Suppose I were a Republican who agreed with the party on many, if not most, major issues, but absolutely disagreed with them on one or two key ones - let’s say homosexuality (this is particularly apt, considering that many of the Republican or otherwise conservative posters on this very board are like this). Right now, the party, given the opinions of many of its members, its official platform, and actions like these on the part of its most prominent members, doesn’t show any sign of going towards acceptance of homosexuals - natural, given the power the Religious Right still holds.
What would be the best way to counteract this? How are the Log Cabin Republicans doing it? The Democrats who think unions are having a bad influence on their party?
Don’t focus on the national party…it’s too big, and too hard for any group to control. Focus on state parties, or even on county levels if you have to. Get people who support your views elected to the state legislatures. Use the Religious Right as your model. Even if you don’t like their positions, they did a bunch of things right.
Start small. The RR started out by getting people who supported their views elected to school boards and town councils. This let them get stuff done on the local level and it planted seeds, because today’s school board member or city councilman is tomorrow’s state senator, or tomorrow’s delegate to the national convention. The small size of the elections and their vast number also served as a laboratory…it let the RR try out tactics, and it taught them how to run campaigns. There wasn’t the kind of pressure you’d find in big elections, so if you try something and it doesn’t work, all you’ve lost is a school board seat.
Volunteer. Your group needs to be the “go to guys”. Do the stuff that nobody in the party wants to do. Make the coffee. Get out there at 6 in the morning to hand out fliers at bus stops. For every high profile, fun job, there are 100 jobs that nobody wants to do, but that need to be done. If your people will do that stuff, the party will be grateful, and the party will listen if you say something, because you’ll become indispensible to the day to day running of the party.
Get out the vote. Make sure the people who agree with you vote. Every time.
After watching the Republicans back Ahhnold for governor despite that he pretty much doesn’t have a Republican value in the bunch, I’m convinced they can be bought.
I think it’s just that their price is higher than the Democrats’.