AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

Something I have noticed, if a Republican or conservative has something bad in their record, their own party will throw them overboard.

RedState Morning Briefing
For November 3, 2010

This is an unusual Morning Briefing because you need to understand what happened while you've been sleeping.

Republican gains are massive. And when I say Republican gains are massive, I mean tsunami.

No, the GOP did not take the Senate and some races are still outstanding, but the Senate GOP has moved to the right. More so, the Republicans picking up, in the worst case, seven seats is historically strong.

But consider that as you wake up this morning the Republican Party has picked up more seats in the House of Representatives than at any time since 1948 - that is more than sixty seats. Ike Skelton, Class of 1976, is gone.

Many, many other Democrats are gone.

That, in and of itself, is significant. But that's not the half of it. The real story is the underreported story of the night - the Republican pick ups at the state level.

There will be 18 states subject to reapportionment. The Republicans will control a majority of those - at least ten and maybe a dozen or more. More significantly, a minimum of seventeen state legislative houses have flipped to the Republican Party.

The North Carolina Legislature is Republican for the first time since 1870. Yes, that is Eighteen Seventy.

The Alabama Legislature is Republican for the first time since 1876.

For those saying this is nothing because it is the South, consider these:

The entire Wisconsin and New Hampshire legislatures have flipped to the GOP by wide margins.

The State Houses in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Montana, and Colorado flipped to the GOP.

The Maine and Minnesota Senates flipped to the GOP.

The Texas and Tennessee Houses went from virtually tied to massive Republican gains. The gains in Texas were so big that the Republicans no longer need the Democrats to get state constitutional amendments out of the state legislature.

These gains go all the way down to the municipal level across the nation. That did not happen even in 1994.

This was a tsunami .
Sincerely yours,
Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com

that Obama was converted to Christianity in a church that was founded upon Black Liberation Theology.

Modern American origins of contemporary black liberation theology can be traced to July 31, 1966

Trinity marks its beginning on December 3, 1961,

now, are you going to dispute that? If so, provide real evidence.

Dear Fellow Conservative:

Thanks to your support, five new conservative leaders will be fighting for the principles of freedom in the United States Senate next year. Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson have all won their elections.

We are still waiting for final results in Colorado, Washington, and Alaska.

Many of you made financial sacrifices to help these candidates overcome the Washington establishment and President Obama's attack machine. I want to personally thank you for standing with me in this critical fight.

You helped demonstrate that conservatives can win in any state in the country. Ron Johnson defeated an entrenched incumbent in Wisconsin and Pat Toomey won in Pennsylvania, two blue states.

You also helped overcome the Washington establishment in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Kentucky where they Beltway insiders said Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul could not win.

We've won a number of critical victories but our fight is not over.

First, our conservative candidates need to work hard to maintain their independence. The establishment wants to co-opt them to continue business as usual. This must not happen.

I agree wholeheartedly with the statement Marco Rubio made in his victory speech last night:
"We make a grave mistake if we believe that these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican Party. What they are is a second chance. A second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be... not so long ago."

For that reason, I sent a letter to each of the new Senate conservatives this morning, which was published in the Wall Street Journal. I've included the letter below and I hope you will take a minute to read it.

Second, we need to begin plans to achieve more conservative victories in 2012. Over the next couple months, I will be communicating with you on ways that we can start working to strengthen the Senate in two years.

Thank you again for your willingness to fight for your country. America is exceptional and she's worth fighting for. We made great progress yesterday and there's more to come.

Respectfully,

Jim DeMint
United States Senator
...


November 3, 2010

By JIM DEMINT

Congratulations to all the tea party-backed candidates who overcame a determined, partisan opposition to win their elections. The next campaign begins today. Because you must now overcome determined party insiders if this nation is going to be spared from fiscal disaster. [emphasis added]

Many of the people who will be welcoming the new class of Senate conservatives to Washington never wanted you here in the first place. The establishment is much more likely to try to buy off your votes than to buy into your limited-government philosophy. Consider what former GOP senator-turned-lobbyist Trent Lott told the Washington Post earlier this year: "As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them."

Don't let them. Co-option is coercion. Washington operates on a favor-based economy and for every earmark, committee assignment or fancy title that's given, payback is expected in return. The chits come due when the roll call votes begin. This is how big-spending bills that everyone always decries in public always manage to pass with just enough votes.

But someone can't be bribed if they aren't for sale. Here is some humble advice on how to recognize and refuse such offers.

First, don't request earmarks. If you do, you'll vote for legislation based on what's in it for your state, not what's best for the country. You will lose the ability to criticize wasteful spending. And, if you dare to oppose other pork-barrel projects, the earmarkers will retaliate against you.

In 2005, Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) offered a measure to kill funding for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." Before the vote, Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), an appropriator, issued a warning on the Senate floor.

"If we start cutting funding for individual projects, your project may be next," she said. "When Members come down to the floor to vote on this amendment, they need to know if they support stripping out this project, Senator Bond [a Republican appropriator] and I are likely to be taking a long, serious look at their projects to determine whether they should be preserved during our upcoming conference negotiations."

The threat worked. Hardly anyone wanted to risk losing earmarks. The Senate voted 82-15 to protect funding for the Bridge to Nowhere.

Second, hire conservative staff. The old saying "personnel is policy" is true. You don't need Beltway strategists and consultants running your office. Find people who share your values and believe in advancing the same policy reforms. Staff who are driven by conservative instincts can protect you from unwanted, outside influences when the pressure is on.

Third, beware of committees. Committee assignments can be used as bait to make senators compromise on other matters. Rookie senators are often told they must be a member of a particular committee to advance a certain piece of legislation. This may be true in the House, but a senator can legislate on any matter from the Senate floor.

Fourth, don't seek titles. The word "Senator" before your name carries plenty of clout. All senators have the power to object to bad legislation, speak on the floor and offer amendments, regardless of how they are ranked in party hierarchy.
Election Night at Opinion Journal

Lastly, don't let your re-election become more important than your job. You've campaigned long and hard for the opportunity to go to Washington and restore freedom in America. People will try to convince you to moderate conservative positions and break campaign promises, all in the name of winning the next race. Resist the temptation to do so. There are worse things than losing an election-like breaking your word to voters.

At your swearing-in ceremony, you will, as all senators do, take an oath to "support and defend the Constitution." Most will fail to keep their oath. Doing these five things will help you maintain a focus on national priorities and be one who does.

Congress will never fix entitlements, simplify the tax code or balance the budget as long as members are more concerned with their own narrow, parochial interests. Time spent securing earmarks and serving personal ambitions is time that should be spent working on big-picture reforms.

When you are in Washington, remember what the voters back home want-less government and more freedom. Millions of people are out of work, the government is going bankrupt and the country is trillions in debt. Americans have watched in disgust as billions of their tax dollars have been wasted on failed jobs plans, bailouts and takeovers. It's up to us to stop the spending spree and make sure we have a government that benefits America instead of being a burden to it.

Tea party Republicans were elected to go to Washington and save the country-not be co-opted by the club. So put on your boxing gloves. The fight begins today.

Mr. DeMint is a Republican senator from South Carolina.
...

12 in '12
I see that Fox News tonight begins interviews with a dozen potential candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination. Thus far, all agreed to participate except Mitt Romney.
Included are:
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
Former Mass Gov Mitt Romney
South Dakota Senator John Thune
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
South Carolina Senator Jim Demint
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
Indiana Representative Mike Pence
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
A 13th show will feature "Others."

I don't have a TV. I would be interested in hearing from some conservative poster(s) here with a couple of paragraphs of reflections on each of the guests after they appear. Thanks.

In an unrelated observation, I listened to Ed Schultz for a while this afternoon. I found it interesting, revealing, and amusing too. Besides Shultz expressing his dissatisfaction with Obama, some callers called in to really complain about Obama, that he has no spine and that he seemed to them like he was a beaten man after the election. All of them complained that Obama has not accomplished more in his first two years. One guy was really mad over the fact that Obama did not push through single payer government run health care, after all Obama had wanted it according to the caller, and the caller seemed to think that Obama had caved and not kept his promise. The caller also claimed the overwhelming majority of the American people wanted single payer government health care, which is a total crock I think. As is my reaction every time I listen to Shultz, I was amazed again at the relative lack of intelligence and low degree of being informed.

Anyway, the general impression of the Shultz show was one of panic and hysteria. Besides giving me the pulse of the liberal world, it at least offered some humor for me today.

Think of him as a Liberal version of Beck - he gets highly agitated over stuff, and is entertaining, but not serious in any way, and sometimes wacko.

Cycloptichorn

Actually, he might be a decent guy, but I don't find him well informed at all, and I would not put him in the league of Beck at all.

To be fair, you probably find conservative talkers irritating as well?