The heavily Republican tilt of Massie’s district bodes well for him in the general election, but he isn’t the only successful constitutional conservative running for office. In addition to the Pauls’ influence, there is rising political star Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate Kurt Bills of Minnesota and a slew of similar liberty-minded candidates running for local, state and national offices this year and beyond.
All conservatives want to change the policies that are harming America. But actually achieving this will require changing the Republican Party. This is what makes a Republican like Massie so exemplary. Sure, lots of Republicans say they want to cut spending and return to the Constitution. Some of them are serious about it. But until such Republicans directly address the contradiction of having one foot stuck in Bush’s GOP while simultaneously trying to be limited-government tea partiers, their politics will never match their rhetoric. You can’t be a “constitutionalist” and not support the Fourth Amendment. This is not logical. You can’t claim you want to balance the budget by eliminating our $1 trillion deficit but still want to spend $1.2 trillion annually overseas. This is not mathematical. You can’t be for “limited government” and yet for limitless government power to enforce things you happen to like. This is not conservative.
To the degree that the Republican Party remains that of Bush (see John McCain and Mitt Romney), it will remain nothing more than the GOP version of the Democratic Party it pretends to abhor. But to the degree that Republicans reject their big-government recent past, as Kentucky voters did this week, there will finally be an opposition party. There will finally be a conservative party. And taking America back begins with Republicans taking a hard look at what they should be.
Jack Hunter (also known by his radio moniker the “Southern Avenger”) is a frequent guest on Fox Business, Michael Savage’s nationally syndicated radio program “The Savage Nation” and a frequent guest host on The Mike Church Show on Sirius XM. Hunter is the co-author of “The Tea Party Goes to Washington” by Sen. Rand Paul, assisted Sen. Jim DeMint with his book “Now or Never: How to Save America from Economic Collapse” and writes the Paulitical Ticker blog for the Ron Paul 2012 Campaign.
