RYAN SAWTELLE
Contributor
The political philosophies on which parties build their respective platforms change over time. It is the honorable task of individuals to come to personal convictions on their own merit and harbor these convictions even when the party leaders stray from those principles. This means not always voting along party lines simply because someone has an “R” or “D” next to their name, but to research each candidate to choose the one that best fits your principles.
The basic principles of the Republican Party, which I have based my philosophy on for quite some time, are based on conservatism. That is, limited government, individual responsibility/freedom, and private property. These are the same principles I have known the Republican Party to hold while growing up. There used to be assurance that voting for a Republican would, in turn, produce these conservative principles on which this country was founded. No longer — the Republican Party is changing.
Not too long ago, the Republican Party advocated the abolition of the Department of Education. Now, thanks to Republican policies, we have the largest D.O.E. since its inception under President Carter. We used to pride ourselves on scaling down the size of government — now we have the largest government in history. The fiscal conservatism that was a defining principle of the movement has somehow been ignored in the last decade in favor of out-of-control spending for social programs and an increasingly bloated welfare state.
The Bush Administration, to its credit, has been successful in other aspects that are of priority. The success of the War on Terror (which includes countries that unequivocally support terrorism), the tax cuts and the appointment of two of the smartest judges one will ever meet, have been the highlights of the administration.
But the list ends there.
We have seen a failure to take action on the illegal immigrant issue, stagnation on any type of real reform to the social security problem, a failure to act quickly against eminent domain and taking outrageous actions on the prescription drug program. Also, the mortgage crisis, education, and everything else under the sun will forever anger conservatives, like myself, that expected principled action, especially when the party was in control of Congress.
Unfortunately, President Bush is not the end of big government “conservative” Republicans. There was hope that this upcoming election would bring a true conservative out from behind the shadows and bring the party back to its foundation. With the foreseeable nomination of John McCain it is becoming increasingly clear that this will not happen.
McCain, who has done many admirable things throughout his lifetime, has strayed heavily from conservatism. He favors global warming legislation, closing down Guantanamo Bay, social security benefits for illegal aliens and amnesty. All the while, he was against the Bush tax cuts (twice), against the drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge crucial for our energy independence, and against political free speech with the creation of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act in 2002. Yet, he is the front-runner for the Republican Party.
The Republican Party’s conservatism is winding down and I am not the only one who recognizes this. As I write this, I am on a plane headed back to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C. I was there attending CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), which is the largest meeting of the most influential conservatives in the nation. Every year at CPAC a straw poll is conducted consisting of many questions about the current politically conservative scene. This year, when asked if one would vote for McCain on Election Day, only 68 percent of the CPAC eligible voters said they would — even after McCain’s speech which lauded his conservative traits to the audience, conveniently leaving out his more liberal leanings.
Clearly, the party’s principles are changing and soon enough it will be up to the conservative voters to decide whether or not they will vote their convictions or vote their party.
02-14-2008