Rock/Alex

Ok a few quick notes about this interview. I wrote up the questions and emailed them To alex who answered them. Thus you might see that there are certain points where I should have asked a followup question. Unfortunately I could not...so I didn't. There are some very interesting points made here, almost entirely made by me, (Kidding!) so please comment and tell me what you think. It's been a while since we've had a good old fashioned comment war, so let's start one.


Rock4ever95: Hello and welcome Today I will be interviewing our resident conservative Alex.

Hello Alex

Alex: Hello.


R: Alright so I have divided the questions into various sections

Anyway Section One: The Tea Party.

Probably one of the most fascinating movement in modern political culture. What's your position on it, are you for it all the way, agree with some positions disagree with others, hate them with a burning passion?


A: I am definitely for the tea party. It is a wonderful grass roots organization that has revitalized the Republican Party, and also reminded it if its true conservative base.


R: Question 2: Very simply will the Tea Party help or hurt the Republicans?


A: It will help the party.


R: Why?

A: Like I said before, it has really rallied the party. 18 months ago the party was falling apart, democrats seemed unstoppable, the presidents approval ratings were sky high, and what ever he wanted to be passed, was passed. But then the Tea Party revitalized the party and now the situation has reversed. This is in large part because the Tea Party has been talking exactly what the American people want. The American people have wanted a solid conservative entity, something they haven’t had since Reagan, and the Tea Party provides that.


R: Question 3: Some of the more extreme members of the Tea Party have given the whole group kind of a bad name, and I'm sure that the majority of Tea Party supporters are rational human beings but if you look at the polls on things like Obama's religion, and it's kinda startling. Is this just bad polling, or do people really buy this stuff? And if so why?

A: Any poll can be fixed pretty easily. I can’t tell you how many polls I have seen telling me that a HUGE percentage of liberals believe in crazy things, like flag burning or are Truthers. All liberals aren’t Truthers right? But on the other had, some of the things the Tea Partiers might believe. For example Obama’s religion thing, I do not think he is a Muslim, but he has gone to church 4 or 5 times in his presidency. Also he went to church for many many years at “pastor” reverend Wright. I don’t want to try and say he is not a God fearing man, but you can see how people think he might is probably not Christian.

R: Question 4: Is the Tea Party really important? Or is it just a bunch of hype?

A: No. It’s not just a bunch of hype.


R: Section 2: The Republicans.

Question 1: This year we have some really far right republicans running this year, Sharon Angle, Rand Paul and the like. Is this move to the right really what the Republicans need as they try and rebuild their party base?

A: Absolutely Rock4ever95, in recent times since the GOP moved to the center, the voter haven’t had much of an option. It was either a center party or a left party. The conservative voter could not get energized, but now with a clear option, the conservatives can really get behind the Republican Party.


R: Question 2: In my opinion there are three main types of conservative Republicans. The Very Religious who are conservative on social issues, the Red Blooded pro-military guys, and the Libertarian types who want the Government out of the economy. Would you agree? and if not, why?

A: Well they are large parts of it, but you have left out our most recent addition. They would be angry, scared, and simple dissatisfied independents. They are people who voted for Obama because they were angry, scared, and dissatisfied with Bush, but now they are even more angry, scared, and dissatisfied.


R: Question 3: Which group do you think will be the most influential come November and beyond?

A: Well, I would like to think that it will be the Very Religious ones who are also Libertarians, but really I have no clue. The tea party seems to be holding a lot of influence in the primaries, but I think we will only really know once all the dust settles in 2011.


R: What do you think of Palin as a 2012 contender? She's been quite active in the primaries.

A: Last week I would have said I don’t know, but something happened that has made it undeniable. She has stated that: if the need is there she will run. Personally I have to say I hope she is not nominated. She is a fine person and a good conservative, but I’m not a fan.


R: What about Huckabee? We haven't heard much from him recently.

A: I don’t know that Huckabee will be a contender. He has a contract with Fox News. He does a show on the weekends. I don’t know of course, but I would have to say he will not be running.


R: Romney?

A: Perhaps Romney will run. I can see him running and doing well, but he will have a lot of contenders. I do not believe he will get the nod.


R: Anyone who you think will be important that I didn't mention? Christie, Pawlenty?

A: Newt Gingrich is like going to be a contender. He did not run in ’08 because of his divorce. But it is likely that he will run in 2012, and he is in a very good position to do well in the primaries.

Also Bobby Jindal is very popular amongst conservatives and seems to be preparing for a run.

I am sure that there will be several more.


R: Section 3: The Democrats.

Ok Pretend that tomorrow you're hired by the DNC to run the show for the next few months, what can they do to turn it around, or is it a lost cause?

A: Well it’s never a lost cause. At this point I don’t think anything the democrats could do will keep them from losing at least a little ground, but that doesn’t mean they can’t decrease their loses. I would say they need to stop mudslinging and appeal the moderates.

R: Why?

A: By continuing to attack the republicans they only make themselves look bad, and without the help of the moderates they do not have a chance.


R: Ok how about this, Rahm Emanuel leaves to run for Mayor of Chicago, President Obama asks you to replace him, and revamp the whole Presidency. What do you do, what do you tell him to get him to bring his poll numbers back up?

A:Well that’s a tough one… If he tries to go to the middle, he would have to go so far that he would lose his base, but he can’t go more to the left or he will lose whatever middle ground vote he has left… Well the first thing to do is stop attacking the right general and the tea party specifically. That only lowers himself and gives the right more ammo. I would also advise him to tell his direct underlings to stop it also. Besides this I would tell him to have a tough stance on Iran and its nuclear program. Not just say he will get tough on them but actually be tough on them. Even to the point of military action. Even if this is not political wise, it has to be done for the good of the country and the planet. And I for one would certainly look at him in a new light.


R: Ok, I've always wondered this, what has Obama done specifically (not to overuse the word) that you disagree with.

A: I disagree with the following and much more: The spending of Billions and Billions and Billions of green American dollars to create the country’s largest, most wasteful slush fund ever, the Obamacare overhaul law, especially the part in it Forcing you and me to buy health insurance. The way he often says he is “Tough on Iran”, but simple puts a few sanctions on them. The fact that he is leaving a half finished job in Iraq. The way he is lowering America in international relations. The fact that he has implied that he wants the Bush era tax cuts to expire. His “Two State Solution” in the Middle East. There are a lot more but it’s late and I don’t want to type them all.


R: Interesting. Alright, Section 4: The Media. Question 1: Is Glenn Beck for real, or is he just having a laugh?

A: Honestly I have no clue. He seems to be sort of for real but he also seems to exaggerate it for the purpose of his show.


R: Question 2: I think I've pinpointed the Conservatives' problem this year. They don't have any outlet for their anger at Obama. I mean, when we were mad at Bush we had all these bands putting out protest songs about him and his policies. You know, Young's Impeach The President, Green Day's American Idiot, Anti-Flag's, um, everything. We also had comedians like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert who mocked Republicans everyday. Republicans don't really have anything like that so they get very angry and shout about it on cable news. If they had some pop culture people on their side they would be able to calm down a little and come off better. Do you agree, and if not, why not?

A: Not at all. Things like these do not elevate a party. Well… maybe the comedians… if there are good that is. Anyway, in the eyes of most conservatives a lot of these simple increase our indignation and determination. At least for me that is, every time I begin to just not care, I will see some liberal flag burning protest or some liberal pop culture person talking about how America is a terrible country, or someone making a Ad-Hominem attack on conservatives and it makes me get right back into the fight. If the conservatives had this kind of thing as a major part of there party it would only hurt their party.


R: Question 3: Who's your favorite talk show host?

A: Sean Hannity

R: Why?

A: I agree with a lot of his statements, I like his style and how he has is feet firmly planted in Christian Reagan based conservative politics.

Rock4ever95: Section 5: Current events.

Ok, so I'm going to run down a bunch of current events and I'd like you to tell me your opinion of it in as much detail as possible, please don't just say good or bad because it will really bore our readers. Ok? Cool, The Quaran Burning Threat?

A: It’s disgraceful. It is so unChristlike…

R: The Mosque/cultural center in New York?

A: The amount of hype this story has got is amazing. I believe they have the right, but they probably should not. They claim to not be doing it because of its proximity to the site, if that is so then they should take the money offered to them to move.


R: The end of the Iraq war?

A: We should not leave a half finished job. It might work out fine, I don’t know, but then again years of fighting might be wasted.


R: The BP oil spill?

A: This is a horrible tragedy…both to the environment and to the families that lost loved ones in the explosion.

R: The Arizona immigration policy?

A: I am a fan of this policy. The policy says that if you are pulled over for some other issue, usually driving related, they officer pulling you over can ask to see proof that you are a citizen. I think this is only a good thing.

R: All right. thank you Alex. That's a wrap.