Small-r republicans

Our members of Change the Congress in 2010 are part of the under-represented millions of members of all of the grassroots organizations … and there are literally thousands of such groups.  Some organizations have very large memberships.  Some have very small memberships.  But our collective memberships number in the millions – certainly over 40 million, maybe close to a 100 million.

Let’s discuss who we are … and what political party we claim.  Liberals … Green party … the Tea Party … Fiscal conservatives … constitutional conservatives … conservative conservatives … small-l liberty-minded Republicans … small-I independents … Independents (with a large I) … Large-L Liberty-minded Republicans … Libertarians ….  Do you know there are close to a hundred political parties?

Good grief! 

We as a country need to move closer together – not farther apart … or we will see our country in a revolution … brothers against brothers, fathers against sons.  We cannot afford to waste any more precious time quibbling about political parties, for God’s sake!  Wake up, people – it is way past time to smell the roses!

We – and when I say we, I am including over half of the American voters – have to get past the details and decide exactly what party we are going to support in the 2010 election.  Most of us realize that to create a third party will split the votes and just leave us with the same politicians we have now … no, not what we want!  Unless, of course, you want Socialism, Marxism, or more of the same.

I propose a reach-out! 

I propose that we reach out to others.  The Republican Party needs to come down off that pedestal and reach out to us … the disenchanted conservatives who feel betrayed by the party leaders and the party politicians in Washington.  There are millions and millions of us … we’re in the Tea Party, we’re in Change the Congress in 2010, we’re in Get Out of Our House … we’re in Americans for Prosperity … we’re in FreedomWorks … we’re in literally thousands and thousands of similar grassroots groups.  You name it … we’re in it!

But at heart, we are Republicans … we are for smaller government, less taxes, more open government, more responsiveness to the people’s pleas.

I want the politicians and candidates and incumbents and party chairmen to know what we are … unhappy with the status quo.  We are the heart of this country … the throbbing, pulsing heart that keeps America the home of the free and the brave.  We are the sleeping giant that has been awakened by the disregard, by the disrespect, and by the arrogance of the politicians who have totally ignored us.  We are not uneducated or unruly … we merely want our questions answered and our voices heard. 

Ignore us at your peril.

I want us … the under-represented millions of members of all of the grassroots organizations to think about ourselves and who we want to represent us in Washington. 

I want us … to think about ourselves and how we are perceived by those currently in power. 

I want us … to decide whether we are going to allow our voices to be heard or whether we will remain splintered, broken, fractious and unheard by politicians and the media. 

I want us … to think about aligning ourselves with each other and becoming a political force to be reckoned with, impossible to ignore. 

I want us … to consider what political party we are part of … and it cannot be a third party or our country is doomed.

I want us … to think about ourselves becoming small-r republicans. 

Yes.  Small-r republicans.

We do not agree with everything or every part of the Republican platform … but we disagree with virtually everything in the Democratic platform.       

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Small-r republicans are interested in political issues.  We see the dangers of expanding the national debt, increasing government spending and putting government in command of the health care sector.  Small-r republicans know that the national debt is on a trajectory to double as a percentage of the economy over 10 years, and the proposed health care bills threaten to bend the cost curve up.

Small-r republicans know that higher taxes could choke off economic recovery and keep unemployment up near double-digit rates for years.  The stimulus bill covertly raised the budget baseline for many domestic spending programs and sent money to state and local governments.  Just another payoff to the public employee unions who spent more than $100 million to elect Democrats in 2008.

Small-r republicans know these are public policy issues of fundamental importance.  

Small-r republicans also know that we must support the very best candidates and not necessarily the party candidates.  Our values are American, our votes for America and not a political party.  Our voices are American, raised for our country and not a political party.  We are plain-spoken, common-sense people with a great love for our country.

The Republican Party needs to reach out to us … the millions and millions of small-r republicans, not only reach out to us but actually listen to us.  We won’t ever agree with the entire Republican platform but disagreeing is part of being an American … it’s our right!  The Republican Party must be flexible and welcome small-r republicans as viable, important members with viable, important issues.

Ignore us at your peril. 

Even as the Democrats bitterly cling to their contempt for us … the increasing numbers of grassroots members not enlightened enough to share their liberal, Marxist, and Socialistic views, other Americans have noticed.  Even in the liberal heartland of Massachusetts, where Scott Brown is on the brink of an upset victory, it was us … the under-represented millions of members of all of the grassroots organizations who sent donations and volunteered to help defeat the Democratic majority in the United States Senate.  

And when conservatives won the Governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey last November, it sent a message throughout our land that we are taking back our country and winning back our government.

We’ve had hope – it hasn’t worked. 

Now, let’s start calling ourselves small-r republicans and get to work!