The Problem With Rats

There's one advantage to being a rat on a troubled ship, you'll be the first one off, guaranteeing yourself safety from the perceived doom. The problem is, if the ship gets fixed, you're left floating in the sea, which would almost seem suicidal. Sometimes it's not the ship that's the problem. It's not even the crew that's the problem Sometimes, the problem is the captain. His failure to understand how the ship is supposed to work coupled with a complete and utter breakdown in communication with his crew can spell real trouble at sea.

The political seas are no different. The problem with the rats abandoning ship is that they don't see what the trouble actually is and most may just be following the first rats that jumped. The ship is not the problem. The republican party is not the problem and it does not need abandoning. Is there a problem within the party? Sure is, the leaders are out of touch with their base and are not standing on the fundamental principles of the party. You need look no further than the recent special election in the 23rd congressional district of NY. The democrats had their man in Bill Owens and for reasons beyond my understanding the Republican leadership chose left-of-moderate Dede Scozzafava. Those that decided to stand on Conservative principles, which are the foundational principles of the Republican party, threw their support behind the third party conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman, who got the endorsement of the likes of Sarah Palin, Steve Forbes, Tim Pawlenty, Fred Thompson, the anti-tax group Club for Growth, and the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund, which opposes abortion rights. The republican primary voters were also behind Hoffman. We knew Scozzafava's liberals stance on issues such as abortion and gay marriage and we were aware of her ACORN connection. Republican leaders were the ones standing behind a RINO, not the true party. Even Mike Huckabee, whom I happen to be a fan of, refused to officially support one of the candidates which upset me. Standing on principle made the choice easy, Hoffman all the way. The irony in all this is in what happened after Scozzafava realized she had no chance and dropped from the race. She put her support behind Owens, the democrat. Shocker. Despite all the naysayers predicting Hoffman to cause the democrat to win he finished just 4 percent behind Owens. Scozzafava got 5 percent. If the republican leadership had endorsed Hoffman from the start, those 5 points could have gone to Hoffman, making the results a much different story. Purely speculation naturally.

I understand the draw to telling both parties to "stick it" when neither seem to have anyone willing to stand firm on conservative principles. That's not to say there isn't anyone because there is. The problem lies directly with the leadership. When the Republican party leaders give us people like McCain and Scozzafava it's clear that new leadership is needed. Our party leaders need to vow to only support and endorse those candidates which stand on conservative principles. Let's face it, that's how we vote and so should they. The base, the primary voters, they are all saying the same thing, "We want principled leaders." Right now, we have none.

I refuse to abandon the party because I understand the real issue. The ship may be in disarray but it's not the ships fault and it's not the crews fault. We need new captains that can sail us in the right direction. The rest of the rats can jump ship if they like but I would ask that you reconsider. Instead of rejecting the entire party, stand with us principled members and help us fight against the corrupt and unprincipled leadership. Bring constitutional conservatism back to this party. Sometimes mutiny is far superior to joining a lesser ship.