The old adage “has my political party left me or have I left my political party” has been a cause for much personal thought as I have watched the Republicans in Congress and in the White House disappoint me for their lack of spending restraint, their desire to keep power at all costs, and their corruption and sex scandals.
Of course if I was a Democrat, I would be facing the same choice as they have blown their chance to lead Congress, have Presidential candidates trying to out promisr each other on how much money they will spend on their socialist dreams, and have Congressman getting caught in their own corruptions, lies, and other indiscretions.
Even the Wall Street Journal recently conducted a poll in which registered Republicans were starting to lose their patience with the failure of the Republicans to implement standard party economic policies including controlling the growth of government and defending the benefits of free trade policies.
At the state level, our Republican Governor has failed to deliver on his promise to lower our property taxes “like a rock”. He is finally starting to show some leadership on other important issues including using his powers to ensure that property insurance companies reduce their policy costs as promised when the state decided to get into the reinsurance business for their benefit.
I am proud to see that the Republican controlled Town Council of Davie has met its obligation to lower the Town’s budget by 9% as was mandated by the state legislature during their previous attempts to lower our property tax bills. Many of our other local governments have voted to bypass those reductions and, thus, are sticking their residents with ever higher property taxes.
So where do I go from here? I have been a proud Republican for more than 20 years. I still remember with pride being one of only a handful of similar voters in a Baltimore, Maryland, precinct in which I lived in the 80’s. To this day, I still enjoy spreading the good words and ideals of Goldwater and Reagan to my extended family members and friends. But that task is getting harder as the current day Republican elected officials continue to embarrass me with their votes.
I am in search of a Republican Presidential candidate who offers me the promise of fighting for my kind of economic conservatism, for a secure border with a more orderly process for allowing new citizens into our country, and for social policies which are not dictated by his or her religious beliefs. As I wrote in a previous column, only Fred Thompson has captured my interest but his campaign has yet to make the sale.
Rest assured that I will either vote for whoever becomes the Republican Presidential candidate or I will not vote at all. As many times as I have tried to get comfortable with the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency, the more she shows her true socialist colors with plans to give a $ 5,000 bond to every baby born for their future college education or her pledge of $ 1,000 for each American to help them start their own retirement plans. As often as she tries to show moderate views on Iraq, she also spouts her belief in government’s key role in our everyday lives.
2008 will be a challenging year for my Republican loyalties. Considering that only a few years ago I was awarded the “Republican of the Year” trophy by the Broward County Republican party, I am hoping that something or somebody will reignite my passion for the national and local parties. Unfortunately, at this point, I believe I will resort to being a Monday morning quarterback about what could have been.
