Posted by
Allen Caeden on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 10:28:25 PM
Rush Limbaugh has over the last few days has been defending Sarah Palin and Ronald Reagan from fellow “Republicans” like Mitt Romney, JEB Bush, and other “moderates”. The plain fact is that these people are what are known as Neo-Conservatives, and these people believe in open borders, bigger government, and could care less about conservative social issues or the limitations put on the federal government by the Constitution. They are basically “Democrat Lite”. Now in the 1970’s the GOP was dominated by the liberal “Rockafeller Republicans” and now the GOP establishment is dominated by Neo-Conservative big government types, in both cases the GOP establishment is to the left of the GOP base, Ronald Reagan, and now Sarah Palin. In 1976 and in 1980 the GOP establishment fought Reagan tooth and nail in the GOP primaries, and in 1976 they defeated Reagan in favor of Gerald Ford (what a great trade off huh?) In 1980 the GOP grassroots had enough and they pushed Reagan over the top. The point is that Sarah Palin is the new Reagan on the block. She is a rock solid fiscal conservative who despises big government, and she is a social conservative by conviction and not merely for political expediency. She is extremely charismatic and profoundly motivates grassroots Republicans. She is a gifted speaker and a fine debater (she killed Biden in her debate with him). Sarah Palin is also one who has little tolerance for corruption and inefficiency, both of which abound in Washington. Sarah Palin has her convictions and she sticks to them. This woman is as tough as nails and knows how to run a first grassroots campaign as the political underdog and win in the end. Folks if Reagan were alive today the GOP establishment would be as much against him as they are against Palin. I know for a fact that the Democrats fear her in a presidential run in 2012 because they continue to viciously go after this woman, and one only attacks those that they fear. How many Democrats are attacking Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal, or Tim Pawlenty? I think I have made my point.
I think what we are seeing is what occurred between 1976 & 1980, meaning the GOP base is sick of the GOP leadership and their lack of true conservatism. We can see this in many forms. First, there is the incredible popularity of Sarah Palin with the GOP base, which is not diminishing. Second, we have seen the “Tea Parties” across our nation. Third, is the extreme popularity of Mark Levin’s book “Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto” which advocates a return to the Traditional Conservatism of Ronald Reagan and that we leave big government Neo-Conservatism behind. However, these big government moderates will not go down without a fight, just like they did not in 1980 with Reagan.