Blue Collar Commentary

With Dale McCoy

Although last year’s election results are slowly fading in the rearview mirror, the issues that drove those results are not fading at all. We are still faced with a huge budget deficit, a staggering national debt, and a majority of irresponsible legislators. We are still overburdened with taxes, regulations, and bureaucracy. This list goes on to include massive unfunded entitlements, and most recently, an expensive and unconstitutional healthcare bill. While these problems persist and, as they take their toll on society, the electorate will become increasingly frustrated. High unemployment, an anemic economy, and wars in the Middle East will help fan the flames of discontent. The only good news is that an unhappy electorate can have a positive effect at the voting booth.

The sheer magnitude of the problems we face has awakened a grassroots conservative movement that played a decisive role at the polls in 2010, and will be a significant political force in 2012. There are a lot of Americans dedicated to saving our nation from the perils of debt and dependency. I am proud to be a part of this group and quite happy to report that, much to our adversaries chagrin, we have not faded away. As progressive policies continue to fail, our movement will gain support. We will not be silent or inactive.

While the mainstream media remains willfully unaware, like-minded patriots have been quietly working behind the scenes. We’re planning, uniting, and multiplying. As April 15th approaches, various conservative groups across the nation, collectively known as the tea party, will shift back into high gear. We must exercise caution as we accelerate.

Although the tea party had a huge impact on last year’s elections, we all know that those elections were just the opening salvo of what promises to be a long and difficult fight. Getting our country back on track will require time, tact, and strategy. As we proceed, we need to bring others on board. For everyone’s benefit, we want the unhappy electorate to join with us. With this in mind, I offer the following thoughts:

1. First and foremost, let’s remember what brought us all together in the first place. The basic principles that we all agree on are: Constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility, free markets, individual freedom, and individual responsibility.  These principles contain intrinsic checks and balances and they encompass the essence of what it means to be an American. If we restore and maintain these values, the majority of our problems will solve themselves.
2. The only desirable way to restore our country is by electing people who share our values, and the only way to do this is to gather votes. In order to have the greatest impact on elections, we must change hearts and minds.  We must educate the American people.  We should speak openly but tactfully, using logic, facts, and history to make our case. Ridicule, condescension, and angry confrontation seldom change another person’s beliefs.
3. Respect other people’s differences, and acknowledge their concerns. In the end, the larger fight is not Rich vs Poor, Democrat vs Republican, or Union vs Non-union. This fight is about the survival of our economy, our country, and our freedom. If we lose, we will all go down together.
4. Contentious issues should always be framed as part of the larger problem. Two examples come to mind.  Public union excess is part of the larger issue of insolvency. And drilling our own oil and gas is essential for economic recovery and energy independence.
5. We must remain politically astute when attempting to implement policy around our basic principles. We should concentrate on issues that fit two criteria: They must tie directly to our core values and, addressing these issues must have wide ranging popular support. The National debt, quantitative easing, inflation, unemployment, illegal immigration, war (how and when we fight), bailouts, fuel prices, and school choice are all universal concerns. These are some of the topics we should be focusing on. In addition, the deceitful nature and practical failures of TARP, Stimulus, and the healthcare bill should be repeatedly exposed.  Highlighting these failures will weaken the support for our opposition.
6. We need to be very vocal in our support of legislators who make the hard decisions. Let them know we appreciate their efforts, and assure them that we will be back to vote for them again (And we will).
7. We should also be very vocal in our condemnation of legislators who fall short. This is especially important when dealing with entrenched politicians who count on our votes simply because they know we have little choice. We must let them know that we will do everything we can to beat them in the primaries.
8. I strongly encourage voters to donate to individual candidates only. Let’s take more control of how our political donations are spent. We shouldn’t be writing open checks to political party bosses.

We have a tough job ahead of us. We must convince Americans to vote against their own short term interests in order to preserve everyone’s long term interest. We must show legislators that we have the ability to control their destiny. Let’s choose our battles carefully.

A good friend of mine sums things up well: “Ultimately, all decisions will be made at the ballot box”. (Janet C.)

Members of the tea party should keep this quote foremost in their minds.

Dale