What do you do when you’re fed up with your government? The answer is simple: you get involved. Since government is run by those who show up, you start“showing up†by voting, supporting candidates who share your values, and speaking out on the issues.
But what do you do when you’re fed up with your political party?
Over the past year we’ve seen increasing discontent with our government by a host of American who want a brighter future for their children. They know that excessive taxation, spending, and corruption are dragging America in a downward spiral.
But the discontent doesn’t stop there. It has become increasingly evident that the Republican party, traditionally known as the party of moral and fiscal responsibility, has strayed from that foundation. No longer does the GOP represent the real concerns of the American people. It has become part of the problem.
Deficit spending, moral corruption, elitism, greed, hunger for power and an exclusive “good ol’ boy†attitude have turned off many Americans, who are convinced that the Republican party is no longer the solution for the issues facing our country.
So what is the answer? Many are finding third-party options more and more attractive. Others want to abolish political parties altogether. I am convinced, however, that neither of these options will work.
Political parties are vehicles for political change. They are not political social clubs or support groups, but rather they are like-minded citizens networking for the purpose of implementing their ideas in government and society. As long as different ideologies exist, there will be different parties, in fact if not in name.
Third parties are very ineffective, since they typically divide the concerned majority into two smaller segments, each smaller than the major opposing party. The effect is to play into the hands of their political opponents.
The real answer is very simple, and it is identical to the solution for bad government. If you don’t like the direction of your party, get involved. Parties, like government, are run by those who show up. Having just come from the 9/12 March on Washington with the cries of “Enough!†still ringing in my ears, I am fully convinced that the concerned, patriotic citizens of this great land outnumber by far the greedy elitists and moderates that control the GOP.
If you don’t like what’s going on, do something about it. Attend your precinct meetings, vote in the primaries, consider running for office within the party itself, and recruit your friends to do the same. There is no problem caused by bad people that good people can’t fix. If every discontented conservative would allow his dissatisfaction with the status quo to drive him into the GOP instead of away from it, it would scare the living daylights out of the “good ol’ boys,†and mark the beginning of a new era in the Republican party.
You are absolutely correct, Miss Hannah. A third party tends to split votes away from the party they are most closely aligned with to the benefit of third party each are attempting to defeat. But, don’t limit anybody to reforming the GOP. The same concentrated approach to any party would work.