The Rise and Fall of Eric Cantor-
The defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia’s Republican Primary, at the hands of a relatively unknown Dave Brat, should serve as a wakeup call to all of the incumbent Republicans, in both Houses of Congress. Rep. Cantor came into office with the promise of conservative aspirations and had the strong backing of conservatives within his district. Yet, with each year, his conservative credentials started to fade in the wake of, presumably, his own ambitions to become a party leader, and this proved to be his eventual downfall.
What the so-called “GOP establishment” has long failed to realize, is the proper role of an opposition party. When Republicans try to moderate their message, they seem more and more like Democrats wearing Republican clothes, which is NOT why they were elected in the first place. The largely liberal media has shoved a false narrative down the throats of the Republican electorate: that they can only win by appearing moderate. This premise has repeatedly failed in the relatively-recent nominations of moderate Republicans to national office- Gerald Ford in 1976, George H. W. Bush in 1992, Bob Dole in 1996, John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012- all of whom lost in the general election. The only time that Republicans have won this election, since the 1970s, is when they have nominated true, unapologetic conservatives- Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.
If the Republican Party even hopes to gain the White House in 2016, they had better learn the lessons repeatedly taught to them and, instead, nominate true conservatives, simply because their base of support is NOT looking to elect those individuals who want to work with Democrats who, in turn, smugly laugh behind their backs and retain their power in the wake of such folly. The conservative electorate wants to elect those who will bring about substantive and lasting change- not by the moderation of a John Boehner or an Eric Cantor or a John McCain, but rather by the steadfast determination of conservative candidates who will not allow the stench of Washington to dilute their mission- and that mission is to undo more than sixty years of governmental largesse and return this country to the roots of its success- those being self-sufficiency, independence, and the pursuit of excellence in all things with determined and righteous indignation.
–Drew Nickell, 11 June 2014
© 2014 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved