In 1856 the Whig Party, the party opposing the Democrat Party, was deemed by many in its ranks to be insufficiently strong in its anti-slavery posture. The Republican Party was then formed to replace the Whigs. By 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln occupied the White House. Heard of the Whigs lately?

It’s that time again. In an excellent letter last week, Bob Deppe wrote about a GOP too prone to compromise. He’s right. 2012 polls by Pew and Gallup show that approximately 70 percent of registered Republicans identify as “conservative.” That’s more than 35 million voters. Seen any conservative legislation from Republicans passed in the last 25 years?

We have representatives, but we have no representation in Washington. Yet we are the GOP base. If anything, the party seems to hold us in contempt. The Establishment GOP engineered the defeat of a conservative in Mississippi last year using Democrat voters.

They endorsed the Democrat over the conservative candidate for governor in Virginia. We saw the Establishment change the rules hastily at the 2012 GOP convention to prevent conservatives from speaking there.

Just recently on a vote to repeal Obamacare, a freshmen Republican congressman from Maine voted with the Democrats. The guy is brand new. Does anyone doubt that he will remain a Republican in good standing? But there are so many examples of Republicans voting in opposition to their party’s platform that it’s a cliché. The platform is only there to appease us. As a practical matter, it’s meaningless – and they have proved it.

If we are to see meaningful representation of our interests in Washington, then it is up to us to provide a home for those who intend to truthfully represent us there. Let’s create a new party which we can believe and which believes in us.