2009-10-17
Conservatives Need To Put It All On The Line!
PERSONAL NOTE: Yesterday morning, my grandmother became very ill, and I'm going to be spending most of the next few days in the hospital's ICU waiting room. That means I won't be able to attend the LaPorte TEA Party today at 11:00am in LaPorte, IN. I feel bad that I won't be able to be there, but the importance of these two things in my life are not even close. If you want to do something to show your support for me, go to the LaPorte TEA Party (or another one that's taking place nearer to you today) and be loud enough for two and a half people to make up for me not being out there (I'm pretty loud). More importantly, my grandmother asked that we pray for her and I'm relaying that request to all of you.
With this God awful and insanely expensive health care reform bill leaving committee for debate and amendment on the Senate Floor, it appears that Conservatives have their backs against the wall. For the past several months, we've been attending enormous TEA Parties across the country, reminding our elected officials how we want them to vote on this doomed-to-fail legislation.
There's just one problem. The people most likely to vote in favor of this legislation are Democrats and most of the people attending these TEA Parties vote Republican or Libertarian religiously. To put this in other words, a Democrat on Congressional Hill (especially in the US Senate) is not being given a reason to vote against Obama's health care reform plan because the people up in arms about it voted AGAINST him or her in the previous election and, even if they vote "Nay" - the people screaming still aren't going to vote for a Democrat.
Realize, that we're demanding a LOT of these Democratic politicians at these TEA Parties. Odds are that they are ideologically neutral to the idea of socialized medicine at best and in favor of it at wost. On top of that, a "Nay" vote on this legislation would be a political death sentence in terms of getting legislation through committee in the future, being able to get the President's ear, and having the financial backing from the Washington Democratic establishment as well as all the auxiliary groups like MoveOn.org, the SEIU, and others on the fringe left.
Here in Indiana, Senator Evan Bayh (D) is in that situation with an election year in 2010. I personally suspect he privately doesn't care one way or another what happens to this legislation. The problem is that he's from a Republican state, he sees Republicans up in arms and mad as hell, and he's thinking to himself, "Holy Crap! I need money from the DNC now more than ever."
Trust me, I'm pleased about that and it's a shame that the idiot from Texas who's in charge of the NRSC doesn't think it's worth sending money to Indiana to give Bayh a run for his money because we have one (possibly soon to be two) really incredible US Senate Candidates running for the Republican nomination. However, as pleased as I am that we're finally getting in Evan Bayh's head, it's self defeating (especially without NRSC support for our nominee). Evan Bayh is still going to vote "Yea" on the health care reform bill and the Republicans are still likely going to lose the election.
So why not throw a wrench in the works?
What if the TEA Party Patriots began promising to vote FOR Democrats that vote against this Bill? In other words, instead of calling Evan Bayh's office and calling him a fascist and socialist and demanding that he votes our way (that never works well anyways), why don't we start calling the office and confessing, "Look, I'm a Republican. But if Senator Bayh votes no on this legislation, I'll be an active supporter of his in 2010," to his staffers?
After all, we're asking Evan Bayh and other moderate Democrats like him to make an enormous sacrifice and regardless of how they vote, they completely expect us to vote against them anyway. Perhaps we should be willing to put our votes where our mouths are and tell our political opponents that we're willing to give up voting Republican if they vote how we want them to on this and perhaps a couple other important pieces of legislation that aren't getting media attention.
That's something to think about for those of you attending TEA Parties today.
Archived Comments
Travis Gearhart
First of all, I hope your grandmother gets well, she is in our prayers. Second, excellent idea. I'm not sure Bayh or other Democrats will buy it, but it's certainly worth a shot.
