Take Back the Republican Party
by Linda Gibson
It’s time for the grownups among us to quit indulging the tantrums of the political 2-year-olds in the Republican Party hollering “No!” unless they get their way.
One way to accomplish this would be for Democrats, Independents, Greens, Libertarians and moderates of all kinds to join the Republican Party. Take it back from the fanatics who denounce those even slightly left of center as extremists, Marxists or traitors.
Today’s Tea Party followers are political Puritans – strident, inflexible, judgmental, convinced of their moral superiority and suspicious of anyone who doesn’t see everything as either-or, black or white and right or wrong.
Like children and fundamentalists of all kinds, they’re full of irrational fears, seeing monsters where none exist and unable to see any merit in opposing views.
Elections often are swung by a handful of votes. This is why the Tea Party has succeeded in gaining influence despite its small size. It’s well organized and very active in getting out votes.
Politicians pay inordinate attention to such groups, knowing that they can provide a winning margin in a close race.
So it really wouldn’t take much to wrench the pendulum back towards middle ground. Here’s how.
Switch your party registration to Republican. Then find a moderate Republican office holder near you, identify yourself as a Republican voter and tell him or her you support them. Even better, do a little volunteer work on their campaign. In primary elections, vote for anyone who isn’t a hard-right extremist.
None of this will prevent you from voting for the candidates of your choice in general elections, whatever their party might be.
If we don’t help the Republican Party strengthen its moderates, we’ll all be dragged down by kicking, screaming naysayers.
Linda Gibson writes the blog Subversive Speech (http://subversivespeech.wordpress.com) for the website BadInfluence.org, a resource for inspiring, motivating and educating progressive activists. She has worked as a reporter, editor and freelance writer for print and digital media, and publishes two websites and three blogs of her own. A Chicago native, she lives in Gary, Ind.