Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Creating a Powerful GOP

A group of well-known evangelical leaders is launching a new voter initiative to increase turnout among Christian voters in next year’s mid-term elections. The American Renewal Project, an arm of the conservative American Family Association, is creating “Pastors and Pews,” to offer policy briefings to church leaders and their congregations in the hope of encouraging Christians to become more politically active, following years of declining turnout among voters of faith. The group told the Christian Broadcasting Network that the first event will be in May in Des Moines, Iowa. As an indication of their serious intent, they've invited three possible Republican 2016 presidential contenders to address them : Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Alex Conant, a spokesman for Rubio confirmed that the Florida Senator received the invitation, but said he “will not be able to attend.” Spokesmen for Paul and Jindal have not commented. The new initiative hopes to unite pastors over crucial issues facing the church and society, according to a spokesman who said, “If the key to maintaining sustainable freedom is righteousness—the same virtue that produced freedom—what is the greatest threat to freedom? Unrighteousness....America has left God.” The group’s efforts come after former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed led an effort to increase voter turnout among faith voters during the 2012 election. His group, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, said evangelical voters made up 27% of the voting electorate, much better than the 2008 election turnout, but still not enough to help Republican Mitt Romney win the White House. ~~~~~ Dear readers, this announcement us just the beginning of a larger relational confrontation between the Republican Party and voters of faith, as well as other groups, who tend to support the GOP. Religious groups ought to actively support their principles and candidates who agree with them, just as other groups of GOP voters should be active in their support of candidates who espouse their principles. But no group inside the GOP, or any other political party, should expect 100% adherence to all their principles from any candidate or party. If for example, this new group wants to play a part in the Republican Party, and agrees to support GOP political principles -- personal liberty, political and religious freedom, small government, free markets -- the group would be warmly received. But every voter group, whether based upon faith or upon other guiding principles, should understand that political parties are not monolithic structures, but rather coalitions of varied groups holding many different sets of principles. It is the duty and the goal of every successful political party to forge from these multiple principles an over-arching set of political principles that welcomes and upholds all the sub-sets. No group is the sole constitutuency in the GOP. This truth applies to every group that wants to be an active part of the Party. It is the duty of the Republican Party to have this discussion with all its constituent groups and then find ways to agree and assimilate as much of each group's principles as possible. It is the duty of each constituent group to engage in this discussion with the GOP and help forge the great coalition. Because when we consider the fundamental bases upon which the Republican Party was founded by Abraham Lincoln and his colleagues, we must come to the conclusion that no other party has ever so fully met the political, social and religious aspirations of the American people. The GOP represents the best, the only, chance to put these ideals and principles back into our nation's agenda. Individual liberty, political and religious freedom, small government and free markets are not dead and beyond reach, but their recovery will require the best of each of us - individually and as groups. It is these cherished political principles put into practice through GOP officeholders that will guarantee the continued existence of the highest human principles ever put into a political framework...America.

3 comments:

  1. I agree with you 100%. I don't understand why groups of religious inclinations and 27% of the 2012 electorate must be examined and dissected so much.

    The GOP welcomes with open arms the Dixiecrat from the staunch conservative South, we have the Northeast Country Club extreme liberal republicans, there is a GOP Black caucus,Women's groups, for heaven sake we even have a Lincoln Log caucus of Gay elected GOP'ers.

    The GOP is the party of Lincoln. It is the backbone of political and religious freedom.

    My sole question is ..."Who has decided for us that we need a broader base than the strong 48% of the 2012 election?" What we need to do is learn to educate, manage compromise, and to get out our base on election day.

    And shame on Marco Rubio for not attending. maybe that's where the division of the party is at ... not the grass roots

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  2. In politics as in foreign relations, as in public relations it is the message first and closely comes the delivery method and/or tool.

    Obama is a failure as a leader, president, commander-in-chief,and flatly as a truthful person. But he excels in public relations and putting the right spin on a subject so he wins and everyone else looks the bad guy.Sequester was his idea; only because he gets to pick and choose who gets cut. Look at what he's done this week already

    The GOP may well be the worst public relations political group on the planet right now. 96% of candidates than stay on the conservative message - not verging off course at all to appease a group or a media outlets, not trying to be all things to all things to all people fall into this 96%.

    What the GOP has right now is the inability to stay on course or a course to stay on. The Republican National Committee (RNC)of the GOP is being lead down a various dangerous road of near collapse by the democrats, national media outlets, many TV and radio political experts telling them what they need to do. The problem if they do what is in the airways the one thing that will occur will be FAILURE not election victories.

    Certainly a few alterations in the course of the GOP is needed. But major surgery is not on that list. Let me remind you that 3 million conservative evangelical Republican and Independents stayed home last November because they didn't like Romney. That was more than the margin of victory for Obama.

    Let me ask any of those 3 million who stayed home and happen to read Casey Pops blog ... DO YOU STILL NOT LIKE ROMNEY???

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  3. Blog is very truthful today. The GOP needs to quit listening to all the splinter groups as they did in 1964 and go back to being the Republican Party, stand on their principles and elect people to office.
    Now, secondly, how can a church engage in political activity and endorsements and retain their tax-free status?

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