As Rick Santorum suspended his campaign yesterday, Mitt Romney appears to have become the inevitable GOP nominee. Due to the aggressive nature of the GOP primary season this year, there are no doubt many hurt feelings and cries of outrage. Many are feeling anger and extreme disappointment, as Mitt Romney was clearly not even the second choice of many conservatives and the Tea Party. To be honest, Romney was not my first or second choice, either. Yet, the table has been set and it’s time for us to re-adjust our focus.
While it has been a nasty six months of campaigning between the “establishment” candidate and the ever-changing “conservative” choice, we have now must prepare for a political war that hasn’t been experienced since Hamilton and Jefferson. As conservatives, we must understand that the 2012 election means a complete change in the course for the United States. There will be no going back from our decision in November, as Obama has already indicated his real agendas are still secret. Implementation of “ObamaCare” alone in 2014 will ensure a complete remodel of society and the economy we live in. The addition of another four years of socialistic policies would certainly bring us to an unimaginable place in our history, perhaps with even violent results. This is why we cannot afford to backbite and hold grudges over our issues with Romney anymore.
The stakes are too high and the result is too permanent. Our future generations deserve our present participation.
For some, this concept of uniting behind Mitt Romney and the “Establishment” may drudge up resistance and anger, yet consider these following reasons why we must unite in our battle.
Conservatism and the Tea Party have come extremely far in the GOP since 2008. Due to the nomination of John McCain, conservatism has surged in the last four years and has become a major force in the Republican Party. The crescendo from the ‘10 mid-term elections sent numerous freshmen congressmen to D.C. along with a new mandate and direction. If we can dump our short-term memory and remember these strings of victories, it should become obvious we cannot afford to take any steps backward in 2012. In 2008, it would have been inconceivable that grassroot-conservative members of the GOP could become such a strong force in the nominating process. Yet, here we stand having changed the face of the GOP and beginning a journey back to the days of Reagan. To stop or to sit-out the election now would halt the significant progress made and would begin to send the political environment back towards the status-quo.
Mitt Romney is a viable candidate. It is very popular right now to claim that Romney cannot beat Obama in the general election. It is easy to buy into this myth when it is combined with the frustration of other candidates losing to the “Establishment pick”. While the frustration is warranted, we have to remember who his opponent is: Barack Obama
Romney faces the most radical President in our nation’s history. As a magnified version of Jimmy Carter, he has overseen soaring unemployment and gas prices, while the economy and the public’s’ moral simultaneously collapse. Compared to President Obama, Romney has the potential to appear as a strong, fiscally-conservative alternative. Even with Romney’s former healthcare law and “flip-flops” on past beliefs, comparisons of him to Obama are a stretch, at best. There is no record indicating Mitt Romney would suspend oil-drilling in the gulf, criticize/threaten the Supreme Court, or even attempt to bypass the U.S. Congress whenever beneficial. More importantly, Mitt Romney shows very little contempt or blatant disregard for the foundation of the United States, compared with our current leader. With the economy failing, Barack Obama is extremely beatable by any candidate the GOP could have put forward this year, even Mitt Romney.
This election may be the last chance for the United States. As the President’s current and future policies create more inflation, debt, and social division; the window for a change in direction is closing extremely quickly. As mentioned before, the implementation of ObamaCare in 2014 will alone cripple the deficit and economy. Each of the divisive policies from the current Administration will become amplified in a second term, furthering the goal of creating a government-dependent society. If this dependent-society is achieved over another Obama term, the GOP nominee in ’16 may not matter.
Even more important than all the potential policies of a second Obama term are the Supreme Court nominees that are sure to be selected in the next four years. If Obama is allowed to stack the court with liberal justices, then control of the other branches will be strongly irrelevant. The Supreme Court will become the new policy-maker, approving and overturning laws based on the liberal agenda, not the U.S. Constitution.
To defeat Barack Obama, conservatives must begin to rally behind Mitt Romney in the next few weeks. It is a make or break moment, as the nation must choose between embracing the radical changes of this administration and returning to its capitalistic roots. This year, conservatives must unite and fight for their beliefs and their country. We should be extremely proud of the progress made in the last four years and be encouraged by the battle seen during the primary.
This November, we must realize the Presidency is within our grasp. We just have to saddle up and take it.
The Ohio Conservative 