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Flip4.org Blog Launches

Submitted by TimGoddard on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 17:38

A consistent theme here on The Next Right in recent weeks has been that technology for the sake of technology isn't going to do anyone any good. Only when technology is put to the pursuit of specific goals and in support of excellent candidates can it be successful.

I'd like to offer up Flip4.org as an example of a way we can do this. I blogged here about Flip4.org a couple weeks ago. If your memory fails you for a moment, the goal of Flip4.org is to flip four seats in every state legislative chamber where doing so will give Republicans the majority. This is, I like to think, "a useful and serious political objective the realization of which just happens to be made easier by technology."

Today, it enters a new stage, as the site is launched as a blog, where contributors will keep us informed about these key state legislative races across the country--just the sort of thing Sean Oxendine called for back in November.

And this is only step one. As time goes on, the site will be enhanced to enable us to pool our voices and choose 60 excellent candidates in 14 different states, whose victory we will then work to assure.

So go, visit the site, keep yourself informed, and pitch in where you're able--2010 could be a great year for us, but only if we begin putting in effort in 2009.

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Comments

Trust, but verify

Submitted by Seth on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 02:26.

I wholeheartedly support groups (like Flip4) that support Republicans over Democrats but I hasten to add that there must be some sort of authentification system within the Next Right to ensure that the Republicans we support are not merely RINOs.

Flip4's aim is to "to put into those seats talented, principled, forward-thinking Republicans who will serve their states with distinction once elected."

Great job, good luck!

My state legislator...

Submitted by Progressive Tra... on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 02:48.

...is a Democrat that ran uncontested. 

Where do we draw the line on RINOs?

Submitted by WoodbridgeVa on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 08:54.

Is a RINO someone who supports your position only 80 percent of the time, 60, 40?  Or must they be 100 percent in order to get your stamp of approval?  At what point is a Democrat who opposes our ideology 80 percent of the time preferable to a RINO who supports us 50 percent of the time?  Take a look at the voting records for the 109th and 110th Congresses.  You will find a grand total of 5 RINOs who supported the Republican position less than 50 percent of the time and 1 who supported it less often than the most conservative Democrat. 

My general rule of thumb is to support whoever is closest to my ideology in the election at hand.  I tend to vote fairly conservative in primaries; but I have yet to find any Democrat worth voting for in a general election.

We have torn ourselves apart over the RINO question here in Northern Virgina.  And the result has been a steady progression of Democrat victories.  We need to get beyond this.  I worked like a dog to support Jim Miller in the 94 and 96 Senate primaries and I have supported conservtives in primaries and caucuses; but I have always swallowed hard and have voted the Republican in general elections, including Tom Davis and John Warner.  They may not be my favorite candidates but their voting records are 55 - 65 percent conservative.  Does anyone think their replacements will move to the right?

Going into the state legislative races in 2009 (our entire House of Delegates is up), should we be more concerned about whether a candidate takes a walk on some issues that are important to their district and critical to their reelection or whether they will stand with us on redistricting?  Looking at the congressional races in 2010, how far do we ask our candidates to go in opposing the views of their constituents?  The Northeast and Midwest states are littered with defeated Republicans who put ideology ahead of district.  Can you point to a single instance in which their Democrat replacement is an improvement or will support conservative principals more often than the Republican they defeated?

I have sat in many meetings with RINO elected officials and I understand they can make a person's skin crawl with disgust; but reality is a hard taskmaster.  If you want to banish all so called RINOs from the party, than plan on Democrat control of federal, state and local government for the next 20 plus years.  It may satisfy your sense of purity but think of the nation it will leave to your children.

Exactly

Submitted by Progressive Tra... on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 21:04.

Exactly what I was getting at.

But there was one more thing that I was hoping that someone would bring up.  That's the issue of how (that part of) the conservative ideology that would champion local control (the new form of the states' rights debate, ie republicanism) might somehow conflict with the idea of a group of outsiders determining who is appropriate to run in those districts.

Better to have few virtues, and adhere to them the greater. 

I was hoping that someone

Submitted by davidvilla on Mon, 05/25/2009 - 04:56.

I was hoping that someone would bring up.  That's the issue of how (that part of) the conservative ideology that would champion local control (the new form of the states' rights debate, ie republicanism) might somehow conflict with the idea of a group of outsiders engineering degree determining who is appropriate arts degree  to run in those districts.

Better to have few virtues, and adhere to them the greater. online psychology degrees

Were do we draw the line

Submitted by LEM on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 15:39.

Excellent post.  I agree. 

What is re-branding?

Submitted by lgm on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 10:43.

Re-branding the Republican party means more than having cooler web sites.  Obama won the election because he had a better message, not because he had a better web site.

I say they try to recover their reputation for integity.  This means avoiding displays like over the bailouts, where Republican Senators approved $700B for banks but then put up a giant union bashing fest over the auto bailout of $35B.  Everyone understood they had their interests (non-union car manufacturing in their states) in mind, not the interests of the country.  They were willing to bail out white collar traditionally Republican bankers but not blue collar traditionally Democratic auto workers. 

Good Idea

Submitted by Cahnman on Sat, 01/03/2009 - 02:24.

However, I urge caution as it relates to New York State.

Having grown up and lived in NYS most of my life, I can assure you that most Republicans in the state are outright Criminals  and that anyone we support needs to be vetted.