Conservatives win, neo-cons don't

Republican strategists and political leaders can continue to listen to neo-conservative pinheads pushing their "move-to-the-center" garbage – and lose – or they can start taking the advice of those of us who insist their victorious political future lies somewhere to the right of Ronald Reagan.

As proof, I offer the recent "phenomenon" of victories by genuine conservative Republican candidates in states that arguably contain some of the most potent pockets of liberal socialism in this country.

The "mainstream" neo-cons told the GOP leadership to back the RINOs – Republicans in Name Only – which is what happened. The neo-cons said if the establishment GOP backed a candidate, that candidate would win.

The establishment GOP took the neo-cons' advice. Their candidates lost.

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This headline in yesterday's Washington Times newspaper said it all: "Conservative Wins Shake Republican Establishment; Political Center Takes Right-Hand Turn."

The story opened with this paragraph: "Victories by conservatives in New Jersey this week and in Virginia last week have shaken up the Republican establishment, calling into question the media's conventional wisdom of a lack of viability of conservative candidates during the Bush era."

Allow me to gloat and be one of the first genuine conservative pundits to reply, "Duh." My guess is WND assistant commentary editor Tom Ambrose is thinking pretty much the same thing.

One of the recent elections highlighted in the Times story was won by conservative Republican Jersey City, N.J., Mayor Bret Schundler, over his establishment-supported rival, Bob Franks, for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

The other victory occurred last week in another east coast state. "Conservative Republican J. Randy Forbes defeated liberal Democrat L. Louise Lucas in a special election in Virginia for a U.S. House seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Norman Sisisky, a Democrat," said the Times report.

Note to GOP leadership: Now will you listen to conservatives when they tell you the party should be more conservative?

In my June 14 column, I warned GOP leaders that they abandon the Republican Party's founding small government conservatism at their own risk.

Then, in my June 20 column I specifically chastised the national GOP leadership for supporting squishy New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Franks over genuine conservative Brett Schundler.

Two separate states. Two separate groups of people. Two solid conservative Republican wins. What else is there to say?

The Weekly Standard, which is becoming a haven for neo-conservatives, recently opined that Schundler didn't have a chance in hell of beating the squishy, establishment-backed Republican Franks because Schundler's "Reaganesque policies aren't 'resonating'" with the public.

Perhaps if the Standard's editors would remove their faces from the assets of the RINOs currently in charge of a party with a demonstrably deteriorating power base, they could get an honest view of the political landscape.

America, for all intents and purposes, is filled with conservative souls surrounding pockets of abject liberalism. If the Republicans would be legitimate small government, constitutional Republicans, there is no limit to the number of years they can run this country.

It is only when the GOP "moves to the center" or "tries to placate the left" or "focuses more on the mainstream," that it begins to lose power. The party stormed into Congress on Newt Gingrich's conservative "Contract With America"; GOP lawmakers began to lose seats the nanosecond the party abandoned the Contract's core principles.

"Reaganesque" conservatism is still alive and well in this fine nation of ours, even if squishy RINOs like the editors of the Weekly Standard don't know that.

But in order for the Republican Party to capitalize on this fact, it has to act like the small government, constitutional conservative bastion it once was. This should be obvious by now.