Southern Republican Leadership Conference

While the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference does not officially kick off for over four more months, the country is anxiously awaiting the face of the movement that we are seeing – and, no doubt, the SRLC will be delivering next spring.  Since Inauguration Day in January, the current administration has turned to the left more times than a NASCAR driver and it continues to disenfranchise more of the electorate each day.  While President Obama swept through much of the general election on “hope and change,” it seems as though Americans are quickly finding that they are changing what they previously hoped.  Most recently, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod epitomized this growing philosophical divide between the administration and the American people when he suggested that the president will take action to ensure that any amendment restricting federal funding for abortion coverage is removed from final legislation.  This move would run counter to an earlier Gallup Poll which found that more Americans identify as “pro-life” than as “pro-choice.”  Incredibly, while Obama-care is increasingly becoming the most polarizing issue of recent presidential administrations, Obama continues to fly counter to the heartbeat of America on the most important issues facing us today – namely life, liberty, and security.  Furthermore, the decision of the Obama administration to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a New York City civilian court rather than a military tribunal was met with disagreement of nearly tw0-thirds (64%) of Americans polled.  Yet, the president greets such responses with a cold shoulder, sheer disdain, or highbrow condescension – all of which amount to conduct unbecoming of a president of the people, for the people, and by the people.

What is most amazing here is the dichotomy of attitudes Obama carries both abroad (see European Apology Tour or excessive bowing to foreign dictators) and domestically with complete and utter disregard for the voice of the American people through tea parties, town halls, and polls.  In fact, nearly six out of ten Americans polled disagree with the direction of the country.  This president continues to govern not out of anchored, directional values, but of a high level of hubris where personal arrogance outweighs any of the promised pragmatism.  

Still, while the abyss of the Carter years brought our country Reagan’s vision of the shining city on the hill, a similar time is now to seize control of the direction of this amazing country and to turn our eyes back toward that shining city.  To achieve this, our country will need to get back to ownership of our destiny, back to the “rugged individualism” that shaped the core of America and which is now needed to revitalize the governance of our lives, our country, and our future.  Until then, the SRLC will continue efforts to build the base for this country, fostering the values and beliefs that still exist as the foundation for most Americans today.  With the first straw poll for the Republican Party on its way at the SRLC and a platform being set to kickoff the next presidential cycle, SRLC 2010 will be filled with excitement and an action that will rock the country back to its rightful place as that shining city.