I sat staring at the envelopes wondering what something like this might have cost. Sent out to millions of people. The printing, the software involved, the maintenance of the database and manpower, etc. The expense must be very high. What a waste of valuable resources that could have been used for more productive, positive and informative purposes.   You know this is almost like a failed relationship. A “former” friend who recently made it abundantly clear to you, with a vote of no confidence, that they wanted to strictly limit future encounters. And you weren’t sure why. [kind of like this relationship between the Republican Party and the conservative Base] If you were the spurned friend wouldn’t you want to at least sit down and pen a sincere, personal letter asking them why? Posing a few questions in order to get a better understanding as to why the relationship went south? Wanting to recover the relationship? Seems a no-brainer to me.   Certainly you wouldn’t send them a letter begging for money. That would be like rubbing salt in the wound and would be downright weird. A strong indication that the sender had some real “issues” which might require professional counseling. 

So, the RNC has these real “issues”.   They have not even the slightest interest in trying to understand why the waning support for the party.   They simply don’t think in terms of using that fabulous mailing database to reach out and touch their former supporters. Oh, certainly they’ll occasionally include a very short survey with rigged, carefully crafted “safe” questions that most right thinking people would answer in only one way. That survey being attached to another “plea” for money in order to coax a bit more out of us. And we never see the compile, analyzed results of these surveys, do we? Which can only mean that once the money was fished from the envelope, the rest was, most likely, contemptibly tossed in the trash.

So the RNC has the know-how, the tools and the ability to reach us. Individually! Isn’t that amazing? They can and do easily communicate directly with all of us. But not for the purposes of gaining knowledge. Only for bumming more money.    Large, successful corporations value feedback from their customers and employees. They mail or email their customers and/or employees a PIN number which gives them access to a website. On that website is an exhaustive, comprehensive, in depth questionnaire/survey covering all aspects of all issues within that company regarding the company’s products/services.   Once the survey is completed/returned, experts analyze the results and report to top management.   You see, in business factual data is an important tool that helps keep them competitive in the market. Knowing what level of service and product sophistication their customers are desiring. They have to stay mindful of the wants of their customers.

But not the RNC. They continue to demonstrate that they care nothing for what the conservative Base thinks. Instead they turn to their manipulative pollsters, their inept strategists and all manor of advisers and consultants who have their own biased agendas. Nope. No exhaustive questionnaire for conservative voters covering all aspects of all issues such as The GWOT, the Geneva Convention(s), immigration, illegal immigration, environmental radicalism, the man made global warming hoax, domestic trade, international trade, the never ending trade deficit, GATT and its evil offspring the WTO, the UN, world opinion, the diminishing influence of the U.S. Constitution, etc, etc.    And no gathering together of the best and most enlightened conservative minds to analyze the results of said questionnaire once completed and returned. Obviously they think we hayseeds out here in flyover country just don’t have sufficient or sophisticated knowledge of these issues to be able to adequately contribute to the discussion/debate.  

Oh I can hear the skeptics, “Unnecessary! We have pollsters and other experts. We know what the Base wants. We have our finger on their pulse”.    Yes, and how has that been working for you, knucklehead?   No, the only reason to oppose a sincere, meaningful and substantial outreach from the RNC toward the Base is that the findings might upset the status quo. Can’t have that.    And there is another dark secret not spoken of in public. The GOP Hierarchy might now have to confront and deal with something that they’ve known for some time; the extreme hostile opposition that exists between the Conservative Base and traditional corporate donors to the GOP. Leaders with moral courage, like Ronald Reagan, would have no problem with a dilemma such as this.   Without question or hesitation – loyalty to the Voters.   But, as I once again examine this little envelope from the RNC, I have no doubt what route they’d take (and have taken). They’d go for the money.   Darvin Dowdy

The Conservative Movement has certainly contracted this ailment, in my view. It has been sucked up in a vortex of emotional reaction directed towards the totally predictable course our government has taken since 1/20/09. As if it should be a total surprise that this course has taken a sharp turn to the “left” under Obama/Pelosi/Reid. “So” you ask, “how is this a pleasant distraction?” I don’t know. But it seems that Limbaugh, conservative talk radio, pundits and blogs are effuse with comment after comment, article upon article, essay stacked on essay, over and over and over again [ad nauseum] regarding the extreme leftward direction the democrats are steering our Nation. Conservative commentators such as Ann Coulter continue to pump out articles and books telling us what we already know [and are sick of hearing] about the left. Alright already! We know enough about the devious, deceitful, Constitution-hating democrats! My gosh how many times must we be told? We’re convinced, ok? Yet our conservative orators/pundits seem gleeful and shocked at the very same time in their continuous reporting of the left’s shenanigans. As if this is the first anyone has heard about this agenda of the left which works tirelessly towards undermining our Constitution and moving us, instead, toward and under the control of some world governing body. I mean, what the heck did they expect? That congress would pass a bill declaring Ronald Reagan’s birthday a national holiday? Why would they or any thoughtful person be surprised? The answer is – they are not surprised. They, the present conservative pundits, simply enjoy this game. Tit for tat. One-upmanship. It’s a battle of the titan ego’s.   A glorious hobby! They are having a blast. They fiddle while Rome burns! Its all become just a big game to them. Again, they’ve been pulled into this vortex of strife and discord and have, hence, been rendered somewhat ineffective.   If they remain, they will become totally irrelevant. 

“So” you ask, “what should they do? Shouldn’t they report these hideous attacks on our Constitution and Liberty? Shouldn’t we all protest? Be shocked and appalled?” Well, some years back I watched a football game with horrible officiating. One call in particular was obviously flawed and unfair costing one team much needed points. The team coach on the wrong side of the bad officiating kept his cool and did not complain. His team was far behind but they had a superior strategy and tactics. A better, flexible plan. Long story short, they came from behind and won the game despite the odds being completely against them.    The Conservative Movement has been beaten down by an unscrupulous opponent yet they have no come-back strategy, whatsoever. Oh, there are plenty who have a national “bloody pulpit” of some sort and they are standing behind those pulpits whining continuously about the encroachments of our arrant enemy.   There is no winning strategy, however, or even a questioning of what went wrong on 11/7/06 and 11/4/08. No attempt to reach out to the estranged GOP Base, better understand them and make adjustments that would draw them back. Among conservative politicians or pundits there is no significant plan to go on the offensive against those negative forces within the GOP that continue to have a strangle hold on it. Those that continue to drive away millions of former GOP voters. No naming of names. No pointing of fingers. No stomach for going after some of their golfing buddies or former comrades who have steered our GOP off of the super highway it was once on and into a muddy bog.  No sir, too unpleasant a task. No gathering together of the great conservative minds for the purpose of an exhaustive analysis. Why? Largely because they’re afraid of what they’ll find.