When pondering the concept of picking a candidate in a Palin-less race, I have come to the conclusion that we are just not going to get what we need to renew and restore America this go around. In 2008, it was this writer's opinion that if the Republicans won the election, whoever got the nomination would be someone who could stop the bleeding but who would not be the truly bold leader needed to lift America's spirits and motivate it back into greatness. Now that things are even worse now, the sentiment is still the same regarding the 2012 field. Nonetheless, we still must win the election.
We can look for stronger leadership after we win. We can look at renewing and reforming the Republican Party so that it turns away from the stale establishment politics of the permanent political class and embraces the grass roots more. We can move the GOP toward creating a better and more fertile environment for citizen politicians and conservatives who bring common sense ideas to the table.
We can start with raising and discussing these issues at the GOP Convention in 2012. We can follow up with that by encouraging Sarah Palin to run for president in the future and to make it clear that renewing and restoring America cannot happen unless we renew and restore the Republican Party. This must happen if the GOP is to avoid giving cause for the rise of a third party. As a Republican, I encourage the party to avoid this.
For Sarah Palin, this means the letters, the tweets and the online encouragement isn't going to stop. We needed her now more than ever, but that doesn't mean we won't need her in the future. There just isn't anyone else out there right now that can take hold of this tiger and tame it completely like she can. Bold leadership is always going to be in demand as long as its absence continues to leave the gaping hole we have now.
Anyone associated with the Republican establishment and those in the party who would rather sacrifice principle simply for the sake of winning will continue to have a problem with the conservative movement. The pale pastels of safety are easier to pursue than the bold colors that are truly needed at this time to not only defeat Obama, but to make sure that liberals never gain that much traction ever again. It may seem safe to elect moderates, but when conservatism isn't applied by those moderates when they get into power, their policies fail and the people always turn to the other party, the Democrat Party.
Mitt Romney's biggest challenge with the conservative movement is that he is symbolic of the Republican establishment. The establishment wants to vote safe at a time when we need sudden and relentless reform. This is what's wrong with the GOP and explains why Romney's poll numbers remain steady rather than going up. The rank and file are looking for a bold and dynamic leader who is going to challenge the status quo in order to renew and restore America while ending socialism and crony capitalism outright.
That search will not stop until that leader steps up or until we find someone who will. Nothing less than top shelf leadership will suffice.
With Sarah Palin not in the presidential race, it's been extremely difficult to find a candidate that fits the bill. This blogger understands that we have to beat Obama, but who we beat him with is totally up in the air. There isn't one candidate that screams out "I'm the one" the way Palin did. We have Herman Cain. We have Newt Gingrich. We have Rick Santorum. We have Michele Bachmann. They seem to be the best of the bunch, but they all have flaws. At some point we are going to have to overlook flaws, unfortunately, this election cycle.
Luckily for us, none of our candidates are as flawed as Obama is. That ought to buy us some time when we win. Winning the election in 2012 is only step one. Step two is learning how to be the party and power yet still be dissatisfied enough to want to work even harder toward finding better leaders to help renew and restore the country. We can start with the Tea Party. We can start with Congress. But someday, someone who believes she doesn't need a title may have to take one on in order to finish the job.
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