Setting the bar for political wannabes

Newt Gingrich created a stir in April when he warned of a third party in 2012. "If the Republicans can't break out of being the right-wing party of big government, then I think you would see a third-party movement in 2012," he said. Eight months later, that dreadful prospect seems real. We got here because governing became all about power and not about Republican principles, leading to out-of-control government spending, deficits, earmarks and finally bailouts during the George W. Bush administration. It also became all about "winning elections," not about advancing the conservative agenda. But this is not because conservatism is unpopular. On the contrary, conservatism is "the dominant ideological group" in 2009, at 40 percent according to Gallup, outnumbering moderates for the first time since 2004 and twice the number who claim to be liberal. Much of the growth in self-identified conservatives is among independents, 35 percent now compared with 29 percent in 2008. This opened the door for the "tea party" movement. We are seeing one of the rare truly spontaneous grass-roots movements in our nation's history. It is overwhelmingly conservative and has a much higher favorable rating than the Republican Party...read more