will have the juice to change the Party for the better — and let me tell you, the Republican Party desperately needs to be changed right now because it’s failing conservatives and failing America.