Opinion - Will we listen?

Will we listen?

That’s My Opinion

By Bob Robinson

Sept. 17, 2010

“The leftward drift comes from a growing dependence on big government and entitlements.”

The dilemma?

"How do we elect representatives who will legislate responsibly (fiscally, constitutionally) when a growing majority want more largesse from their government?"

This came from a friend following Pres. G. W. Bush’s former Senior Advisor Karl Rove’s comments on Tea-backed Republican challenger Christine O’Donnell.

She beat the handpicked Republican candidate, Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del), in the Delaware U.S. Senate primary Tuesday.

He was unhappy with Rove’s disparaging comments on Fox News’ “Hannity” regarding the win. I didn’t see the show but I’ve seen and heard Rove’s statements – plus those of others – on a variety of news shows.

Rove has reportedly said, “This is not a race we’re going to win.” He said O’Donnell has made questionable financial decisions and has a long history of bizarre statements that Democrats will use against her in the general election.

According to Politics AP, Senate Republican campaign chief John Cornyn of Texas said he'd support the winner, but stopped short of a ringing endorsement.

Cornyn said it was "no secret" he had recruited Castle as the party's best hope to pick up the seat held for decades by Vice President Joe Biden, but noted that it was NRSC policy to support the winner of the primary and that “no exception will be made here.”

O’Donnell was backed by the former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as well as the Tea’s.

The bigger picture is that many pundits believe Delaware’s seat is a “must” if Republicans want to take the 10 seats needed to regain control of the Senate in 2011. And they don’t think O’Donnell can beat her Democratic opponent Chris Coons, who before the primary was ahead of her by double digits.

The Tea’s have already sent shock waves through the Republican camp in Senatorial races in Nevada, Alaska and Kentucky, not to mention gubernatorial races in Colorado and South Carolina.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is already crowing. “We’re confident that on Election Night we’ll retain control of both the House and the Senate,” he said.

Is he right? Is there a message here? Anyone remember 1992?

Democrat Bill Clinton, with only 43 percent of the popular vote, defeated incumbent Pres. George H. W. Bush. Why? Because “far right” Independent candidate Ross Perot took 19 percent of the vote, leaving Bush hanging with the remaining 38 percent.

The Perot movement of 18 years ago just might be the Tea movement of today.

Wake up, folks!

You didn’t listen in 1992 and we got Slick Willy. If you don’t listen in 2010 the freight train toward what many perceive to be a Socialist America will continue unimpeded for two more years.

Possibly beyond all hope of recovery.

I remember noting years ago that nearly half of America was on some kind of public dole. I have to believe that we’ve passed the halfway mark by now. Needless to say, this is what my friend was referencing.

Republicans have continually shot themselves in the foot. They got control of the White House with Reaganomics, then blew it. They got control of Congress with their Contract with America, then blew it. They got the White House back with G.W., then blew it.

When are we going to learn that people don’t want a choice between two parties that pander to the people – and big business lobbyists – who want handouts from Big Brother? The degree of Republican “largess” compared to that of Dems is irrelevant.

I am a Republican and a proud member of the Darke TEA Patriots. If I remember right, I’m one of nearly a quarter of all Americans who are part of the Tea movement, identify with the Tea movement or know someone who is.

We are not the majority by any means – not yet, anyway – but in a nation that only has a marginal differentiation between those who lean left and those who lean right, the Tea’s could spell disaster for the Republican Party and the nation.

It can split the “right” vote, like Perot did in 1992, and leave us with the same power structure in Washington that we’ve been fretting over for the past two years.

They don’t want this any more than we do. They said they wouldn’t start their own party and they haven’t. They just want their country back.

We all do.

They have assumed the activist role that the left has used against us for decades… they have participated in the “system.”

And in some crucial areas, they have taken control of it.

So is it too late? Are we doomed to repeat the lesson of 92?

I don’t think so. I still have faith in the majority of Americans. But the Republican leadership must wake up and return to the values that have defined our party since its inception.

Will we listen? I hope so.

That’s my opinion. What’s yours?

Bob Robinson is the retired editor of The Daily Advocate, Greenville, Ohio. If you wish to receive a daily notification of his comments, opinions and reports, send your email address to: opinionsbybob@gmail.com. Feel free to express your views.