Can the GOP Continue to Ignore the "Lou Dobbs Voters"?

Chris Gacek of the Family Research Council gave the GOP a stern warning via his October ’07 essay in Politico – “Lou Dobbs Voters Will Decide ‘08”. Of course, the arrogant GOP Hierarchy paid little-to-no attention. Hence, they were punished severely on 11/4/08 by this massive block of former/traditional GOP voters now estimated by Rasmussen to be 12-14% ( link ). By my best estimation that translates into 15-18 million. Think they could have made a difference on election day for the GOP? Instead the disconnected Republicans opted to pander and grovel for the unreliable moderate/centrist vote. And the overrated Hispanic/LaRaza vote. They (McCain and Gingrich especially) even took a shot at the “green” vote. And this overall strategy worked about as well as one would expect forcing 59 million of “us” to reluctantly and dutifully hold our nose and pull the lever for McCain. Lot of good it did, huh?


So, who are these Lou Dobbs Voters? Estranged and shunned by the pompous GOP. They’re not simply the audience of Lou Dobbs former CNN program, no. These folks come out of the heartland of our Nation – coast to coast/Canada to Mexico. They know history, they know the Constitution and they keep up with current events. Also, they’re fiercely nationalistic. If you ask them who Ramos and Compean are – that’ll get their attention. And if you really want to see their blood pressure rise, ask them about Johnny Sutton. These Dobbs voters will also be able to tell you about the 99% effective E-Verify program and the seditious efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to block the gov’t from mandating its use by employers to verify that their employees are, indeed, either citizens or in country legally. The U.S. Chamber, of course wanting to keep the flow of cheap, illegal labor open and unobstructed. News issues that Dobbs bravely reported on regularly.

I’ll wager that if you asked Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty or any GOP insider “what about Ramos and Compean?”, they wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. But these are the issues that concern this unique block of voters. Issues that are reported on by very few in the mainstream media – Dobbs, Beck, Ingraham, Malkin and Savage mostly.


I’d challenge some of you, who consider yourselves moderate Republicans to look below the surface of some of these issues. Here’s one. Do some research on Oklahoma House Bill 1804. The good citizens of Oklahoma overwhelmingly supported this bill and it passed the Oklahoma house by a vote of 89-9 which would have protected the state from the costs of rampant illegal immigration. But who do you think used the courts to block it? La Raza? Lulac? The ACLU? No! None of the above. It was our GOP’s best bosom buddy (and best donor) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce again. They went against the will of Oklahoma citizenry and blocked this bill by finding a liberal judge and using the courts. Which explains a lot. Do I have to spell it out? The GOP Base says, “close the borders and enforce existing immigration laws!”. The U.S. Chamber says with a sly smile, “if you do we’ll cut off our major donations”. The Republicans simply can’t wean themselves away from that revenue stream. No matter that its costing them votes. These are the sorts of extremely important issues that Dobbs (and very few others) are reporting on.

The concern over these issues is very consistent with Conservative thought. States Rights, Rule of Law, National Pride and national Sovereignty. And Reagan Realism in the area of international trade. Our military protects our shores even when they’re in foreign battlefields. Shouldn’t we also have an umbrella of realistic global trade protections over our own nations economy? Make no mistake, Ronald Reagan believed we should have them. Somewhere between 1988 and the present we drifted off course in the area of international trade, dealing only with the approval and permission of the WTO and other world governing bodies. Watching helplessly as our wealth was (and is) being slowly siphoned off and our trade deficit ever widening.

Again, these are the sorts of issues that Lou Dobbs and a handful of others report on. These same issues are of deep concern to the Constitution-loving, fiercely nationalistic Lou Dobbs Voters. And as the Republican Party continues to gravitate more towards Transnational Progressivism / globalism, this sizeable block of voters has opted to stop the train and get off.

Once our Republicans get elected they immediately turn their backs on those that put them in office. They shift their focus instead on the requests/demands of special interests, world governing bodies, foreign governments and non-governmental orgs (NGO’s). Hence, it was necessary for the voters to punish them for their bad behavior. And that’s what happened not only on 11/4/08 but also on 11/7/06. And it’ll happen again on 11/2/10 if we don’t right our course.

So, what happened to these Lou Dobbs voters on 11/4/08? Most simply, and respectably “Stayed at Home”. Others protest voted for a 3rd party candidate. Also, understandable. But many (too many) were so emotional and eager to “throw the bums out” that they engaged in a stupid knee-jerk type reaction and – voted Obama. I’m sure they’re kicking themselves about now. And well they should.

It was also very stupid of the GOP Hierarchy to disrespect, ignore and insult the Lou Dobbs voters and similar voting blocks. Can they afford to do that again with the 2010 midterms so close? After all, they must’ve learned by now that depending on the centrist/moderate, Hispanic and green vote did not (and will not) translate into votes for them.

There is another huge factor – Lou Dobbs is no longer some Monday-Friday evening news anchor guy. The GOP now has to deal with the very real possibility of “Lou Dobbs – Presidential Candidate” . And deal they must. Lou Dobbs describes himself as a “lifelong Republican”. Believe me, the GOP and Movement Conservatives want to keep it that way. They don’t want to force Dobbs into some 3rd party option. Wouldn’t it be best for the GOP to stop compromising away its principles and reengage with its principled Base?

Republicans are involved in a very dangerous gamble at present. They have adopted the tactic of spending 100% of their time illustrating the weakness of the opposition and zero time in self introspection/analysis. They seem to think that if they embark on an emotional tirade about the wicked left then the unpleasant task of getting their own dysfunctional house in order will not be necessary. It’s a very childish and irresponsible tactic and in my view it will not attract the Lou Dobbs Voters back into the GOP fold on 11/2/10.
Darvin Dowdy
Note: not an endorsement of Lou Dobbs - DD