The
Conservative's Dilemma
Virgil
H. Huston, Jr.
As the Presidential campaign gets fully underway,
conservatives are once again trying to figure out how to
make the best of a bad situation.
Gore
and Bush, the likely nominees for the two major parties,
are both making their plays from the liberal side of the
centerline. While Democrats stand to benefit no matter who
is elected, many conservatives feel abandoned by their Republican
Party. True conservatives like Pat Buchanan have left the
party, recognizing that they are not wanted by the current
crop of liberals masquerading as conservatives.
Neither Gore nor Bush adequately represents their base constituencies.
Their gravitation to the center in an effort to attract
voters from the opposing party has alienated the true believers
on both sides. This poses more of a problem for conservatives
than it does for liberals, since todayÕs political climate
is skewed to the left in both parties.
Conservative
disenchantment has been growing since Republicans regained
the House of Representatives in '94 and then promptly ignored
the interests of the conservatives who put them there.
A
lot of conservatives feel they've been slighted and abused
by the Republican party and they're looking for another
home. Is a third party the answer? Is there a candidate
worthy of the conservative vote?
Third
party votes have tended to hurt Republican efforts, thereby
indirectly helping the Democrats. It's easy to fall into
the trap of believing a third party vote is worse than voting
for a less than desirable Republican candidate.
The
"lessor of two evils" theory argues that a third party vote
will get the Democrat elected, so we better vote for the
Republican just to keep the Democrat from winning. This
this may be a valid theory for mainstream Republicans, but
what about all the conservatives the party no longer represents?
Can we affort to cast a symbolic third party vote?
This is the dilemma. In 2000, a third party candidate cannot
win. Votes for a third party may very well get Gore elected.
Do we vote for the best candidate, who will probably be
from the Reform Party or an independent, or do we vote to
keep a Democrat from getting elected?
Since
we wonÕt be able to tell the difference between a Gore or
Bush administration, it doesnÕt really matter which one
gets the job. Your conservative vote wonÕt make any difference
in how the country is run. With either choice, we are in
trouble. Bush, in his effort to be all things to all people,
except conservatives, is making an excellent effort being
more liberal than the liberals. The two party system has
become a one party system.
It is time for change.
A
substantial percentage of votes for a third party candidate,
something in the neighborhood of 15-20 percent, would send
a wake-up call to the Republican Party and set the stage
for a viable third party presidential candidate in 2004.
Sacrificing the election in 2000 to set the stage for future
change is a long-term vision, but unless the Republican
party returns to its conservative roots, another party will
step in to fill the void and the Republican party will find
that it gets mighty lonely out there in the middle of the
stream.
