“Please Don’t Ask Me To Leave My Convictions At The Door”
July 15, 2008 14 Comments
The title of my post comes from one of the best speeches that I have ever heard Governor Mike Huckabee give. This speech occurred Saturday at the GOP State Convention where many people did not leave their convictions of pro-life and pro-family at the door. The winner of National Committeeman, Steve Scheffler (president of ICA), stated that ”I will unite our party around our platform.” The president of IRL, Kim Lehman, who won the nomination of National Committeewoman called out, ”I am a right-wing platform loving Republican.”
Why so much emphasis on the platform you ask? What is it you ask? Well, don’t feel bad if you don’t know the answers to these questions because a lot of people have not read the Republican Party Platform, including some members of the Iowa Republican establishment. Right Stuie? The platform states what the party stands for and there are planks in there that show in black and white that the Republican party stands for pro-life and pro-family. Shocking, isn’t it? One wouldn’t realize it when you look at the presidential race this year. In the primaries the GOP darling was governor of the first state to allow marriage between Exhibit A and Exhibit B. But he was a fair governor also, because he awarded those who chose to engage in heterosexual behavior with the option of $50 abortions. Next is the party nominee who voted against a federal marriage amendment, voted for funding of stem cell research, and is against a human life amendment. Platform? What platform?
This platform disease of the current Republican party is not just at the national level, it is here in Iowa also and it has gone on for long enough. What Saturday showed is that the social conservatives will no longer be ignored. My favorite words that have stood out from other blogs about Saturday are “hostile” and “Bible beaters.” I know this doesn’t quite fit the definition of an oxymoron, but it is close. I’m not sure that fighting for issues that should have never been left out could be categorized as hostile. Leaving the pro-family and pro-life issues out of the Republican party is like a third-grader not putting his name on his paper. It should be automatic. And even though I love the term “Bible beater” I know that it does not refer to everybody who thinks abortion is murder and kids should be raised by a mom and a dad, not a mom and a mom.
Amen, Iowans Rock!!!!!
When was there ever any atttempt to remove the pro-lef and pro-family planks from the platform? Suggest that there was is simply a red-herring.
Second, except for embryonic stem cell research, McCain has an outstanding pro-life record. He has also been pro-family. So, I really don’t know what you are talking about on that front.
You are right christian conservatives cannot be ignored. They are actually the establishment of the RPI. However, they will be under intense scrutiny. Elections matter and blowback will be extreme if the party suffers heavy losses. So, you better hope voter turnout for McCain is heavy.
The problem here isn’t so much with the Christian Conservatives as with McCain himself. He has done little to reach out to Christian Conservatives. In addition they are worried that they will be the first ones to be thrown under the bus when McCain eventually reaches out to the Democrats. McCain needs to do more to convince these voters that he is committed to advancing all of the traditional Republican issues. The first step in my opinion is if he were to come back to Iowa and hold extensive townhall meetings where they can grill him on the issues.
sdg,
I never stated that there was ever an attempt to remove these planks. I only stated that they have been ignored by the GOP establisment.
In regards to McCain, the “except” part of his pro-life record shows he is ready to bend on this issue. Also, I am not sure how pro-family he is if he votes against the federal marriage amendment. Not many Republicans did that. The fact that he thinks it should be left up to the states is wrong. States should not be given the opportunity to decide on whether or not to throw a tradition that America was founded on out the window.
I’m not sure why social conservatives should just fall in line to vote for the lesser of two evils.
sdg,
What sort of “blowback” are you talking about? It seems to me that the ball is in McCain’s court right now and not the social conservatives’. Nobody that spoke at the convention seemed too excited about him either, except for the plea that we need another judge, and I’m not convinced that McCain will give us that in the face of Democratic oppostion.
McCain’s political and personal history and his more recent policy inconsistencies does not offer me much encouragement. Even third party “conservatives” such as Bob Barr (official presidential candidate of the Libertarian party) and Chuck Baldwin (official presidential candidate of the Constitution party) have veered toward libertarianism, which essentially subordinates the moral and social issues to more self centered private interests and “rights”.
November 2008 may be the first time in my life that
I reluctantly skip the presidential slot on the ballot.
Am putting my emphasis on supporting selected Republican candidates at lower levels. And to continue to support and try to help build the pro-life, pro-family movement in both culture and politics.
Thank you for your imput Raymond V. Banner. We too are focusing on the candidates in the state of Iowa and Iowa issues. We only take time-out to contribute on the presidential race when it affects something in Iowa, such as the convention. Here at home is where we can to the most to further the cause of pro-life and pro-family.
Our research site http://iowabrigade.wordpress.com/ is where we have our information on the promising candidates for the life and family causes. All names have not been added to that site yet, but they will be soon. These would be the people to support.
Thanks for the practical information about the Iowa Brigade web site. I have added it to my Favorites file under a politics sub file.
Raymond, thank you for the kind words. We do try to do the right thing even if there are people that don’t see it that way.
What’s the point of having a platform if you don’t agree with it? If the moderates want abortion and family issues out of the plank, then they should man up and move to take it out of the platform at the next convention. Then, we’ll see where everybody really stands. Judging from the Scheffler and Lehman victories on Saturday, it is obvious the views of the grassroots
RainbowBright, I agree with you. What good is having the darn platform if you don’t hold you elected leaders to those standards. Isn’t that what it is there for, to guide our legislators when they are contemplating legislation. Instead we have these weak representatives that capitulate every time we turn around.
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Cheers! Sandra. R.