Posted by
VBushmills on Friday, November 20, 2009 3:21:37 PM
Richmond, November 20, 2009
One year out to the mid-terms, three years out to the general, any wannabe who wants to lead the GOP into an electoral victory in 2012 needs to be turning the dirt over in his garden now.
Our opinion, consistently, has been that members of Congress need not apply. We believed that in 2008 as well. There are dozens of reasons why this is so.
But that does not mean that there does not have to begin very soon a movement in both houses that will coincide with the general themes of the would-be president. Ploughing the row, so to speak.
Now in truth George W Bush did an effective job of this in 2000, only his themes fell flat very quickly. I even liked the sound of "compassionate conservatism" except my definition and GW's barely touch. But for reasons I can only call self-deluding, Bush persisted in his themes of getting along, even as the Democrat Party in Washington, by March 2001 had already revealed themselves as different beings altogether than the democrats Bush had known in Austin. These Democrats' real purposes, for reasons that were obvious to Christ as soon as he met Satan eye to eye in the Wilderness, George W Bush could not allow himself to recognize.
But on the ashes of Bush's failure, the GOP's next candidate has to be able to 1) recognize the full dimensions of this opponent and the struggle, which is both cultural and constitutional, and 2) convey to the general public that he understands these dimensions in the same way we already do.
In other words, seeing Evil personified, he must show us that he (or she) is ready, willing and able to spit in its eye. To hell with this turn the other cheek crap....especially since it's our cheeks, not his, being slapped around.
All this will be altogether more easy to accomplish if this undeclared "leader" begins seeking out fellow visionaries very quietly (but strongly) among members of Congress, media and other cultural and institutional leaders. It will require some discretion, and a special touch, hence some time, to be able to effectively vet his best allies among congressional members without being ratted out to a media who will not have his best interests at heart.
Now this is not an endorsement for "Anyone but Sarah Palin". Quite the contrary. She is the one immovable object in our desire to see a rejuvenated, and "re-masculated" GOP. We are encouraged in our belief that Sara will accept whatever role and platform from which she can best help "America". If the GOP can't find this person, she will act accordingly. We like her, and would vote for her in a heartbeat, but unless she has a "guns-a'blazin'" strategy that will quieten much of the anti-American (not to mention anti-Sarah) mood in America...you know, putting 8-10 members of Congress in jail, ditto the administration, and generally re-acquaint the people with the legal limits of "treason"...we can expect only 4-8 more years similar to Bush's slide into irrelevancy. The new President will have to represent a new start, a start from ground zero. A new dawning of American civilization.
Personally, I like David Petraeus, so the sooner he retires and begins surveying his options, the better. I also like Judge Napolitano...articulate, rigid in his beliefs, and a Libertarian to boot. Good combo there. We still like Mitt Romney, Huckaby not so much, and Newt, don't even bother to get up off the couch. But Romney's biggest strength in 2008 will be his biggest drawback in 2012. The new reality of a socialist today takeover doesn't call for a leader who can smile the chrome off a trailer hitch. We need a spitter, with just a glimmer of cold-blooded meanness in his eye...and an acetylene torch.
I may have missed someone let me know, and if anyone steps forward meeting that description, I'll keep you posted.
Finally, the would-be president needs to be considering a kitchen cabinet of specialists who will move with some stealth to disembowel the bureaucracy, among other things. We have a good bureaucracy-buster as part of our own team right here in Richmond. We think that is key.
If we are going to have czars, this is the business they should be going about.
VB