Palin to leave GOP? That has been my belief all along, and she has been telegraphing it for the past few days more clearly. If I were her, after the way John McCain’s people shafted her during and after the election, that’s exactly what I would do. The only reason I’m still a Republican is I have no alternative. Give me a choice that isn’t full of union thugs or pot smokers, and I’m there baby. The GOP can rot in hell. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way.
Time for a poll!
Yes! Poll! Poll! Poll! I’d vote third (or fourth or fifth) party in a New York minute. I see my country crumbling day by day.
Well, we have close to a day’s worth of data now. Most people chose the cautious approach of wanting to know what the hypothetical party stands for. It’s the equivalent of the “If you had to choose between candidate “X” and some other unnamed person, how would you vote? As soon as you start getting specific, you lose supporters. On the areas where Sarah has opinions, sh’e’s strong pro-life, Christian, pro-gun rights, and wants the Federal Government to be smaller and less involved in our lives. One problem is that people want smaller government – untill you shut down the program they use. If this starts to move forward, it’s important that it not be “the Sarah Palin” party, or you just get a repeat of H Ross Perot getting Bill Clinton elected. A new party has to start at the roots, not at the top. First you need to become the swing vote in the U.S. house, so both the Dems and the Republicans have to negotiate with you – cause they sure aren’t going to give in to each other.
It’s amusing – on the rare occasions when some bill doesn’t split on party lines how confused the House gets. They have it so ingrained in their minds that For or Against is based on which party you are in, they trip all over themelves during the debate. Imagine if there is a third party controlling the outcome. That’s doable by 2010, and for sure by 2012. Getting control of the Senate or the President is a much bigger issue. Prove you can organize and draw real support.
The one disappointment to me is people still clinging to the notion of a Michael Savage party – Savage has made it clear if you listen that he has health problems, he barely seems to have the stamina to do an hour show a day, he has no allies in the press, politics, or talk radio, and at best his views on politics are muddled, if not outright self-contradictory. Since floating the idea, he has done absolutely nothing to make it happen. Unless you plan to be a dictator, a political party needs members and organization and allies. While Sarah Palin may be a long shot, at least I think she has a chance of causing serious change to the established order.