Kelley’s Wrong Again!

It never ceases to amaze me how often the liberal intelligentsia, as represented in this case by my Filibanter partner Bennet Kelley, is just flat-out wrong. This is especially true when they offer “advice” regarding how Republicans should return from the political doldrums.Conservatives don’t win by offering “liberal-lite” alternatives. John McCain is living proof of this observation. So is former Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregan and defeated Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut. If the “me, too” Republican approach is so effective, then why do politicians who espouse such ideas almost uniformly lose?What reward will, for example, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reap from his Democratic constituents for supporting Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation? Will they even remember such a vote when he comes up for re-election in 2014? I would imagine the answers to the previous questions are “nothing” and “no.” On the contrary, when Ms. Sotomayor repeatedly demonstrates her true activist liberal idealism as a lifetime member of the Supreme Court, I would venture to guess that Sen. Graham’s Republican base will be the ones remembering that he helped her obtain the position.Republicans will rebound when they find better ways of communicating their free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom and traditional values agenda. Conservatives will again attract Hispanic votes when they demonstrate how people benefit economically and socially through individual initiative, while rewarding those willing to take economic risks—a concept the Obama Administration has clearly abandoned in their quest to appease the far left.No, Bennet, Republicans must reject the “advice” of lefties such as yourself. Offering the “liberal-lite” message will continue to doom the GOP. Judge Sotomayor will win confirmation regardless of how any of the 40 Republican Senators vote, but the country will end up losing from what will surely be her radical judicial agenda.Jim Ellis is a former political advisor to the House Republican majority and currently provides election analysis for clients of the PRIsm Information Network. With Bennet Kelley he has formed Filibanter, which provides a live presentation combining political filibustering and banter.