Column for December 21, 2006

Wanted: An effective political party

Within the last week or so, former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr quit the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party. Mr. Barr is certainly not the first one to be disillusioned with the G.O.P. Mr. Barr finds himself in good company, including myself.

Some time ago, I also quit my affiliation with the Republican Party. The party that brought us Abraham Lincoln has brought us great disappointment over the last decade. That same disappointment has resonated across the nation, as we found out last month, and as I have written here.

On a national level, under Republican leadership, we have seen spending increase dramatically. The party that once had a plank on its platform to abolish the Department of Education ended up expanding that department, giving us No Child Left Behind. The Republicans, who were in the minority for four decades, could not muster the strength to take charge and actually lead. With little exception, they allowed the minority party to run most things under the guise of bi-partisanship.

When in leadership, tough decisions need to be taken. This will not always be popular with either constituents or fellow representatives. It is just sad that few of the Republican Congressmen had the resolve to take a strong position of leadership. Basically, they blew their chances of continued leadership because of a dozen years of ineffectiveness. It did not help that they G.O.P. leadership tolerated graft and corruption in the ranks.

In North Carolina, the G.O.P. is rather ineffective at the state level. The state legislature is controlled by Democrats. The Republicans have done little to inject themselves, with minor exception.

Locally, I have found the Johnston County Republican Party to be just as leaderless and ineffective. Great apathy is in the ranks of local Republicans. There are a few with great zeal, but I can count them on one hand and still have enough fingers left to count to three. Locally, I saw interpersonal political and power struggles and lethargy sufficient to cause me to leave the party. The sad part is that I have heard much the same sentiment from others in the county party. Some of these people have been candidates for office and some are even currently in office.

What is there for an alternative? I honestly don't know. I tried the NC Constitution Party. My membership expires this month and I will allow it to do so. The ballot access laws in North Carolina are among the toughest in the nation and the party's state leadership is worse than the local G.O.P. leadership. Ergo, the Constitution Party will never get on the ballot in any election in North Carolina. That is sad, since I have followed that party since its inception and love the party platform. If there was an effective leadership base, I would strive to make them a force to reckon with. Unfortunately, when you only have a dozen or so people to work with across the entire state and some of them are just bitter Republican rejects, what can you do? I waited a while to see the direction of the leadership prior to diving headlong into the water. I am glad that I did. Little can be accomplished, and I am not going to waste my time or money attempting change in that manner any further.

I won't become a Democrat for certain. I do believe I would rather be stabbed to death with a plastic fork than become a Socialist (I mean Democrat). The Democrat Party has slid far to the left, creating a leftward moving vacuum into which the Republican Party has slid.

I am very close to the Libertarians in ideology, but there are some key issues with which I disagree. Chief among these are legalizing the currently illegal drug trade, abortion rights, and homosexual rights. I personally don't care what my neighbors or fellow citizens do in the privacy of their own home. However, I find that contributing to public delinquency, slaughtering the unborn, and granting special, legal status for Sodomites is bad public policy and unconscionable.

What does this leave those of us who are independent thinkers that are willing to "swim upstream"? I don't exactly know. I have never been one to be afraid of going against the mainstream. I am open to a better solution than those I have found or that of former Congressman Bob Barr. I doubt I will find one, though.