As our previous post implies, one should only take remedies for the ailments that they actually address.
James Dobson is a great remedy for bad parenting. We SWNIDishly affirm the core insights of Dare to Discipline and his other books on the subject: that children of all ages crave order and parents should provide it, for the good of all.
James Dobson is not, however, even a marginal remedy for bad culture or bad politics. He's proved that far too many times.
So now it's no surprise when the Gray Lady reports that Dobson and friends are openly flirting with a third-party candidate* should Our Man Rudy get the GOP nomination.
Nothing ever demonstrates the political irrelevancy of an individual or group as much as their backing a third-party candidate. Such movements never elect said candidates, never affect the outcome of the general election in a way that favors the agenda of the group, seldom restore a mainline party's platform to the group's agenda, and often permanently consign all associated with the third-party effort to the political wilderness.
The only positive effect of third-party candidacies is that they help elect the candidate most unlike the third-party candidate. And in 2008, that would be That Woman.
The Times handles all this with their usual silliness. Referring to Dobson's Council for National Policy as "secretive," the article somehow manages to report on what the secretive group is deliberating. However, give them kudos for noting that lots of religious conservatives want nothing to do with third parties.
Like this one.
Rudy has said he'll appoint justices in the mold of Roberts and Alito. We all know that That Woman will appoint Ruth Bader Ginsberg's Evil Twin and Evil Triplet. Since appointing justices is about all a POTUS gets to do with abortion, our pro-life heart is strangely warmed by Our Man.
Enough, Dr. Dobson. Give us an updated edition of Dare to Discipline and then retire to a nice home somewhere in the mountains or the desert. Stop with the movie reviews and the political endorsements, for goodness' sake (and we mean that last phrase literally).
__________________
*In passing, we wonder who Dobson could get to run. No one with political ambitions for anything beyond state legislature would see a third-party candidacy with Dobson as anything other than political suicide. Part of the comic nature of third-party candidates is that none has been remotely fit to govern since TR's Bull Moose debacle in 1912.
6 comments:
SWNID could not be more correct on this one. All we have to do is look at recent history to see the effects of 3rd party candidates.
The events of the past 15 years would be so different if the arrogance of Ross Perot had not entered in along with his personal dislike for Bush (Sr) and enter the race to intentionally mix things up.
Just imagine,
1992:
Clinton - 44.9M votes or 43.01%
Bush - 39.1M votes or 37.5%
Perot - 19.7M votes or 18.9%
Bush only lost by 5.8%, Perot took nearly 20% of the vote away from him.
1. The election would not have even been close. Bush would have walked away with it.
2. The country would not have had to go through an embarrassing impeachment.
3. My son may still think that cigars were only for smoking.
4. We wouldn't be facing a 2nd attempt at socialized medicine by Hillary.
5. There never would have been a first attempt.
We have a lot of people to thank for the fiasco's of the Clinton era. Ross Perot should be 2nd on the list.
Dobson would not be looking for a presendital candidate. He would be looking for a Focus on the Family spokesman. This is no different than Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and Ralph Nader. They never tried to win anything. They were trying to create exposure, and hope that it would translate into more exposure in the future.
Dobson is taking up the mantle of Robertson and Falwell. Both men were seeking exposure and got it. Just because Dobson is more responsible (in what he says), doesn't necessarily mean the media won't oblige.
I'm torn on this one. We have the same issue going on in our town this election. We have 3 mayor candidates, and the independent is stealing some thunder from the republican.
However, there are many (including myself) who believe that this 2 party system is completely broken and something has to be done. Exactly what has to be done, I don't know.
The man who should be governor of Ohio had some excellent thoughts on this.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2007/10/04/eyes_on_the_prize
Those of us who are still unsure of Rudy's abilities need to find an alternative during the primaries. If need be we also need to support the GOP candidate to prevent the alternative.
Yes, we Republicans need to do everything in our power to prevent a third party candidate.....and that would be to support Fred Thompson, the only truly conservative Republican candidate who could defeat the witch. If Rudy would get the nomination, the true conservatives in the Republican party might be forced to look elsewhere.
Dr. Dobson isn't supporting Thompson either where will you go now?
Giuliani is saying a lot of things I agree with but here are still some obstacles to prevent me from voting for at the moment. But as I told SWNID by the time the election arrives things could change.
Post a Comment