Saturday, May 09, 2009

The Unbeatable Coalition

Guest post from BigDog's friend Brian.


The Unbeatable Coalition

In 2008 there was no good way to punish Republicans for overspending without abandoning them. Too many political contributions were not made. Too many volunteers and voters stayed home.

After four years of suffering under Obama's rapid and painful expansion of government, the public will be seeking relief. The need to punish the GOP will have faded. Voters are likely to give the GOP another chance.

Ideally, a governing coalition would be lasting and highly effective. The vast majority of governmental decisions are economic in nature. Freeing America's economy and defending that newly-won freedom are effectively interminable tasks. Economic freedom needs to be the central pillar of the unbeatable coalition.

Conservatives and libertarians by definition believe in economic freedom. Fortunately, conservatives plus libertarians amount to about 60% of the electorate.http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics2/60_say_government_has_too_much_power_too_much_money

Out of that number about 13% are libertarians.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6715

Here's what conservatives need to know about libertarians. Libertarians believe that people shouldn't initiate the use of force against each other. Many libertarians don't know that the word libertarian applies to them. Many libertarians are secular.

The adolescent antics of the Libertarian Party and the 2-party structure of American politics have left most libertarians politically homeless. Here is how conservatives and libertarians can unite well enough to govern and end libertarian homelessness at the federal level.

1) Both libertarians and conservatives need to recognize that social issues are a tiny percentage of what legislators do. Both groups already have a great deal in common, e.g. opposition to gun control, opposition to judicial activism, etc., but abortion, gambling, prostitution, marijuana, civil unions, death penalty, etc. are potential points of conflict. The more we leave social issues up to the states, the more likely the federal coalition will hold. In other words, cool it on the social issues. Failure on this point means that pro-free-market nonvoters will be giving the government to the Democrats.

2) Some libertarians need to advance their thinking about national defense. George Washington did not want us to stay away from alliances. In fact, our alliance with France allowed the United States to be born. The initiation of force against the United States in this day and age means the game is already over. We simply can't wait for it to happen. The U.S. stance in the world has to be aggressive toward evildoers so they fear to act against us. The anarchic international system - so often mislabeled the "world community," is extraordinarily cruel even without provocation.

3) When conservatives recognize libertarians and vice versa they need to think of each other as political allies. I hope that conservatives and libertarians will learn to work together. If you are secular, don't be afraid of explaining to a believer how Christianity leads to conservatism via the Declaration of Independence and Edmund Burke. If you are religious, and making no progress converting a secular friend, tell her/him that Atlas Shrugged and Honoring the Self are utterly essential reading for a non-believer.

Here's the bottom line. The liberals and their lackeys are foisting an unprecedented economic tyranny upon America. Everyone who is not complicit in this monstrosity needs to join the reformed Republican Party in opposition to tyranny. New parties and third parties take too much time to mature. There is no alternative to the GOP. The unbeatable coalition can radically and rapidly improve America if we have the will to make it happen.

-Brian