July 8, 2008

by Thomas Segel

Harlingen, Texas, July 6, 2008:  To say that conservatives are displeased with the GOP candidate for president would be a gigantic understatement.  Those considered to be the demented Republican leadership who believe the right wing of the party will soon forget are wrong again. Conservatives are well aware the same people who have managed to lose everything that was accomplished during the Reagan years are once again ignoring them.

Those who carry the conservative banner know that when their brand of politics is placed on the front burner…and followed to the letter, Republican candidates win every time.  They also know that those who moved away from traditional conservative positions and failed to keep promises made to the American people lost, and lost big.

“Now these same misguided and befuddled leaders think they can win the hearts and minds of the USA, by placing before the public a Republicrat”, say Harlen Marshall, a Navy veteran from Brownsville, Texas.  “They have given us John McCain, who isn’t even a good Republican-Lite.  He is trying to woo the center, the left and the right, all at the same time.  One would think that any knowledge of history would have shown him that nobody can be everything to everyone.”

The conservative base really has no interest in the slip-shad campaign of nothingness McCain is currently waging.  There is no way he is going to put out a clarion call and rally the troops with the right-left-center package he is bringing to the table.  If McCain, and by the same token every candidate running under the Republican banner want any chance to win in November, all had better trumpet as loudly as possible their return to conservative sanity.

Harry G. Riley is a retired Army colonel who earned his undergraduate degree in political science and did his graduate studies in public administration.  On the battlefield he earned the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.  Just as he was in the front lines when in combat, Colonel Riley maintains a front rank position in conservative politics.  He is one of the organizers of the national counter-protest Gathering of Eagles, an army of veterans who wage counter demonstrations against the anti-war leftists.

Harry Riley is now leading what could very well be a conservative revolt.  The Internet is filled with military retirees, veterans, reservists and patriotic Americans of every stripe all responding to his call.

Says Riley, “John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee must agree to abide by a list of demands to attract conservative voters. “  The colonel feels that voting by accepting McCain’s current positions on major issues would not be to elect McCain, but to defeat Obama.  That would be a losing strategy.

He also feels that if McCain and the RNC accepted these conservative positions and demands, merely as a ploy to obtain votes and then developed what he calls “political amnesia” on their commitment, it would result in severe repercussions beginning with the 2010 Congressional elections.

What do conservatives want to see in the candidate they support?  They want an absolute, unequivocal commitment that we will Drill America, Drill Now, and Pay Less.  They can no longer accept the position we are now in, sitting on trillions of cubic feet of our own natural gas and billions of barrels of our own oil, while at the same time begging Arabs for more.

They want the same absolute, unequivocal commitment to build more refineries, upgrade existing refineries, develop clean, safe nuclear power, and disengage from initiatives that require more fuel than they produce.

They insist on a rock-solid commitment that the borders be closed and no illegals will get any amnesty or special consideration ahead of those waiting to enter this country legally.

The remainder of their list is equally strong.  They demand an absolute, unequivocal commitment:
…. that employers of illegals will be prosecuted.
…. that federal funding will be withdrawn from “sanctuary cities.”
…. that only strict constructionist federal and Supreme Court judges will be nominated and supported in hearings.  Conservative activists strongly believe that abiding by our Constitution built this country and that it will work for our future.
…. that no new tax bills will be signed.
…. that there will be no carbon tax schemes and no “so called” global warming or climate change agreements catering to fear mongers claiming man-made climate change.
…. that all earmarks will be vetoed.
…. that Social Security will be reformed and made solvent to end any scheme that will devastate the retirement of so many people.
…. that all forms of abortion will be opposed and embryonic stem cell research will also be opposed, but adult stem cell research will be supported.
…. that there will be opposition to same sex marriage, civil unions of same sex couples and support for marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
…. that there be an absolute commitment to retain “under God” in our pledge of allegiance and that our coins retain “in God we trust’.
…. that there be a relentless commitment to support an official renewed emphasis on POW and MIA recovery efforts and an apology from Senator McCain for his unacceptable conduct toward POW/MIA activists.
…. that active military, veterans, retirees and their family members receive priority consideration for health care, compensation, all earned support, equivalent to the priority given to secure our nation.
…. that if United States security is threatened, before American military forces are committed, Congress will issue a Declaration of War.

It is Riley’s belief and the feeling of numerous voters on the right that when John McCain and the Republican National Committee make these strong commitments they can earn the support of our nation’s conservatives for the party and for the candidacy.  Without such pledges, the Republican Party can look forward to a very bleak November.

Semper Fidelis
Tom Segel
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