Now see, right there. I voted for Gary Johnson. His ideals were much more in tune with what a true conservative should be. He left his state with a surplus when he was done. All MA got was Romneycare. If it feels good to just blindly vote for the red guy just because we're told to, we're no better than the primitives. Romney wasn't a good candidate, not even close. He was about as vanilla of a candidate as you could possibly imagine, shiny hair included. What should have happened was for him to concede to Johnson who had a much better conservative history to back him up. If we keep voting for squishy bland candidates like Romney and McCain, that's exactly what we'll keep getting. The only difference between that type of candidate and Obama is that Obama is headed in the same direction as them, only faster.
If you read my post, you'd realize I wasn't voting blindly for anyone. I completely understand who Romney is. I like Gary Johnson too but the fact is, we have only 2 parties with any hope of winning. You don't have to like it but that's the way it is. How many times have 3rd parties gummed up the works for either party? What needs to happen (and Gary Johnson could be part of this) is to change the party from within. The looney left did this quite effectively. It didn't take that long, either. It's the one lesson we really need to learn from them. We almost learned it in 2010. Then we went backwards. Up one, back two...it's like we're playing "Mother May I". The solution lies with us, the base. We could've changed the direction of the country. We had a diverse, conservative pool of candidates to choose from in 2012. But we have too many purists...he/she doesn't think exactly like I do on every single issue, no way I'm going to accept that 95% is better than 80% and 50% is better than -200% (which is what we have now).
Oh, no, can't have this guy, somone wrote on a rock and he's an idiot, nevermind he's running one of the largest states in the union, it's doing well economically and he's fearless when standing up for his citizens.
This guy over here...okay, so he's run an entire freaking world wide corporation but he doesn't have any government experience. Everyone knows there's absolutely no politics in business. So what if he knows how to find the best people to delegate work to. And despite having the endorsement and faith of Dr. Alveda King, we're just going to allow the liberal media to turn him into some Mandingo and declare him unable to win.
Her? She's looney toons. The press calls her crazy and lazy so that's that! Of course she'd be better than 0bama. Of course she's a rock-ribbed conservative. Oh, she said a couple things in a way that made the press criticize & mock her. At least she knows we don't have 57 states. She's unelectable because we, the republican base, just assume if the press knocks someone they have to be kicked to the curb. Sheesh, it's not like we're democrats and will stand behind our candidates.
Him? Too damned socially conservative. And mild. And caring. And smart. And his kid is sick. What's gonna happen if he get's that 3am phone call and he's at the hospital with her? He might be compelled to sit with her and let a whole embassy burn or something. Everyone knows that's so much worse than being unavailable while your ambassador and a few Navy SEALs are killed. He might even have *gasp* prayed with his pastor after sending in every warmongering personnel in the area. That's so uncool compared to jetting off to party with Jay-Z and Beyonce. Another one bites the dust.
Getting towards cruch time and we've effectively allowed the liberal press and the RINOs to divide us and take out our most conservative candidates, any one of which could win with our support. The majority of the country is conservative, socially and/or financially. A positive message, love of country and common sense ideas wins the day every time...think Reagan. The RINO's thought he was as crazy as any candidate in the 2012 primary but he won the hearts and minds of the people.
Well at least we have the former speaker of the house. Maybe he's not as conservative as we'd like but he's smart & practical and has an encyclopedic knowledge of our history and the constitution. Many of us really rallied around him. Except, he doesn't have the kind of money the RINO chosen candidate does and they're starting their full court press. We're still in our little factions, still fighting with each other and being all butt hurt because everyone else in the freaking party didn't see the genius of "our" candidate.
So, we have Romney. We were outsmarted by the RINOs who didn't have to spend a dime while we tore each other apart. But, Romney's a decent human being. He loves this country. He has a backbone when it comes to foreign policy. We certainly wouldn't be in the geopolitical mess we are now. He had such genuine compassion and righteous anger about Benghazi. Given that, do you honestly believe we'd have the chaos around the world we have now? Do you think Romney would've drawn a red line and walked away? Do you think his consequences after beheading American citizens would be as limp wristed as 0bama's? That he would've completely think he would've abandoned Israel and the Ukraine? Or continued to alienate our European allies while kissing the butt of anyone in wearing a towel on their head? Do you really think the economy wouldn't be any better? If he's anything, Romney's a numbers guy.
And, just like the Republican congress listens to their base more often than the democrat senate listens to us, we'd have a lot more influence over him than 0bama. He'd want to be reelected. And I'm pretty sure he has enough respect for the constitution that he wouldn't violate it with endless executive orders. If you don't see the differences between them, then perhaps you need better information. The canard about "well, he's going in the same direction just slower" is bogus. So many of 0bama's executive orders and extra constitutional rulings would NOT have happened under Romney. Reversing some of those will take a great deal of work. It's so much easier and quicker to tear down than rebuild. We wouldn't be slowing down, we'd be going in a completely different direction.
We need to stop throwing tantrums and work for what we want. Don't want RINOs...that's what primaries are for. Maybe it will take 2 or 3 or even 4 elections (took Reagan a few). In the meantime you don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Play the cards your dealt may be a cliche, but it's better than taking your toys and going home. Staying home or voting for a 3rd party is no different than giving the democrats another vote. Honestly, I'm more libertarian than conservative on many issues but just preventing the left from getting total control of the judicial system, as they've done with pop culture, education and the press, is worth not wasting my vote. Anyway, if you can find a way to justify your lack of concern for the country more power to you. I just can't. I have children and grandchildren and I don't every want to have to tell them, "Sorry, you guys are riddled with debt and won't be able to live the American dream that all parents want for their children. I sat out X,Y,Z election(s) to 'teach the party a lesson'! No one even noticed that I and a few million of my fellow conservatives sat it out until after the election. The other guy was elected and the country went to shit! Hey, don't blame me, I voted in the primaries."
Cindie
Cindie