One of my greatest supporters, best friends, and political allies can't seem to stop saying in conversation " But you know he is not a real republican." This, I suppose, could be a point of debate, or even an asset in some circles, but it rankles me a bit.
His view comes from, I do suppose, the eighteen of the past twenty-seven years that I have spent defending the rights of fellow employees against unfair work practices. This has less to do with my political leanings and more to do with my big mouth. Which by the way, would have gotten me fired many times over had I not been a union member.
Or it could come from my statements that the financial burden of foreign war that changes nothing half a world away threatens to bankrupt our country. But that is not a party issue. That is a common sense issue.
So the question becomes, "Can a person support Labor and be a Republican?" I hope so. I hope so because the solid conservative Christian base that makes up the majority of the people of Alabama are people who get up and go to work every day. They are not the landed gentry. They are not the privileged few who are born with money { or pretty enough to marry into it.} They are salt of the earth people who believe that stability is the name of the game.
They get up at daybreak and get dressed and go to work even if they don't feel like it because they love their wife, their husband, their children, their community and their God. On Sunday they go to Church and their children go to school on Monday morning. They go to bed at night tired and satisfied that they have run the race well.
I listen with interest to my friends who promote the sound bite "I don't vote the party, I vote the man. " That sounds really good, and I can't help but smile at the Naivete' of the people who believe it, but I tell you no person who has ever put a hat in the ring believes it. As my friend Tommy said on his radio show. "It's like Verizon, it's the network"
And so it is. I am a republican because I signed the Republican Party Pledge. I will vote the republican plank and that means Pro Life and Pro Second amendment. It means Pro Job Creation and Pro Small Business environment. It means voting for lower taxes and higher standard of living for everyone -every chance we get.
The only time I would disagree would be if an individual member of that rich landed gentry tried to take control of the caucus and pass a bill that would grind a working man under heel for his or her personal gain.
I am a Republican in Alabama because, for the past several years, grinding the working man under the heel with low paying jobs and high taxes has been pretty much a Democrat pastime.
No comments:
Post a Comment