Apparently, the latest tactic now to be employed by the chairman of the Republican National Committee in his effort to advance the latest plan, the purpose of which we are told, is to "expand" the GOP, is to urge religious conservatives to blindly follow in the direction of those in charge of the party. What we heard from Reince Priebus, as recently as this past Saturday, was him asking, "that we come together and that we pray for the future of this country." His request/plea came during the final day of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a conference that brought several Republicans leaders together with evangelical activists. Priebus went on to say, "I'm a Christian. I'm a believer. God lives in my heart. And I'm for changing minds, not changing values." Fine words all, but sadly, really nothing much more that.
Religious conservatives have always been very skeptical, and with good reason, of establishment Republicans in Washington and the RNC's plan for growth. A plan that calls for the need to be much more tolerant regarding attitudes on immigration and social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. Party leadership has arrived at the decision that there is now a need for the party to rebuild itself after the 2012 election season but seems unsure on how to do it and thinks it has a plan to do just that. "When it comes to social issues, the party must in fact and deed be inclusive and welcoming," according to an RNC report commissioned by Priebus after the election and released in March. "If we are not, we will limit our ability to attract young people and others, including many women, who agree with us on some but not all issues."
While Priebus did not mention any of those recommendations in his remarks, he did repeat calls for significant changes to the Republican presidential nominating process, particularly, fewer debates and a shorter primary season. The RNC's call for tolerance was not a very popular one during the three-day meeting of social conservative leaders, which attracted several politicians considering 2016 presidential bids. The conference's final speaker, former vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, rejected calls for an immigration overhaul that includes a path to citizenship for those immigrants in the country illegally. She’s right, and regardless of the claims being made, it would do absolutely nothing in accomplishing the goal of expansion that Priebus claims to want to advance.
Palin, who is rejoining Fox News Channel as an analyst less than half a year after they decided to part ways, also offered a warning to "the good old boys" in the GOP leadership who are calling for conservative activists to tone down their ‘aggressive’ rhetoric. "You do not marginalize, you don't discredit and dismiss, every day average hard-working Americans - those who are part of that grass-roots tea party movement," she said. "Just let them tell us to sit down and shut up," Palin said later, "which I refuse to do." Again, she is absolutely right! And I think it’s more than just a little arrogant of Mr. Priebus to think that we’ll be willing to do nothing more than to sit on the sidelines and blindly follow our party ‘leadership’ down the path that ends in nothing more than the political suicide of our party.
What Mr. Priebus is suggesting here is not a solution to the problem that he professes to be interested in solving. Since when did surrender ever provide any sort of a path to victory? Such things as this ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration plan that now seems to be gaining steam would prove to be nothing short of an absolute disaster for the GOP. If Priebus wishes to demonstrate his abilities as a leader, maybe he should begin to busy himself explaining things to those who are unsure about what the Republican Party stands for. Such things as the benefits of living in a free society where there in minimal government interference. And about the benefits of capitalism and free enterprise that affords everyone the opportunity to become successful and self-reliant. And he could be talking about the importance of family!
But nope, apparently Mr. Preibus would rather head in another direction altogether by welcoming in, and with open arms, those who support gay marriage, illegal immigrants and virtually unlimited abortions. Excuse me? But how is becoming more like the Democrat Party going to entice more people to affiliate with the Republican Party? What the focus needs to be on is demonstrating how those things that we support, things like ‘legal’ immigration, a free market economy, low taxes, keeping government intrusion in our lives to a minimum, a strong national defense and the benefits of living in a constitutional republic, benefit everyone. We need to point out that the majority of the problems that we face today can be traced directly back to the Democrat Party.
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