McCAIN'S CHALLENGE

 

 

 

Rudy Takala
February 17, 2008
NewsWithViews.com

In the state of Minnesota, 63,000 Republicans turned out to vote on Super Tuesday, not quite thirty percent of the 213,000 Democrats who turned out to vote. Mitt Romney came in first on the Republican side with forty-one percent. McCain received twenty-two percent, Huckabee twenty-percent and Paul sixteen-percent.

It was interesting to note that contrast with my own county’s results, where Romney came in first with thirty-seven percent of the vote, Paul came in second with twenty-two percent, and McCain and Huckabee tied at twenty-percent. Republican turnout here was forty-six percent as high as Democratic turnout.

Three of the state’s eight Congressmen are Republican, and this congressional district has elected a Democrat every year since 1946. Yet we came nearly twenty-percent closer than the state average to meeting Democratic turnout. I think it is worthwhile to observe the correlation between Paul’s success and the disparate level of involvement.

By and large, it is an inclination of those entrenched in the system to seek nothing more than the preservation of their own status. Above all, they want to be relevant. It can be seen in the way they act; it can be heard in the way they talk.

You can see them floating around at fundraisers, conventions and other events, acting like social butterflies nostalgic for the sense of community and popularity that they had in high school.

If you talk to them about politics, you will find there isn’t much depth to their thought. They’ll be able to talk about the latest rumor that Obama is actually a Muslim or about how scary they think Hillary is, but they won’t be able to talk about what they think the weak points are of any of the Republican candidates.

They’ll be able to talk about Harry Reid’s latest scandal, but they won’t be able to tell you who they think should really be leading the Senate Republicans, or about who should be heading Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee.

If you ask for their opinion of a political race, they won’t give you an honest analysis. They’ll treat you like White House press agents treat members of the media, dodging the question and responding with euphemisms.

And this isn’t even a paid public official we’re talking about. This is just one of the vice-chairs of your local Republican group, someone who won by unanimous consent (he’ll be sure to remind you of that) of all twelve people who appeared at his electing convention.

Unfortunately, popularity is not the reason most people get involved in politics. They have lives. They don’t take politics that seriously, nor should they. If listening to some self-righteous twit talk about how important it is for Republicans to win next November is all they get for showing up to an event, they’re going to pass in favor of doing something more productive -- like laundry. And that’s what happened to turnout this year.

What people want is to have their concerns addressed. A lot of people are concerned about immigration. Many conservatives are bothered by global warming alarmists. They’re also sick of seeing federal spending increase no matter which party is in power.

Paul addressed those issues, which is why he received attention from people who otherwise would not have been involved. Leaders who facilitated a dialogue on the direction of the party attracted more people who were inclined towards Paul, and those who are capable of continuing a dialogue will continue to see their numbers grow.

Those who plan on telling voters that McCain’s “good” stance on the War on Terror makes the rest of his positions irrelevant, and that they shouldn’t have to address any other concerns because everything else “isn’t that important anyway,” should plan to preside over nothing more exciting than dispersing crowds.

One of the ironies of this election is that John McCain will be receiving his party’s nomination in a state where seventy-eight percent of the party’s voters opposed him. It is one of the year’s paradoxes that what amounted to nearly unanimous rejection wasn’t enough to cost him the election.

Nonetheless, Republicans have a problem. It’s a shortage of individualists. We are not attracting people who have a vision for the way things should be, because we are not giving them a means to pursue a vision. What we have are collectivists who want nothing more than the security that comes with being popular, and who stifle visionaries for being too controversial.

The McCain campaign seeks to defy one simple rule that has reigned obstinately prevalent for a better part of the strife in history: The enslaved never fight with the same passion as the free. We’ll see if he succeeds.

© 2008 Rudy Takala - All Rights Reserved