The truth of what Kelly McCarty says

Recently, I announced my decision to move to the Midwest for many reasons. I want to take the time to thank Kelly McCarty for posting: “We, as a movement, need to have a plan. No more knee jerk reactions and controlled opposition.” Kelly went onto say: “How do we wake up Americans to understand that they are getting the government they deserve? That voting in presidential elections and midterms is your only civic duty when it comes to self-governance? That’s how we move the needle. The people are the problem, and they are too comfortable.” She is right. Likewise, a great friend and colleague Ayden Marietta stated: “So glad to welcome my friend jdgeorge94 to the Midwest. While Florida is a great state, the Midwest needs more people. I have ultimately decided to stay and I'm glad Justin is choosing the heartland.” Ayden is right, I look forward to being there, and it sure does need more people!! The Midwest is a special place, and we must increase and keep it that way. Ayden and I have posted about how there is more than just federal, although that is important. We encourage people to be looking at all the state districts in KY, IN and OH, as we also call the corner where the states meet "The Tri State area." There are also numerous local elections across these areas and across America. As Jay George said "the Midwest is an underrated region." Jay is right as well, and he said "I am becoming more political." Many know that my mother’s home state is Ohio and so being around family members, I have many reasons to visit the adjacent state of Ohio once I am permanently up there. It is also neat that we will continue to stay connected online with people across the country. 

Our US Constitution states: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The GOP, in line with advocating (or supposedly advocating for our Constitutional rights), states: "Initially united in 1854 by the promise to abolish slavery, the Republican Party has always stood for freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. Today, as those principles come under attack from the far left, we are engaged in a national effort to fight for our proven agenda, take our message to every American, grow the party, promote election integrity, and elect Republicans up and down the ballot. The principles of the Republican Party recognize the God-given liberties while promoting opportunity for every American." At least, that is what the GOP is "supposed" to stand for under the premise of electing public office holders up and down the ballot that the fulfil the two-fold mission of recognizing and adhering to the Constitution under the auspices of their official office, in addition to their respective political capacity as well.

Now, as to the specifics of the Midwest and what can and should be done, just like South Carolina, there are many things’ people can do everywhere. One of the problems that is perpetually reoccurring is the twofold problem of the ability to get involved and make substantial change, even incremental steps as part of the long-term strategy. I must walk a fine line. Obviously since I am finishing the comms degree, and for many reasons, I am choosing to leave Tennessee. I'm not saying it's not salvageable or that I expect things to be easy anywhere. Rather, I must be realistic about the "opportunity" or lack thereof in TN for me. Yes, there are good people here, but I must be realistic. At least no matter what, if things get bad, at least I will have a better sense of community even in the worst-case political scenario. What I am getting at is that in my specific case, I made a personal and professionally strategic decision to be physically in a place where I can do much more than X, in fact, I plan to do it simultaneously in fact! That is a decision I made. It is simply not enough for me to just post about problems, I need to physically go where I can make real headway, even if it is not always easy, being in the right place will help.

Now, as to the political situation, we have a lot to think about regardless of where we are in the country country. Going back to what Kelly rightly called out and the GOP situation, there are states that are more organized than others. That is just one of many steps. Kelly has also pointed out that there are classes people can take online with Hillsdale College. In fact, even after I finish my Communications degree, I plan on taking these free online classes. I can never stop learning and refreshing. This is an aspect as well. Another thing that should be mentioned, is that it goes without saying, is how do we reach people? That is where I believe that we could do well as a greater movement to push that. Recently, Daniel Horowitz said on his podcast that we should be thinking ahead about 2026. So, using the Midwest for example, I am already looking at maps of state houses and state senate districts in the Midwest and learning about them. The same goes true for voting records and even down to local levels, why wait? Waiting has a cost! On a good note, there be collaboration across the KY/IN/Oh state lines with the right candidates in the primaries, for example, building on legislative primaries in 2026. This also reaches what I think is the crux of the problem. The 2022 midterms so called “red wave” never metastasized. To name just one example at the state levels, Bill Lee (TN), Henry McMaster (SC), and Mike DeWine (OH) were re-elected. The truth should be told Donald Trump endorsed Bill Lee and Henry McMaster early in the primary cycle in 2021, and likewise never primaried DeWine after the draconian lockdowns and curfews extending into 2021. Going forward into 2026, I obviously won’t be in TN or SC, but my point remains- these states are at a crossroads. Likewise, it is not just about the federal level, to the extent it is even effective anymore. The real change lies within the state legislatures, namely, the state senates and state houses to elect the right candidates in the Republican primaries. This also holds true for numerous localities across the country in all cycles.The problem it is that it is waited upon until the general elections to vote for our "choices." Now, how to solve the Tennessee problem where young conservatives like me are shut out, I'm not exactly sure, but it does need to be solved long after my departure from Tennessee. Historically, Tennessee usually gets a Democrat governor and with today's party, the party has moved far left so someone is going to fill the open seat in 2026. Besides, it's not solely a political issue that I face in Tennessee and I feel that it is important to speak the real truth on this as should we all with our respective situations.

 The bigger question is, what do we as a conservative movement do when we are clearly confronted with an uphill battle. To use the snowball analogy, if one or two of us push, it doesn’t move, and in fact we get crushed. This is why we face high crime and ridiculous and absurd property taxes in so called “Republican areas.” The people that are trying to do the right thing are getting crushed by the ineffective policies and ineptitude of the politicians to articulate let alone make substantial change in service to the constituents. Just saying “it happened to be our turn” to raise the property taxes is a play on words and semantics. That is not an excuse, and this brings me back to what Daniel Horowitz says about the GOP- “what are we doing?” Daniel is right? Please show me where raising taxes is on the GOP platform. In fact, far from it. The problem that Daniel continues to call out also has solutions as he has talked about. This is why, right now, approximately 2 years out from the 2026 midterms, there is much we can do as a movement now, including building the foundations for long into the future.