I have come to the conclusion that the Goldwater/Libertarian Wing of the Republican Party is no longer welcome in the party. I found one of the clearest expositions of that split here.
In many ways, the Republican Party is like a 3 legged stool.with 3 constituent legs – the social conservatives, the Rockefeller Republicans and constitutional liberty activists.
1. The social conservatives endorse big government and endless wars.
2. The Rockefeller Republicans endorse big government and endless wars but are very uncomfortable the social issues which they don’t care about.
3. The constitutional liberty activists oppose big government, the damn wars, the trillion dollar a year foreign policy, the Federal Reserve and they really oppose the federal government meddling in the social issues because it’s not a power specifically enumerated in the constitution.
What is killing the Republican Party is that the constitutional liberty activists will no longer hold their noses and vote Republican as they once did and this is a trend that surfaced in 2006 and was considerably magnified in 2008 when the Democrats took back the House of Representatives and won the presidency.
In fact, the liberty activists are so angry with the GOP that they are determined to guarantee its defeat by voting 3rd party for however long it takes for the liberty activists to takeover the GOP from the warmongers and fascists. The Gary Johnson vote delivered critical swing states to Obama in 2012.
Eric asks about the War On Drugs:
I’d hate to see this become a partisan issue with the Republicans supporting the War on Drugs, and the Democrats in opposition. But (unfortunately) I think that is exactly what many Democrats — and many Republicans — want.
What in hell are they trying to do? Prove M. Simon right?
I believe I have already been proved right. What is happening now is that the mask has come off and the situation has been made so totally obvious that it is impossible to miss.
I was amazed at how many times in the last year I was told I was unwelcome in the Republican Party. The social conservatives want a strict social conservative party. They have no room for the Goldwater wing.
I intend to do my best to grant them their wish.
Comments
8 responses to “The Goldwater Wing Has Left The Party”
I guess I am real big trouble. I fit any of the three mentioned.
Here, and in two contiguous counties, the Republican party is being led and is dominated in its precinct committee ranks, with Tea Party Republicans.
The Tea Party is not fully appreciated by the Old Guard. And our three most populous counties swamp rural counties in statewide influence.
Before you give up, check into who is involved at the county level in your state’s rural districts.
You may want to come back to the party.
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The Cold War kept the 3 together during the Cold War. It’s been unraveling ever since. That unraveling seems to be speeding up.
I’ll go with the constitutional liberty types too. My Rep. (Scott Garrett) is a member of the Liberty Caucus and keeps my at least somewhat interested in the RNC.
Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are also a slim hope.
I’d hate to see this become a partisan issue with the Republicans supporting the War on Drugs, and the Democrats in opposition.
Yeah, that would be annoying, in terms of political side effects.
I wouldn’t hold my breath worrying about it, though, since the Democrats as a party show no particular signs of wanting to end the War on Drugs.
(Some individual Democrats have taken actual steps in such a direction, which is good.
I seem to recall a few of the constitutional-liberty-type Republicans doing the same, which is also good.)
Bram,
I was a member for a while of the Illinois Republican Liberty Caucus news group. It was spending a significant fraction of its time on Abortion. I dropped out.
http://www.rlc.org/
Today’s so-called ‘conservatives’ don’t even know what the word means. They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right. It’s not a conservative issue at all. – Barry Goldwater
Simon,
There are 2 groups with the same name. It is the PAC that you linked to, although when I read their mission I don’t know why they would spend time on abortion.
The Liberty Caucus I was referring to is a group of Libertarian leaning Congressmen who meet weekly. Their goal is to reduce the size and scope of government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Caucus
http://houselibertycaucus-amash.house.gov/membership
I don’t know why they would spend time on abortion.
Because socons are on a mission?