Why I am Leaving the Republican Party

I am going to leave the Republican party. I have been a registered Republican since I was eighteen years old and I became old enough to vote. That doesn’t mean that I have always voted for Republicans, but that was my party affiliation. That is about to change. As soon as I have a day off and I can get to the town hall I am going to undeclare.

 This is not being done on a whim. I have been giving this serious thought for quite some time now, and I am not just spouting off. I don’t know what happened to the party that used to be for smaller government and reduced spending. It is sad actually that they have driven me to this, but it is what it is.

 I still have not been able to come to grips with the fact that John McCain, the man who has spit in the face of conservatives for eight years, has won the Republican nomination. I can’t accept it. But it is more than just that. John McCain just symbolizes where the Republican party and it’s voters appear to be headed. The party is beginning to “re-brand” itself. That is the term that is being thrown around, but what does it mean?

 What I think it means is the fact that the Republicans are throwing away their core values in an effort to get re-elected rather than running on them. This is appalling to me. Either you have core beliefs or you don’t. If your beliefs change because you need to win re-election you are nothing but a political whore and I have no use for you. If a person is willing to compromise his beliefs, he has none. And that is where the Republican party stands right now. This was quite evident most recently by Arnold Schwarzenegger who proclaimed the party must move to the left, the last straw for me. The Republican party is moving left for political gain.

 On the issues of spending, immigration, borders, and global warming to name a few, the Republican leadership is on the wrong side. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t trust John McCain when it comes to appointing judges, especially with a large Democrat majority in the house and senate. He will just “reach out” and appoint judges the Democrats approve of in order to “get things done” and to hell with conservative judges.

 I can think of no other way to voice my displeasure with the party other than to leave it as a sign of protest. They don’t listen if you write to them and they probably won’t listen to this either, but it has to be done. Maybe the fact that their base is constantly shrinking will be enough to slap them in the face and wake them up. As the Thomas Jefferson quote quote in my sidebar says, on matter of principle, stand like a rock. I consider this a matter of principle. Principle is more important than party. So where do I go from here? I don’t know.

 I have been reading lately about the New Hampshire branch of the Libertarian party, as a matter of fact that is where I found the Thomas Jefferson quote. I love allot about what they stand for but some of it seems to go against one of my biggest bones of contention. And that is the fact that there is this whole “no consequences for your actions” mentality that has crept into American society. And that attitude is prevalent in the Libertarian party. I am able to somewhat, but not fully, justify it however by the fact that as long as your actions hurt nobody other than yourself it is deemed okay.

 I have also been reading about the New Hampshire Constitution Party, this seems to be a real fringe party that just had their first convention last year. Their motto is “principle over politics”, which is what I have been writing about here today. That is certainly appealing as is their party platform:

 *Repeal the Unconstitutional Income Tax

*Protecting the Inalienable Right to Life of All, including the unborn, elderly and infirmed

*Protect the Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms

*Comprehensive Immigration Reform

*Promote Pro-family Policies

*Maintain a Strong National Defense

*Restore National Sovereignty, including withdrawal from the United Nations

*End Federal Subsidies for welfare and education

*Protect the inalienable rights of Liberty and Private Property

*Abolish corporate welfare

 I am conflicted, I don’t know where to turn and I don’t know where to go. All I know for sure is that I am turning my back to the party that has turned it’s back on me. I am tired of fighting for a party that refuses to fight for itself.

 As the government grows, spending increases, and our borders remain open, I have to ask what happened? How did it go wrong? I just don’t know. But I can’t be a part of it anymore.