Wouldn't it be nice if the Rs or third party candidates could come up with their own slogans??
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Yes, We Can
[Doug Hoffman ]
How quickly things can change.
Two weeks ago, political observers noticed a poll from New York’s 23rd congressional district that showed the liberal candidate fading fast and the conservative candidate gaining faster. This is the resurgence Republicans have been hoping for!
Unfortunately, the Republican party had nominated the liberal candidate. The conservative candidate is running against both the Republican party and the Democratic party.
Isn’t that a good metaphor for the state in which conservatives find themselves?
I am that conservative candidate for Congress in New York’s 23rd District, and I believe conservatives can win our fight.
Since those polls two weeks ago, my campaign has attracted astonishing support from across the country. What could be responsible for our break-out success?
It’s simple, and it’s much larger than just my candidacy: Americans are taking a stand. With two candidates — two parties — each representing Left-liberalism, our mission was to offer a clear alternative and make sure people knew about it.
Everything since then — the remarkable outpouring of attention, support, donations, and activism — grew out of the simple act of standing for something.
Most importantly, it hasn’t just been about the fact that I stand for our core conservative values. NY-23 is important because it is all of us — conservatives around the country — who are emerging to take a stand against liberalism from both parties.
That sort of emergence is natural to the American worldview. We believe that great things are built on simple virtues. We understand that real prosperity is created by free people living by clear rules. We trust people whose actions arise naturally from principles. We admire leadership, but are skeptical of command.
Conservatives won’t be prodded to support something we don’t believe in, not for clever “strategic” reasons or because of party labels. We see that the danger to our nation posed by unrestrained government has become fiercely urgent, and we have stopped accepting excuses from those who won’t stand strong to stop it. We have declared independence from party politics because too many people in both parties either have been complicit in creating the danger, or have shrunk from challenging it.
Republicans and Democrats alike seem content to keep playing this game, but people who work hard to build a living — as we must in upstate New York — are appalled to see our politicians playing games while our debt mushrooms, unemployment looms, and our nation’s security is neglected. We want our children to inherit a better country, not a flood of debt; we want them to be confident in their nation, not afraid of its shadow.
We can’t bear the sight of politicians making deals with unions, banks, and other special interests, giving them the tools to bludgeon their competition and cut a bigger slice of a shrinking economy.
That is why, even though I had never desired to be a politician, I had to run for office. I felt we had to challenge the tacit agreement between the GOP and the Democrats to make this election about trivialities. I saw that a confident conservatism could win here. I didn’t foresee the part that a nationwide groundswell of support would play in it, but I knew we could prevail.
Now the establishment Republicans are beginning to panic. Establishment Republicans think that principled conservatives’ taking a stand in this contest will weaken conservatism and the Republican party. The Wall Street Journal recently suggested that “Tea-Party Activists Complicate Republican Comeback Strategy.”
They’re wrong.
As William Kristol has said, the truth is exactly the opposite. It is the “GOP establishment” that stands in the way of a conservative comeback.
Our goal should not be a Republican majority. It should be a conservative majority. If the Republican party will not be conservative, then we are going to run against them . . . and we’re going to win.
— Doug Hoffman is the Conservative-party candidate in New York’s 23rd congressional district.
10/27 12:00 AMShare
nationalreview.com |
