Conservatives should take George Marlin's advice

About a month ago, George Marlin wrote an op-ed addressing concerns for New York's Conservative Party and Republican Party.

The need for the Conservative Party and its principles has never been greater. That's because for the past decade Republicans have betrayed Conservatives on every conceivable issue: taxes, spending, abortion, gun-control, gay-rights, just to name a few. In recent years, Republican policies have been driven by lobbyists, not conservative principles.

Marlin ran for Mayor on the Conservative line in 1993. He's worked for the Port Authority and is author to Fighting A Good Fight: The History of the New York Conservative Party. He is a strong advocate for the Conservative Party and feels it has lately drifted away from its principles. He believes that if the CPNYS does not start waking up, it could lose its ballot line status the way the Liberal Party & Right to Life Parties did in 2002.

He concludes that this is the year the Conservative Party should return to what it did forty years ago and run candidates independently from the Republican Party.

So the party has no choice but to support candidates who are willing, if necessary, to cut their Republican ties and run independently in 2006.

There are over 155,000 registered Conservatives in the State of New York. Certainly, 200 people can be found to run for Assembly, State Senate and Congress if there is no intended Republican candidate for a district. Even if you're a registered Republican, you can seek a Wilson-Pakula and by filing the necessary number of petition signatures, get on teh ballot. Heck, I'm even considering filing with the BOE and getting myself in the race for State Senate or Assembly, just so there is a right-of-center candidate on the ballot this November. I don't have the money and I certainly wouldn't be able to run a campaign the way I would want, but at least there would be someone opposing the incumbent Democrat.

A City Council candidate in Queens received 14% solely on the Conservative Party line last year. Could you imagine what she could've gotten if the Queens GOP was smart enough to throw their support behind her? She still probably wouldn't have won, but it would certainly have shown the potential with the combined strength of both the Republican and Conservative lines.

Usually, members of the Conservative State Committee or County Committees put their names in to be on the ballot just so there is a candidate on the Conservative line. There is no campaigning, no passing out literature, no mailings. It may be time to change that.

If you reach out to your base, let them know they have a candidate on the ballot, get them to the polls, you are making a statement. We need more diversity in New York. Think about it.

NY Conservative Party
Fighting the Good Fight
Queens District 20 candidate