GOPREVOLT: A Brief History of Collapse Part 1

Conservatives Unite and Revolt!

A Brief History of Collapse Part 1

I had intended to publish all past blog entries in several separate postings, but that might have made the ordering of entries confusing. Instead, I'll just summarize the past entries as part of my initial foundational postings. I'll start with President Bush's term and work my way up to the first 100 days of President Obama. I must first give praise to Dr Stephen Hawking. It is the least I can do for using his great book A Brief History of Time as the metaphor for this entry. It is only fitting since the GOP currently exists nowhere except for maybe at the event horizon of a black hole. Existing literally on the cusp of extinction or a Phoenix reborn. Time will tell. We must go way back to 1994 when House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the GOP formed the Contract for America. This strategy resonated with the American people and helped the GOP take the House of Representatives. It has been a slow downward drag since then ending in DFL majority rule. The Compassionate Conservatism of President Bush #43 turned out to be another term for Moderate. There were victories in the Supreme Court, protection of life, and War on Terror, but the failures in big spending, illegal immigration, et al, along with media bias, were knives in the back true Conservatives. How did the GOP not get more done while controlling all of Washington? I supported President Bush for most of his term, but was glad to finally have an election last year. Mostly to stop hearing the same DFL talking point, "Bush lied..." You can fill in the rest. It was definitely time for new blood. This brings us to the GOP Presidential hopefuls: Gov Mitt Romney, Mayor Rudy Guliani, Senator John McCain, Gov Mike Huckabee, and Rep Ron Paul. I immediately saw the first two as the front runners. Each candidate had a major strength though: Romney/Economy, Guliani/Crisis Management, McCain/Foreign Policy, Huckabee/Evangelical, and Paul/Constitution. If only we could have used genetic engineering to create a single candidate from this group! Going into Iowa, Romney spent big, Guliani went on "vacation" in Florida, and Huckabee won an early and surprising victory. This would prove unfortunate later in the campaign. McCain found himself in a deep hole. I want to quick note that in my opinion, McCain was a far better fit for Secretary of Defense. Not President. Too bad President Bush #43 didn't recruit him in 2000. That would have solved one of many Moderate GOP issues for Conservatives. Keeping the Maverick away from Congress. McCain was so banged up and angry after the 2000 Presidential run anyway. There is little chance he would have left the Senate. After Iowa an interesting thing happened. Guliani's "vacation" in Florida became permanent and McCain surged with the Iraq surge to become a contender. This is where Huckabee's Iowa victory proved costly. This victory coupled with shear ego kept Huckabee in the race for far too long. The man had no way of winning the nomination. The honorable thing to do was step aside, but he didn't. The race between Romney and McCain got interesting. The vote poaching by Huckabee kept McCain just ahead of Romney until Romney finally withdrew. Hello presumptive 2009 GOP Presidential nominee Senator John McCain, goodbye Conservatism.