With GOP Demise, The Time is Now for Lovers of Liberty to Act
With overwhelming victories in five states last night, Donald Trump seems all but guaranteed to become the Republican nominee for president. In spite of Hillary Clinton‘s general unpopularity, Trump appears poised to also lose in a massive landslide in November.
The current outlook on a Clinton v. Trump electoral map, according to University of Virginia Professor and Political Scientist Larry Sabato.
Nonetheless, many in the Republican Party remain intent upon preventing Trump from winning the nomination at the Republican National Convention in July. No matter the result, it becomes less likely every day that the Republican Party will win the presidency in November; worse yet, the GOP loss is likely to have negative effects on the down-ticket candidates across the country, including in the Senate, where the Republicans hold a narrow majority.
With so much chaos set to ensue in this Republican party, one must ask him or herself: what happened? The party was poised to defend its majorities in the House and Senate this year and to put forward an excellent set of 17 presidential candidates, all with their own distinct stories and qualifications. Meanwhile, the Democrats were to put forward the wildly unpopular Hillary Clinton with no serious competition to challenge her. With all of these factors and after eight years of a Democratic presidency, history suggested that the public would finally swing back to the GOP.
Frankly, the Republican Party has arranged for its own demise in this fashion for years. It has attempted to operate on a coalition of voters assembled in 1980 and has refused to adapt to changing times. Due to this, the Republicans have become nothing more than the “anti” party: anti-immigration, anti-marijuana, anti-gay rights and anti-diplomacy.
With this negativity surrounding the party, the GOP has gone on the defensive in most national elections and has also found itself on the defensive against the populist movement which it created. So where then should lovers of liberty, who for so long identified with the Republican Party, go to further their political interests? The answer is a two-part solution.
First, we must sort through the rubble of the GOP which survives following Trump’s defeat in November. It is difficult to know at this point if enough change will be made so that a Republican challenger in 2020 will have a serious chance against likely incumbent Clinton, but work must nonetheless be done to rebuild the party with an image of liberty: low taxes, minimal government spending and general dis-involvement with Americans’ personal lives. This would also involve supporting and nominating liberty candidates within the GOP, like Justin Amash and Thomas Massie.
As a second prong, and more immediate in needing attention, those favoring individual liberty should support Libertarian Party candidates this November. This is most important in the presidential contest, as if the LP nominee earns 5% of the national vote, the party can earn national ballot access and public funding equal to the two major parties. Better yet, if the party nominee can earn 15% in polling throughout the election, that candidate can participate in national debates with Trump and Clinton so that Americans can better understand the principles of liberty.
In this time of crisis for the Republican Party, many groups will be lobbying for control. However, libertarians must remain calm and keep in mind the long-term goals of our movement. Should we be successful, we can remove the authoritarian streak which has so adversely impacted the country for decades, and place the fundamental ideas of liberty back at the forefront of American politics. The solutions are not easy, but the rewards are more than worthwhile.
Poster Comment:
Will Jeb! run again in 2020? The same people who voted for Trump, will vote for Jeb!, because they'll still be stupid suckers in 2020.
#1: Vicomte13 To: hondo68 (#0)
Your out of your mind.
Vicomte13 posted on 2016-04-27 20:28:48 Reply Private Reply
#2: Hondo68 To: Vicomte13 (#1)
Did not Trump sign a pledge to support Jeb! or anyone else that the GOP nominates?
He's a party hack, who'll support anything regardless of how evil. He sold his soul already, done deal.
It's not much of a stretch to deduce that the majority of his followers are just as depraved.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-04-27 20:37:30 Reply Private Reply
#3: Vicomte13 To: hondo68 (#2)
Yep.
And he's not going to honor it either. He was maneuvered into signing it by pressure. He signed it, but he warned that if we were not treated fairly he would break it.
He has run away with the election, but you've got the insiders trying to steal the election from him. If they do, he's not going to support the nominee: he's going to rip up his pledge and attack the nominee and the party.
Meanwhile, I'll be getting ready to vote a straight Democratic ticket, to help ensure that the Republicans lose Congress as well as the Presidency (and thence the Supreme Court) - for stealing the election from Trump.
It won't come to that.
Vicomte13 posted on 2016-04-27 20:42:12 Reply Private Reply
#4: rlk To: hondo68 (#0)
2020 is too late. By then the majority of the population will have government chains around their ankles and brains. It's Trump now or never another chance.
rlk posted on 2016-04-27 22:55:35 Reply Private Reply
#5: Justified To: Vicomte13, hondo68 (#1)
Trump would cremate Hillary. She is terrified of Trump because he stands up to her. Trump or Cruz would beat her like a drum.
I think a Hillary president would end all that is good in America. Well at least what is left to care about. It would be a push to be a full socialist state with open borders with endless welfare. We would end up like china. A ton of uneducated people fake money and no way to get government off our backs!
Justified posted on 2016-04-28 08:40:12 Reply Private Reply
#6: Deckard To: hondo68 (#0)
And Trump is the answer?
Good grief - this guy is delusional.
Trump will be just as authoritarian as Obama if not more so.
Deckard posted on 2016-04-28 09:06:58 Reply Private Reply
#7: Vicomte13 To: Justified (#5)
Trump WILL cremate Hillary.
As for the parade of the horribles "if", it won't come to that.
Vicomte13 posted on 2016-04-28 09:10:50 Reply Private Reply
#8: Vicomte13 To: Deckard (#6)
Yes he will. But he'll be using power to do what needs to be done, for a change. So I'm all for it.
Vicomte13 posted on 2016-04-28 09:11:32 Reply Private Reply
#9: Deckard To: Vicomte13 (#8)
No problem having a dictator, as long as he's our dictator, right?
Deckard posted on 2016-04-28 09:14:54 Reply Private Reply
#10: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#0)
Yawn.
misterwhite posted on 2016-04-28 09:49:49 Reply Private Reply
#11: Vicomte13 To: Deckard (#9)
Dictatorship is in the eye of the beholder.
Vicomte13 posted on 2016-04-28 10:25:34 Reply Private Reply
#12: Hondo68 To: misterwhite, toxic D 'n R crime syndicate (#10)
Jeb had higher disapproval ratings, but he dropped out leaving Trump as the top ranking loser in the race. Trump is hated nearly twice as much as Hillary.
When a Bush, a Clinton, a Trump, or even a Sanders loses, then America is at least halfway along the path to wining. If both wings of the D&R Crime Family lose, then America wins BIG!
Hondo68 posted on 2016-04-28 12:05:05 Reply Private Reply
#13: Fred Mertz To: hondo68 (#12)
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-04-28 12:10:28 Reply Private Reply
#14: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#12)
Where did you find that? Everything I found shows their negatives about the same.
misterwhite posted on 2016-04-28 12:13:05 Reply Private Reply
#15: Fred Mertz To: misterwhite (#14)
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-04-28 12:14:43 Reply Private Reply
#16: Hondo68 To: Fred Mertz, *The Two Parties ARE the Same* (#13)
An excellent choice. Congratulations on not wasting your vote on some globalist Republican or Democrat a$$hole.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-04-28 12:15:59 Reply Private Reply
#17: ConservingFreedom To: hondo68 (#0)
No can do - I favor the right to life of all humans including the preborn. If tRump wins the GOP it's the Constitution Party for me.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-04-28 12:16:17 Reply Private Reply
#18: Hondo68 To: misterwhite, biggest loser Trump (#14)
The Wall Street Journal
Hondo68 posted on 2016-04-28 12:28:38 Reply Private Reply
#19: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#18)
misterwhite posted on 2016-04-28 12:41:00 Reply Private Reply
#20: Hondo68 To: ConservingFreedom, Austin Petersen pro-life Libertarian, A K A Stone, Vicomte13, redleghunter, Fred Mertz, TooConservative (#17)
Austin Petersen is a pro-life Libertarian running for president. He speaks on it at 9:00 above. But he probably won't get the Libertarian Party nomination this time around. He's 35 years old, the minimum for the office of president.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-04-28 12:56:02 Reply Private Reply
#21: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite, hondo68 (#19)
Ah, so Hillary has lower negatives AND higher positives ... well, then , tRump is a shoo-in. Or something.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-04-28 13:11:14 Reply Private Reply
#22: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#21)
My point was that Trump's negatives were not twice Hillary's.
You want to make a totally different point, start a new thread.
misterwhite posted on 2016-04-28 13:27:52 Reply Private Reply
#23: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#20)
misterwhite posted on 2016-04-28 13:30:35 Reply Private Reply
#24: sneakypete To: Deckard, Vicomte13 (#9)
You do realize you were addressing a devout Catholic,right?
Kinda like asking a fish if he likes water.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-28 14:04:00 Reply Private Reply
#25: sneakypete To: Fred Mertz (#13)
Works for me,even though is anti-virus program sucks.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-28 14:05:54 Reply Private Reply
#26: ConservingFreedom To: sneakypete (#24)
I'm a devout Catholic who has no desire for a dictator, whatever his or her platform.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-04-28 14:08:15 Reply Private Reply
#27: sneakypete To: Fred Mertz (#15)
The enormous amount of support and votes that Sanders is getting in the Dim primary DESPITE the FACT that he is not even a registered Dim has to be the biggest untold story of this or any other election.
You can bet your bippy that if a candidate ran for president as a Republican that wasn't even a registered Republican and beat the party favorite in several primary states that it would be front page news all over. Since it is the Dim party being savaged from within,there is not a whisper about this in the press.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-28 14:09:14 Reply Private Reply
#28: sneakypete To: ConservingFreedom (#26)
Ever heard of a guy called "The Pope"?
Or a guy called "God",as far as that goes. Yeah,God gives you a (false) "choice",but you either follow his DICTATES or you will burn in everlasting fire for an eternity. He is,without doubt,the most viscous dictator in all of history. The others only make what little remains of your life a living hell before they kill you,the Christian God promises to make your afterlife a living hell for all of eternity if you break his rules.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-28 14:28:58 Reply Private Reply
#29: ConservingFreedom To: sneakypete (#28)
Neither is running for government office. Try to stick to the topic.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-04-28 15:51:29 Reply Private Reply
#30: sneakypete To: ConservingFreedom (#29)
That depends on who you are talking to,and if you consider someone running for office to be a representative here on earth of a God. There are people on FR every day proclaiming that a vote for Trump is a vote for God,and some here hinting the same about other candidates.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-28 17:36:35 Reply Private Reply
#31: ConservingFreedom To: sneakypete (#30)
They're all nuttier than fruitcakes.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-04-28 17:46:08 Reply Private Reply
#32: sneakypete To: ConservingFreedom (#31)
And to them,WE are the ones that are nutty for not "seeing the signs".
Don't forget,we are talking FAITH here,not FACT.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-28 17:50:22 Reply Private Reply