Send Arlen Specter a Retirement Card

Today Arlen Specter looked out for himself and switched parties from the Republican Party to the Democratic party. Just a couple of weeks ago he was a huge fan of the two party system and said he would not leave the Republican party.

In the interim Specter has taken a listening tour of Pennsylvania and determined that he would lose in the Republic primary to Pat Toomey who is leading Specter by 21 points in the polls. Here he talks about his original switch to becoming a Republican.

Anyway, for any conservative this is good news. He could not be counted on anyway and we were shackled by his claim to being a part of the GOP when he was a RINO. Now he is their problem. While he was not a moderate Republican he will be a moderate Democrat. All the blame for all the mess now falls squarely on Democratic shoulders. Republicans have not a thing they can do to stop anything. The reality is they did not and could not stop it before but everyone kept holding out hope. The hope is now dashed unless Coleman pulls out a miraculous victory in Minnesota’s stolen election. But guess what. It is ALWAYS darkest right before the dawn. The base in energized like it has not been in my adult lifetime. People are starting to take action. So to me this is a great thing. It is the fresh start and the redefinition opportunity the GOP has been looking for. We cannot be afraid of the moment because in the big picture this moment will stand as a turning point.

In honor of the moment I have sent Senator Specter a retirement card. My handwritten note says “Congratulations Senator Specter. Thank you for leaving the Republican Party. We were going to retire you anyway. We are tired of a senator who acts in his best interests instead of the interests of his constituents.”

Won’t you join me in celebrating this retirement moment. Here are his office locations. Heck why not send one to each office. Here’s Pat Toomey’s campaign website.

Washington DC
711 Hart Building
Washington , DC 20510
Main: 202-224-4254
Fax: 202-228-1229

Lehigh Valley
504 W. Hamilton
Suite 3814, Federal Building
Allentown, PA 18101
Main: 610-434-1444
Fax: 610-434-1844

Erie
17 South Park Row
Federal Building, Suite B-120
Erie, PA 16501
Main: 814-453-3010
Fax: 814-455-9925

Harrisburg
228 Walnut Street
Room 1104, Federal Building
Harrisburg , PA 17101
Main: 717-782-3951
Fax: 717-782-4920

Philadelphia
600 Arch Street
Suite 9400
Philadelphia , PA 19106
Main: 215-597-7200
Fax: 215-597-0406

425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1450
Regional Enterprise Tower (old Alcoa Building)
Pittsburgh , PA 15219
Main: 412-644-3400
Fax: 412-644-4871

Scranton
310 Spruce Street
Suite 201
Scranton , PA 18503
Main: 570-346-2006
Fax: 570-346-8499

Wilkes-Barre
7 North Wilkes Barre Boulevard
Stegmaier Building, Room 377M
Wilkes-Barre , PA 18702
Main: 570-826-6265
Fax: 570-826-6266

Conservative Rules for Radicals Prologue

As one who wants to change my culture and my nation I thought I would look at a classic manual on how to do just that. In the 70s Saul Alinsky wrote Rules for Radicalsto teach a generation of liberals how to effectively change their culture. Though I don’t agree with the change they sought, the message of how to change a culture is as valid today as it was then. This is part 1 in a series reviewing Alinsky’s Rulesand applying them to conservative principles for today.

PROLOGUE

Conservatives are angry these days. We feel powerless and exploited. Honestly we feel we are being led by the blind. That is how liberals felt in the 1960s. The striking similarity is amazing. They felt powerless. We feel powerless. They felt they needed change now. We feel we need change now. Radical elements run a risk of turning off the masses of people that are needed for any movement to affect change. So what are the overarching principles to permanent change?

1. You’ve got to understand people. People act in their own self interest. To be effective you must show them how your message benefits them. It is irrelevant how the message benefits you or anyone else. People must have their own skin in the game and must understand that failure to act has a specific and direct unintended consequence to them personally.

2. Don’t do stupid stuff. In the 1960s it was flag burning. To the radical flag burning represented a no compromise stance. To the everyday person flag burning represented anger, intimidation and disrespect. Instead of listening to the message behind the flag burning the everyday person could not see past the act itself. People who might have otherwise been persuaded by valid points shut down and did not even listen to the argument because of their dislike for the act of flag burning.

3. Get an ideal people will organize around. It’s not enough to just understand people. You’ve got to motivate them. The message has to be simple and clear. The action you ask of people must be easy to incorporate into their lives. It takes a lot to get people to commit to do something. Make your message as easy as possible. Activate people by making it simple for the masses to participate. Write a sample email so they don’t have to think of wording themselves. Provide a link and the email addresses in easy format. Show them how they can take the action you request while they are doing something else they are already doing.

4. Work from within the system. The GOP is presently struggling over this very concept. Some are ready to bolt and start a new party because the GOP is too much like the democrats. That is a good and viable option, but it takes much more work, money and energy. If instead conservatives can work within the GOP and win the war of ideals the same work, money and energy that would be used to start a new party could be used to reach further and deeper within the present party structure. The same is true for all change. Working within the present structure whether it be a govenrment, an educational institution or other gives you the power structure to actually see your change come into being.

5. Be patient. Rome was not built in a day. Liberals have been on a steady march forward for generations and have had a long range strategy and plan for at least 40 years. We cannot expect to undo this by 2010 or 2012. We must be in this for the long haul. We must work everyday toward the goal of a free America with a limited government. We cannot rest on our laurels but must keep striving and striving so that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren can reap the rewards of our labor.

6. Don’t abdicate. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing” Edmund Burke. We got in the position we are in because we were busy with our own lives. Just like the frog put in the pot of cold water on the stove we didn’t even notice as the heat was being turned up. Now we are nearing full boil and in order to save ourselves and this great nation we must take back the reigns. We must take action. We must make our voices heard. Now is the time! This is the day! Do not stand by silent for another moment bemoaning the way things are. Plug in to a cause and make a difference.

Alinsky’s prologue is summed up in the following quote.

Men don’t like to step abruptly out of the security of familiar experience; they need a bridge to cross from their own experience to a new way. A revolutionary organizer must shake up the prevailing patterns of their lives — agitate, create disenchantment and discontent with the current values, to produce, if not a passion for change, at least a passive, affirmative, non-challenging climate.

In part 2 we will identify the problem and the parties need to obtain a solution to the problem.




How To Save the Republican Party

I hold no loyalty to any party. I vote my values. Those values often, but not always, align with the GOP. If the Republican Party wants to make sure my values align with them this is how to do it.

The GOP is made up of 3 types of conservatives. Those whose primary focus is economic, those whose primary focus is social and those whose primary focus is security. Each group will vote with their primary interest and will tolerate certain levels of unacceptable variation from their view on their secondary issues.

That is why the GOP MUST be solidly conservative and traditional in all 3 areas. To secure your core your platform must encompass their primary belief. If it does not they have no incentive to engage and maybe worse…they may rebel and specifically disengage and take others with them.

I would suggest, for instance, that for the Gay Patriot the primary voting motivation is patriotism and not social issues. If “gay” were the primary voting issue then the Gay Patriot would not vote republican which has not had a party position in support of gay rights. The Gay Patriot would like the party platform to change to encompass his secondary voting motive, but failing to do so has not lost his vote.

That is how you open up the party. You don’t do it by watering down the traditional principles but by shoring them up and providing strength and vision is each core area. Find people’s primary motivator and be so strong in that area that they could not vote for the opponent. If you are weak where a voter seeks strength they will look elsewhere. If you are strong where a voter seeks strength they will overlook lesser important areas where they disagree with you.

Conservatives vs. the GOP Send a Message to Michael Steele

The GOP does not know what it wants to be when it grows up. It is struggling for direction. It lost its vision and mission but still wants your money and your support. Tell the GOP to return to its conservative roots by signing a petition to Michael Steele:

TO REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN MICHAEL STEELE:

Whereas, broadcasters and commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage are now seen as the de facto leaders of the Republican Party;

Whereas, this result is the natural and inevitable result of the fact that those who are supposed to provide leadership – Republican elected officials and party officers – are doing little to stand up to the socialist policies of the Obama administration;

Whereas, the GOP absolutely refuses to fire the Congressional leaders who helped get the party and the country into this mess;

Whereas, current Republican leadership cowers in fear of the President’s popularity;

Whereas, the anger of grassroots conservatives continues unabated towards weak-kneed, spineless, earmark-loving, Big Government, establishment Republicans;

Whereas, Americans are already beginning to realize that the new president is every bit as reckless and extreme as conservatives said he was;

Whereas, the Republican Party can’t get any traction, because the party leadership is as confused and clueless as the Obama administration;

Whereas, this problem will continue until all Big Government, anti-conservative Republican politicians are replaced with principled conservative leaders.

Resolved, the signers of this petition will withhold support and contributions from all Republican committees until Big Government Republican politicians are replaced with principled conservatives. Conservatives will no longer tolerate incompetent, weak-kneed, spineless, earmark-loving, Big Government, establishment Republican leadership, and we demand an immediate return to principled conservatism and a leader that will stand up to President Obama and the Congressional Democrats in their efforts to make America a socialist country.