Will GOP leaders ever wake up?
By Charles Bloomer
web posted September 19, 2005
The medical profession has developed a plethora of warning signs that we ignore at our own peril. There are warning signs for cancer, for heart disease, for high blood pressure, for any number of potential problems. The concept here is simple: educate the public to help them live longer.
To use another analogy, automobiles have warning signs and indicators. Good drivers know the normal operating condition of their vehicles. They know how to recognize warning signs of impending trouble. Unusual noises, erratic performance, hesitation when accelerating tell drivers that something is not right. Automobiles with gauges provide indications of abnormal performance. And most drivers understand that the red lights on their dashboards indicate a catastrophic failure.
Political warning signs can be a bit more subtle, but they do exist. And like health warnings, ignoring the signs can cause serious injury, even death to a political party. Some of these warning signs are indications of small problems that, if recognized early, allow us to take simple corrective action. Some are indications of catastrophic failure of a vital organ. The key is to know how to recognize the signs and where to look. If we look in the wrong place, or if we ignore the signs, the ability to correct a problem becomes a complicated crisis that, if unsuccessful, leads to the demise of the political party.
Right now, today, the leadership of the Republican Party is either unaware of the warnings or are ignoring the indications of trouble. Vital organs in the party's body are grumbling. The needles on the gauges on the dashboard are trending toward trouble. If aggressive corrective action is not taken soon, the problems will balloon, then burst with crippling effect.
The warning signs today plainly show discontent among the conservative base. This discontent, this aggravation is driven by the national Republican leadership (or lack thereof) in two major areas – illegal immigration through porous borders and wasteful, extravagant spending. The warning signs in these two areas have progressed well beyond just the minor heart flutter or the squeak in the suspension. The indicators are loud and clear, but the GOP leadership is not responding.
Those indications of trouble are not to be found in the Liberal mainstream press (they would be happy to see the GOP fail), but in the alternative media. Conservative talk radio and the internet are carrying these warning signs daily, apparently to no avail. The fact that these issues are topics of daily discussion and repeated criticism should alert the Republican leadership that a satisfactory corrective action must be taken now, today, not tomorrow, not in 2008.
Pandering to non-conservative interest groups will not improve the health of the party. If the Republican leadership ignores the immediate signs of discontent, dissatisfaction, disappointment and aggravation among its core supporters, they may very well wake up in November 2006 with a red light on the dashboard, with a major organ failure as they look at the election results. If that warning is ignored, 2008 will be devastating. If the conservative base does not support the Republican Party, if the base moves to other parties such as the Constitution Party or the Libertarian Party as a protest, it will be too late. First responders may find the GOP DOA.
In 2008, the GOP could find itself in the minority again in Congress and with a Democrat as President: All because they ignored clear, unambiguous warning signs. 
Charles Bloomer is a Contributing Editor for Enter Stage Right and the creator of Liberty Call US.
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