Message to Eric Cantor And Michael Steele

I’ve been watching this grudge match between Michael Steele and the grass roots, including Rush Limbaugh, with a jaundiced eye. I’ve seen this developing before, and frankly I see it as a part of the anti-Republican-grassroots  efforts I’ve commented on in other forms and other forums. It’s why I’ve not commented on it here before now. Steele has since apologized for his comments, and that’s a start. But it’s not nearly the whole thing.

 It’s interesting; Just today, I posted an article over at Pajamas Media as regards a rift between the grass roots and the Republican establishment.  It certainly appears to me that the takeaway from this  Steele v Limbaugh exchange, whatever else might be said, is that Limbaugh is not as the Democrats have been trying to cast him, a part of the Republican leadership. He is, in fact, part of the much Republican maligned grassroots, albeit one of the more visible members.

Why would the Democrats try to mislabel Limbaugh as the leadership of the Republican party? The answer is fairly simple; They’re trying to get the Republican leadership to back away from it’s grassroots, and thereby from Republican… and dare I say.. conservative principles. Get the Republicans to disown Limbaugh, and you’ve disconnected them from their grassroots, thereby crippling them.  Given Steele’s comments it nearly worked.

It would be understating the thing on an order of scale to suggest that I’m disappointed with Steele in this. He has but one choice to overcome this. He needs to understand first that Limbaugh is as popular as he is because he speaks what is already on the minds of the Republican grass roots, not because he does their thinking for him or that he is particularly entertaining.  He would thereby be far better learning from Limbaugh and not disowning him as the Democrats have been demanding of late. Growing a pair and an ability to stand on conservative principles wouldn’t hurt matters, either.

  There seems a disturbing similarity of attack here, that I’d like you to notice.

 When Democrats attack, they tend to attack the Republican grassroots, not the Republican establishment. That’s because all too often, the Republican establishment is knee-jerk willing to bow to the Democrats on grassroots issues as Steele himself got caught doing.  I said in that Pajamas Media aarticle, as regards the Republican establishment, so eager to silence the grassroots:

 The main reason for the objections to many grassroots heroes is not that people like Wurzelbacher lack forceful, clear articulation. Rather, it’s that they espouse traditional conservative positions. The suggestion by the elites is that those principles need to be ditched if Republicans want to regain power. The major critique is not whether they are effective spokesmen for the cause.

 Indeed, I submit to you that the Democrats deride the Republican grassroots for exactly the same reason. They try to label Limbaugh as the leader of the party for the same reason. Their objection isn’t that these are not ‘serious’, that they’re not forceful, passionate speakers, it’s that they’re conservative, and are speaking up for conservative values.

 Consider the rather “wink,wink, nudge nudge” relationship so many Democrats had with John McCain. They got along with him rather well, until such time as he actually threatened leftist power. Why? Simple; He was willing to play the ‘bipartisanship’ game. He was and inexplicably remains overtly willing to lay down his conservative principles, thus making the left look good, and- (unwittingly I’m sure, wink wink, nudge nudge)  – helping them to succeed.

 So, here’s the message for McCain… for Eric Cantor, and for Michael Steele, and anyone else who is uncomfortable with the Republican grassroots: I want the policies of this administration to fail, because I want this country to succeed. Allowing Obama to succeed in his plans means America fails. Those two points are directly linked.  If you cannot get your mind around that concept, and state it flatly and publicly, and adopt it as your position, and the position of the party, and the motive behind everything you do in your leadership role in the party, then I want you out of the leadership of the Republican party.

Thing is, I’m far from alone.

(Edit, clarity, Bit)