Our two-party system: the evil party and the stupid party

For sometime many of us have recognized that the Republican Party can no longer be regarded as a conservative party. Conservative M. Staunton "Stan" Evans explained how the two-party political system in the United States actually works – Evans said “there are only two parties in the United States, the ‘evil party’ and the ‘stupid party’."

Unfortunately under the present system conservatives have no alternative and must support the Republican Party as the lesser of two evils.

Evans goes on to say: “On occasion the "stupid party" and the ‘evil party’ come together to do something that is truly ‘stupid and evil’ and that we call that ‘bi-partisanship’” – with which I heartily agree.

Most Republicans in congress view their job as trying to “compromise” or “get the job done” or “fix” or “tinker” or “propose alternate plans” (they want to try to come close to the original “evil” plan so as not to appear the “party of ‘no’) and the result is the Republican Party no longer acts like an opposition and inevitably accepts the evil plan in whole or in part. Today’s Republicans never seem to learn that “half a loaf” may be okay for eating but in politics leaves the country with policies as laws that expand government control and reduce constitutionally provided freedom and liberty for all.

There is a solution to the loss of conservative representation in the Republican Party and little or no representation in congress. A third party representing conservative ideals and principles will enable conservatives to express their political views on a national level and need not damage election outcomes like past third parties have done – the notable example being the Ross Peroit candidacy which left us with two terms of President Bill (the morally corrupt) Clinton in the oval office, and adjacent offices, for eight years.

Consider the last presidential election - the Republican Party chose a Democrat-lite candidate, John McCain, for president, conservative Republican Party members held their noses and voted for McCain. If there had been a Conservative Party in place, and the number of votes cast by their members exceeded the regular Republican Party votes, a strong message would have been sent to the Republican Party and the country as a whole that conservatism is an important political force. Furthermore there will be a good chance that conservative Republican Party members will join the Conservative Party so they can get the representation thy deserve. The Republican Party will have no choice but to take into account the beliefs of conservative voters, thus increasing conservative influence in Republican Party decisions. Eventually, I believe the Conservative Party will take precedence and the roles will be reversed. Of course, the Republican Party will be shaken up so people like Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Colin Powell will migrate to the Democrat Party where they belong and perhaps make the Democrat Party more conservative in some respects.

A new Conservative Party will not compete for office with the Republican Party; it will compete only for party registrations. If all conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, register and vote as members of the Conservative Party, their numbers at the polls will show that they truly are the majority not only of the Republican Party but of the voting public.

According to Gallup, who says there is a +/- error of 3%, so far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents an increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008 and returning to the 2004 level. That 21% call themselves liberal is a reflection of the dumbing down of our education system.

According to Gallup:

“These annual figures are based on multiple national Gallup surveys conducted each year, in some cases encompassing more than 40,000 interviews. The 2009 data are based on 10 separate surveys conducted from January through May. Thus, the margins of error around each year's figures are quite small, and changes of only two percentage points are statistically significant. To measure political ideology, Gallup asks Americans to say whether their political views are very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal.”

It is also encouraging that there is a distinction in the respective ideological compositions of the Republican and Democratic Parties. “While a solid majority of Republicans are on the same page -- 73% call themselves conservative -- Democrats are more of a mixture. The major division among Democrats is between self-defined moderates (40%) and liberals (38%). However, an additional 22% of Democrats consider themselves conservative, much higher than the 3% of Republicans identifying as liberal.”

Some may argue that it would take a lot of money to launch a third party, but not as much as you may think. Although it obviously is expensive to attempt to advance third party candidates, a Conservative Party not competing for election but only for voter registrations will cost much less. Setting up a national organization and a national education and information effort to launch the Conservative Party are essential but likely can be financed by conservatives of large and modest means.

Conservative leadership is the key and we must encourage those who agree with the concept to come forward. I believe such patriotic men and women do exist and will answer the call just as those founding the country did two hundred years ago – the stake for liberty and freedom is no less severe.

I will contribute and will walk the streets for Conservative Party registrations; how about you?