An Open Letter to the GOP

I grew into the Grand Old Party through Ronald Reagan in 1980.  It was my first presidential election and it laid the foundation for the next 34 years of my political life.  I have supported every candidate with an (R) after their name ever since.  Even when I didn't think Bob Dole stood a chance...even when I thought McCain was not the man to run against Obama in '08...and even during the 2012 primary season when I swore up and down I would support any candidate except Romney, I STILL supported Romney.

However many times I thought the Establishment GOP was taking their conservative base for granted, I kept supporting the party.  Then the way in which the GOP treated us conservatives took a decidedly nasty turn in 2010.  Instead of embracing the Tea Party and the grass roots energy we brought to the political landscape, you treated us like a plague.  Instead of accepting the turn to the right that the conservatives were engendering, you stood in open opposition and defiance to us.  Instead of accepting the will of the voters in several primaries in 2010, you rejected your own people and refused to support a candidate YOU didn't choose for us.  And when those Tea Party candidates didn't win in the general election, you blamed US.

Like some spoiled little kid, when the conservatives in the party wouldn't play by YOUR rules, you took your ball (your money) and went home.  Instead of taking back the Senate in 2010, like we easily could have, you were content to let the Dems keep their power just so you can maintain your unresistant control of the party.  And you blamed US for our loss in the Senate.

I should have walked away then.  I should have seen the writing on the wall.  But for the sake of not letting Obama win re-election, I stuck with you.  I gave you another chance in 2012.  There were some great candidates in 2012...even a couple whom you could have worked with...like Newt or Santorum.  We could have had any number of non-Romney candidates who could have beaten Obama.  Rick Perry...do you really think his flub about naming three agencies compares to the gaffes made by Obama and his 57 states?  Herman Cain...too much of an outsider for your tastes?

But, no.  You made a deal with Romney in 2008 that he could be the next candidate and you were determined to ruin the reputations of some very good men who stood in the way of you nominating YOUR guy.  How'd that turn out for ya?  Not good...and even worse for the country.  Thanks a bunch.

Now things have turned down right nasty.  You don't just support your chosen candidates anymore, you destroy any conservative who stands in the way.  It started in Virginia with their 2013 elections.  If you had show an ounce of support for Cuccinelli there is little question he'd have won and Virginia would have been spared such an uniquely piss poor governor for the next four years.

Then came the primary season...California, Oklahoma, Iowa, Mississippi and many more.  You couldn't just let two good candidates fight it out and save your bias for the general election by supporting whom the party in each state nominated, could you?  You had to lie, cheat, destroy any conservative who stood in your way.  And its quite clear you do so because you are so confident that we'll still vote GOP no matter how many times you piss on us.

But let me point something out to you about that Romney thing.  Barack Obama received 5 million fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008...while Romney couldn't even garner as many as McCain got in 2008.  You had the perfect chance to defeat Obama.  His support was never going to be as strong as it was in 2008.  Too many eyes were opened to what he was doing.  But instead of riding the wave of the TeaParty and the conservatives in the party, you shoved a terrible candidate down our throats, the very last one any conservative wanted.  And what was the result?  Millions of us stayed home.  Why do you think we lost house seats and even Senate seats?  Because you forced us to stay home.

You're about to do the same thing again in 2014.  You have pissed on us far too many times.  We won't stand for it anymore.  You may actually survive the election and win the Senate.  But I will tell you this, get your affairs in order, because that may be the last thing the GOP ever wins.  Every time you piss on us, you lose tens of thousands of more voters....you assure that the third party you've been terrified of will emerge and YOU...and the American people will be the ultimate losers.

Why?  Because those liberals you so adoringly embraced in Mississippi to help ole boy Thad win the nomination will show you no mercy.  They will wipe the floor of every political corner with the corpse of the GOP party and frankly I'm not sure our country will survive....thanks to YOU.

Bottom line...you lost me.  I'm out.  The GOP no longer represents my political beliefs.  And I will no longer support it.  You are no longer the party of Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolidge and Ronald Reagan.  You wanted to be the party of Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Thad Cochran and that's how you'll be remembered.