Fighting Fifth Fisticuffs (Part I)

I have stated consistently, and for quite some time now, that this race for the Republican nomination is WAY too crowded.
One of the reasons I chose to leave the race last October was precisely because there were others in the field who expressed the same principles I had been promoting for 11 months by that point.

Yet, somehow, most of the other candidates in this race right now don’t seem to understand the basic principle that, if two people are in general agreement on virtually every issue, one of them is irrelevant.

It had seemed, WAY back in January, that exactly this consensus had been reached. All that remained was making a determination of which candidate was the most viable to give Robert Hurt a run for his money in June.

In fact, there was agreement among 5 of the 6 candidates to leave their campaign managers and egos at the door, lock themselves in a room to battle it out, and emerge with one candidate having secured the full support of the others. This would enable them to present a united front and offer the 5th district voters a clear choice of conservative versus moderate in June.

So, what happened?

Well, that’s a good damn question! No one really knows. Rumors have swirled and, included among them, is an extremely nasty one that I sincerely hope is not true. I refuse to elaborate on it here. To do so would leave ME as a suspect in the already-rampant 5th district rumor-mongering (even though I would merely be repeating what I’ve heard from at least 3 other sources). And that is not my intent with this post, or this blog.

Instead, I want to focus a bit on the crowded field, and how it can be thinned. I don’t think there are many people involved in this race who are comfortable with the number of candidates present (except, perhaps, Rob Hurt’s campaign and its supporters). There is broad agreement, otherwise, that the field MUST be narrowed.

And I have a few suggestions. Now, I’m going to catch a lot of heat (and more than a little hell) for this post. So be it. I had planned to do this about a month ago, but I wanted to be sure of my picks. And now I am.

It’s time for the gloves to come off. Politics has always been a bare-knuckle sport, but this is 2010, and this year will be a street brawl, from now until November and beyond, and somebody has absconded with the bell.

That being the case, then, it is incumbent upon us to make some tough decisions. We must base them on facts and logic, as I have always advocated, but we must NOT succumb to the fear of putting candidates ill-at-ease and perhaps even pissing them off.

Again, I am not here to offer up a flippant analysis. I will provide MY reasoning for making this (first) list and, should it differ with your understanding of the facts, the comments section is always open.

The fact of the matter is, quite simply, Robert Hurt will be handed the Republican nomination on a silver platter in exactly three months, unless the field is cleared of debris, giving more viable challengers some room to actually run.

To further the football analogy, Robert Hurt is currently running, unhindered, down the left sideline. Three candidates are all bunched up on the right side of the field, unable to cross the field to catch up with him for the tackle. Why can’t they cross the field? Because the marching band never left after the halftime show, and they’re marching down the middle of the field, between the hash-marks.

One of these band members is beating a tired old drum, one is incessantly clapping the crash cymbals together, and one is “playing” the triangle. And, strangely enough, one of the three defenders is beginning to show signs of a desire to join the band in their meaningless march, perhaps on the cowbell.

Contrary to Christopher Walken’s Saturday Night Live demands, we do NOT need more cowbell. We need the halftime leftovers to clear the damn field so that our swiftest defenders (of liberty) can catch up to, and tackle, the guy who is getting ready to spike OUR ball in the endzone.

We can escort (and even force, if necessary) these band members off the field, but there’s a problem: they are wearing the same jerseys as our team, and their instruments are merely metaphors for their campaign “strategies.” So, we must identify who they are, so we don’t take out our defenders in the process.

First, the triangle player. I use this metaphor because, quite frankly, this candidate only has 3 issues, like the sides of the triangle and, just as the triangle in a marching band, the sound they make is fairly timid and tends to blend in or be drowned out by the rest of the ensemble.

Furthering the metaphor, one of the three sides has a gap in it. For the musical instrument, this gap allows for stronger vibration and makes the sound more clear. Not so with the candidate. The gap in their issue is a wide one, and makes the entire argument ring a bit hollow.

I’ll let you determine which issue I’m referring to here, but I’ve laid it out a few times before, at least once on this very blog.

The point is, this candidate is already being drowned out by more vocal, bold, and eloquent candidates, and, as such, MUST stand aside for the good of the conservative cause she professes to believe in.

Feda Kidd Morton: it’s time for you to leave the field. Halftime is over, and we have a much more serious battle going on here that, quite bluntly, is a bit over your head. (That was NOT a height joke, by the way.)

Feda is a wonderful person, a caring human being, and a great asset to the conservative movement. But she is NOT going to beat Robert Hurt for the nomination, much less have a snowball’s chance at the Equator of slowing down Tom Perriello in the general election.

Next, we have the guy with the crash cymbals. Making a lot of noise, but it’s repetitive and has recently crossed into the realm of “annoying.” Not much else to say on this one, because I think that sums it up.

Again, a nice guy with great zeal and enthusiasm for conservatism, but there are other (and better) ways for this candidate to promote those ideals, and those avenues are NOT to be found in this GOP primary race.

Ron Ferrin: Go promote your business and help it thrive, which it will not do with your leadership and energies devoted elsewhere. You are very personable, with a good sense of humor that will serve you well in the business world. But a stage at a candidate forum is not the time or place to promote a business or test new punchlines. This is a serious contest, and one that you will not be taken seriously in. (And I know a thing or two about that last line, so don’t shoot the messenger.)

I’ll leave it to your imaginations to determine who the drummer and cowbell-player are, because this post is already a bit long (and overdue). There will be more later, though, so stay tuned.

And, if you want to hear further reasons for my suggestion to the two above-mentioned candidates (and a third thrown in for good measure), just listen to the last half-hour of last Saturday’s Sons Of Liberty Show.