Americans who look to government for a paycheck or a handout or to advance a radical social agenda are much more likely to be drawn to political activism than those who do not.
Most people who support limiting government and traditional values are typically raising their kids, working to make ends meet, building their businesses, enjoying life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and they prefer that the government get out of their way and leave them alone.
Much like American foreign policy is built around the defense of our homeland, rank and file Republicans are needed to enlist of the cause of defending against ever encroaching government and the radicalizing of our country’s culture.
Unfortunately it’s not enough to only be on the defense. It is going to require a great deal of work by a lot of citizens to return government to its former limited state. The same is true for ground that was lost in society when it comes to the immature notion that human sexual impulses are equal to race, or when you consider the estimated 50,000,000 aborted babies.
As I wrote in part one, no war can be won with only the air force of talk radio. The challenge is to enlist political ground troops despite the fact that, as one smart lawyer from Aurora has pointed out to me, rank and file Republicans typically aren’t “joiners.”
The good news is that the Republican Party doesn’t need people to shirk their responsibilities to engage more in the political process. There’s no need to skip church, ignore the kids, or let things stack up at the office. But they might need to spend a little less time in front of the television. TV that’s just political entertainment doesn’t count as a substitute for real grassroots involvement.
It’s time for a revitalized and modernized Republican party – the backbone of the national political infrastructure.
If it is functioning properly, your local GOP organization will require the help of a lot of people with different talents. And as with any effective volunteer organization, it won’t matter if you can only give a couple of hours a month – there will be a place for both you and those who have a lot more time to give.
Supporters of limited government and traditional values must fight on all of the information fronts if we’re ever going to move enough Americans to support things like tax simplification, entitlement and health care reform, school choice, and cuts in government spending.
After many of the big names in talk radio had a stroke ten months ago after John McCain won the GOP nomination, I wrote the following:
“Illinois reform-minded Republicans know how the national talk radio show personalities feel. While they suffer as they face the reality of a John McCainled GOP national ticket, we in Illinois are used to suffering through objectionable party nominees. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingram should spend some time in Illinois and get to know our GOP ‘leaders’…
We hope pundits Rush, Sean, Laura, and the rest come to realize that it’s time for them to drive more, shall we say, ‘audience participation.’ These talkers need to help recruit doers. They need to help build more than just a large listening audience.
It’s a very simple concept: people with fantastically large bully pulpits, serious resources, and above average communications skills must be engaged in building a real political movement. It’s not enough to entertain the choir. There’s a lot of candidate recruiting, fundraising, and grassroots organizing required in the world outside of the TV and radio booth.”
Even as the Barack Obama Administration gets underway, I’m still not hearing the big radio talkers addressing what’s needed on the ground to take to take on the Obama supporters (including the mainstream media). The Democrat and liberal army will have to be met with a Republican and conservative infantry, not just control of the talk radio air waves.
I write this as a plea to the big name talkers to use their microphones to help build a real Republican Party. Tell your listeners to step up, get involved, volunteer, run for office, and help reach those who are not yet in that choir.
The news media, pop culture, government funded K-12 education, and the vast majority of higher educational institutions at this point outnumber the Limbaughs and Hannity’s of the world. Fox News Network is fine too, as are all the important web-based sources, but to reach and win over a majority of voters in a country of 300 million people is a big job. An information counter-weight is needed to everything the left has going for it.
On top of that reality, the GOP sure hasn’t been “grand,” especially in states like Illinois. The reputation of the party is in the tank. It won’t be rescued by a government bailout. This rescue has to come from rank and file Republicans enlisting in the cause from coast to coast.
