If the Republicans don't get it now, they are done.

Does anyone believe they will get it now?

They don't have very much time to figure it out.

The Republicans would be wise to read what I wrote about them four and a half years ago. For your enjoyment, here it is. It originally was posted as a comment on Sage's post "Leviathan and Libertarian", April 22, 2005:

Sage and I have talked at length about these subjects, and with most of the post, I agree.

I do have more optimism, however, when it comes to the Republicans. With more conservative Republicans in the House and Senate, enough to create a "supermajority", I believe we would see more and faster dismantling of socialist programs in the US.

In the meantime, we have to work with the same kind of incrementalism that the socialist systems with which we are dealing were created and built up. This isn't the end of the world, as long as progress is in the direction of increased freedom and decreased socialism.

Rome (American socialism) wasn't built in a day. Therefore it won't come down in one, either. Look at the way the Left screams and moans and cries foul when one of their programs is put into the "growing only at the rate of inflation" category. There are still far too many Americans who are willing to accept their ideas and their rhetoric for us to succeed in dismantling their oppression that quickly. We must work to change hearts and minds and to bring Americans into the clear understanding that entitlements are not rights, and that, in fact, these kinds of things actually interfere with the basic rights with which we have been endowed.

Along with this, I believe that many of the less conservative Republicans may come around. Those that do not will be forced to move over.

There is clear evidence that this may happen sooner rather than later. The Donks (a little Mr. Minority lingo there) have crowned Howard Dean the leader of their party, and Her Highness Hillary is starting to play the "I'm not really a communist" game that her husband played so successfully. I do believe America knows Mrs. Clinton well enough to finish her off at the ballot box, and it is already clear that Mr. Dean is only going to succeed in getting more Republicans elected.

The demise of the Democratic Party is happening right before our very eyes (Baby What a Big Surprise). It will be very interesting, indeed, to see what the Republican Party does with the situation. One of two things will have to happen:

1. The party will do as I have enumerated above, speeding up the repeal of socialism, and placing preventive provisions into the Constitution through Amendment.

or 2. The party will miss the opportunity to empower the people, and a more conservative party will rise up as the conservative alternative. There are a few of these already out there, such as the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party. Both have the same (very limited) potential at this point in time. More likely, however, I see a coalition of such parties forming and coming together into a new party that will serve as the more conservative alternative if the Republicans choose this course of action. The new party would then be charged with speeding up the repeal of socialism, and placing preventive provisions into the Constitution through Amendment.

The way I see it today, the Republican Party is in a very unique situation. They are the ones writing the history books right now, as they are the only political party that is really relevant from a political standpoint. They are the ones who are going to be choosing which course of action to take, and it will be very interesting to see what they choose to do.

My hope is that they will choose option 1, and I think the leadership of the party will be wise enough to see the writing on the wall and do that. As of right now, though, there is still plenty of potential for the party to swing the other way.

The reason I believe they will choose the first of the two options I stated above is that the majority of Republicans in power today, at the very least, KNOW what the right thing to do is. What is holding them back is the anxiety of the implementation. The current opposition favors big government and making it bigger and more intrusive. If the opposition is weakened to the point of complete irrelevancy (which will be happening sooner rather than later), the Republicans will be in a better position to do the right thing, as it will become imperative for fiscal and constitutional reasons, and to be certain that a new opposition coming from the other side of the spectrum doesn't create for them a similar fate that the Donks are facing now. I believe that when it comes down to brass tax (read that survival as the majority party), the Republicans will come through and do the right thing. The Libertarians and the other conservative parties are the insurance policy we have taken out.

RWR

Sadly, my optimism with regard to the Republicans has waned, as they took this great opportunity to really take the bull by the horns and embrace conservative beliefs as their own, and completely pissed it away in an effort to appease the Donks, even when they had a majority. A foolish game to be sure.

Sage said in a later comment, circa 2008, with regard to the Republican Party, "We don't want the territory, we simply want to control the idealism of the powers that be." How true.

Sadly, when it comes to political parties, it's been pretty decisively proven that the only way to control the idealism of the powers that be is to control the territory. The powers that be in the Republican Party are not likely to give up that control easily, and the Hoffman campaign's success in New York should be a wake-up call for the Republicans. As I said earlier, I doubt it will be. Hoffman will be looked upon in the same light as Ronald Reagan, as the conservative that got through despite the party's best efforts to stop him.

We now will have to look at Hoffman much more closely, as the Republican brass will now be dedicating itself one hundred percent to the task of containing Hoffman to his quiet little Congressional district in New York. Their task will be to minimize him and make sure he doesn't wind up at the top of their ticket in 2012.

Hoffman may very well be the answer for conservatives, depending upon how successful he is on Tuesday and how well he represents the interests of conservatives over the next two years should Tuesday favor him. One thing cannot be denied: Doug Hoffman is the conservative in America today with the most momentum anywhere.

Support him when he's right; work against him when he's wrong, but Hoffman and others like him will be big players in the upcoming months. Mark my words.

RWR