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Will Republicans screw it up?

It has been a while since my last my post and quite a bit has occurred, the most visible being the continued pig-headedness of the Democratic leadership to shove government-run healthcare down Americans gullet and the GOPs sweep of the governor races in Virgina and Democratic-stronghold New Jersey.  It was the race in NY congressional district 23, however, that has me pondering the outcome in 2010 elections.

In case you are unfamiliar with that race, the Republican National Committee and other Republican leaders, most notably Newt Gingrich, threw their support behind a very liberal Republican candidate without even a primary despite a conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman, eagerly waiting to take on the Democratic opponent, Bill Owens.  The thinking of these political geniuses was that the Republican party needed to be more moderate and that showing their enlightenment by backing a candidate more liberal than the Democrat would surely draw voters into the “Big Republican Tent”.  Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the church…Hoffman was forced to run as an independent under the Conservative Party banner and began cleaning she-who-will-remain-nameless’ clock in the polls.  Five days before the election, the Republican withdrew from the race and endorses the Democrat making Gingrich and the RNC look like total buffoons.  Hoffman goes on to lose the race by a couple of percentage points while the non-existent Republican candidate still received 5% of the vote (who the hell votes for someone not even in the race!!??).  No question if the Republican leadership had supported Hoffman from the word go, that seat would be filled with an (R) rather than a (D).

So what does this mean?  To me, it says that the Republicans absolutely have the ability to screw up a 2010 election that is looking like a huge opportunity to stop the insanity that is Congress today.

I am especially disappointed in Newt.  His “Contract with America” in 1994 was pure genius and an exact game plan for appealing to the American voter – lower taxes, lower government spending and balanced budgets among other things.   More recently, Newt is looking more and more like his Democrat friends and espousing moderation over conservatism.  What is he smoking?  Perhaps he just wants more love from the media and his buddies in the Democratic Party.  Whatever the reason, Newt no longer speaks for me.

The tea-parties are not about creating a third party that American history shows has no shot at winning substantial political power.  They are about getting the GOP back to its conservative foundation.  When the GOP has a clear and conservative message, it wins.  Plain and simple.  Look no further back than 1994, when the Contract with America resonated with voters and allowed the GOP to take over the House after 30 years of Democrat rule.  Fast-forward to 2006 – 2008 and the GOP gets it butt kicked when they begin to look no different than big-spending, lobbyist-loving Democrats.  Given no clear message, the voters simply wanted the current bums out of office as they search for change.

The GOP leadership needs to take heed to this example.  If they produce a clear, united and conservative alternative to the likes of Obama, Pelosi and Reid, they will cruise to victories next year and I would not be the least bit surprised to see the House under GOP rule again (GOODBYE, NANCY!).  However, should they continue to dither around in an effort to display a more moderate (dare I say, progressive/liberal) face, they will provide voters with no reason to get excited and many Democratic incumbents will hang on to their seats.

Then we get at least two more years of this great hope and change…