For President Bush, Loyalty is a One Way Street
5 June 2007If there is one thing President Bush has placed a premium on it is loyalty. He expects those in his administration to be loyal to him. And he has expected the rank and file of the Republican Party to be loyal to him. The problem is, he doesn’t see the need to return that loyalty.
Conservatives like me have stood by the President in spite of some pretty awful stuff. Take No Child Left Behind or his signing of Campaign Finance Reform or the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. In spite of these many things that were hardly conservative, we’ve stood by our President.
Now, when both Republicans and Democrats have a big problem with Comprehensive Immigration Reform, is the President willing to be loyal to those who have consistently supported him? Not on your life. He doesn’t even allow that our’s could be principled opposition. Instead, the President, McCain, Graham, et.al., characterize us as xenophobes and bigots.
I scratch my head every day wondering why the President and others in the Republican Party are so determined to jam this through no matter how much opposition there is. I can understand that the Republican Party does not want to be seen as anti-Hispanic. But in the end the President and his cadre are doing two things that are extremely harmful to the future prospects of the party.
First, they are jamming a wedge into the party. Some have characterized it as tearing the party apart and that may be an accurate description. There is a war within the Republican Party today and it is being waged primarily by President Bush and his accomplices. They are at war with the rank and file of the party and that does not bode well the Republican prospects in ’08.
Second, it is virtually indisputable that the vast majority of current illegals that ultimately become voting citizens will be Democrat voters. Clearly Ted Kennedy and the Democrat Party understand this. That’s why they’re willing to stand up to the unions on this issue. It takes something that big for the Democrat Party to stand up to unions.
The bottom line is, Republicans are screwed for a generation or more if this travesty of a piece of legislation makes it into law. Why then is the President doing it? Why is he willing to demagogue this issue? Why does he feel justified in calling those of us who oppose this xenophobes and bigots when he knows full well that isn’t true?
The only thing I can figure is the President is working on his legacy. He is as much a lame duck President as any ever was. His popularity is in the tank and it’s likely to go lower still with no rebound in sight unless there is a dramatic turnaround in Iraq. But if he can ram this down our throats he will be the President that dealt with the immigration problem. That’s what he’s counting on. The President wants his legacy and he’s willing to sell us out to get it! To hell with loyalty to the party or his supporters at the polls. His legacy takes precedence over loyalty. So tell me, why should anyone hold any loyalty to him?
I’ve never believed that Bush was a conservative. During his 2000 run I was not impressed and did not voter for him in the primary. But he got the nomination and I voted for him in the general election. Again in 2004 I voted for him just like millions of conservatives all across America who held their noses and checked off his name. We got some good for it. We got some good justices on the Supreme Court and we got tax cuts. But there is little else to show for our support.
I am finished being loyal to President Bush or any other Republican who puts his own interests ahead of his constituents. Lindsey Graham certainly falls into that category. Let this be a warning to Republican officials and candidates. We conservatives are not willing to be your lapdogs any longer. If you think I’m some lone malcontent, think again. There are many more just like me who will not continue to vote for you if you are unwilling to take a stand for conservative principles. We want to see a victory in ’08. We don’t want to see Hilary in the White House. But we will not be lemmings. If you expect loyalty from us you’d better be prepared to be loyal to us!
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Tags: Border Security, Conservatives, Elections, Ethics, George Bush, Illegal Immigration, Lindsey Graham, Politicians, Politics, Racism, Republicans, RINOsRelated Posts
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June 6th, 2007 at 12:26 am
I’m also disillusioned with Bush over spending and immigration issues. The alternative, Gore or Kerry, would have been worse. So, I’m still glad it’s President Bush and not President Kerry. Democrats, if you haven’t noticed, are running against Bush in 08. It’s bash Bush this, bash Bush that but they offer no solutions. If a Conservative like Thompson can capitalize on that…well…that would be ideal. Until then, we have to work with the card dealt us.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:52 am
For decades now the Democrat Party has taken the black vote for granted. They’ve given lip service to the black community but when the rubber hits the road they’ve done nothing for them.
The same thing seems to be happening with the Republican Party and conservatives. While I agree that a President Kerry would have been far worse than Bush in the short term, I’m not sure Bush has been better for the long term. The reason I say that is that we encourage bad behavior when we reward it. If the Republican Party thinks they can take conservatives for granted because “where else can we go?” then we’ve lost any real influence and the Republican Party becomes closer to the Democrat Party.
That’s precisely what we’ve seen for the last six years and that’s why Republicans lost last November. If conservatives aren’t willing to take a principled stand, to draw a line in the sand and say no more, we’ve conceded our influence.
I’ve said here several times that I am prepared to support a Democrat if that’s what’s required to unseat South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and I am serious about that. A Democrat may be worse in the short term but in the long term such a move on the part of a majority of conservatives would strengthen conservatives and the Republican Party by moving it in a solidly conservative direction. I think that’s the sort of trade worth making.