Security guards went into action and dealt with Kokesh’s banner; an irritated crowd of Republicans chanted “USA” until the banner was removed. McCain moved right on, but Kokesh hadn’t finished yet.

“I’m grateful to the president of the United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack in American history,” said McCain.

“Ask McCain why he votes against veterans!” shouted Kokesh.

He didn’t get another chance to rain on McCain’s parade, but Kokesh remained proud of what he did. A video that cut together the interruption with jokes, subtitles, and a pounding soundtrack went up on Kokesh’s YouTube account. It’s still there, even though Kokesh’s relationship to the Republican Party is very different now. He’s a candidate for Congress in New Mexico’s 3rd district, looking like the Republican front-runner just one short year after he crashed the convention. Over the course of a year, he’s made the move from confrontation-seeking anti-war activist to clean-cut politician in the mold of the man he supported in 2008, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

“The ground has really shifted away from the neocon agenda,” Kokesh told TWI during a break in his campaign schedule. “There was no influx of young people getting into the Republican Party to support John McCain. By contrast, Ron Paul brought a huge number of young people into the Republican Party. It’s really exciting to see that happening again with my campaign.”

Kokesh’s move into electoral politics–he is 27 years old, and this is his first stab at campaigning–unifies two trends that have made the GOP that will fight the midterm elections dramatically different than the one Kokesh used to protest. The first is the rise of Ron Paul’s libertarianism. After years of obscurity, Paul came out of the 2008 elections with a national fundraising base and new respect for his ideas about war and economics among Republican activists and voters. The second trend is the Tea Party movement. After feeling ignored by George W. Bush’s Republicans, the conservative base has come together to demand commitment to the Constitution, commitment to small government values, and guarantees of national and state sovereignty.

“He never had an official role in the campaign, but we could count on him to energize people,” said Jesse Benton, Paul’s spokesman. Kokesh was a late edition to Paul’s 2008 “Rally for the Republic,” an event meant to “bring the Republican Party back to its roots” held in Minneapolis before McCain’s address to the RNC in 2008.

“I’d like to think that this symbolizes some good old-fashioned traditional conservatism making a comeback in the GOP,” said Benton. “Republicans have seen that running as the ‘war party’ is a loser for them.”

Today, Kokesh argues that the efforts of Paul supporters look more or less successful. Bush-era “neocons” are out of the political mainstream, replaced by people like him. “Our nation is drifting dangerously from freedom to fascism,” Kokesh said at a July 2008 rally for Paul in Washington, D.C.; at a 2007 Senate hearing, he was photographed holding up a tally of how many times then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had said “I don’t recall.” But rhetoric that sounded out of the mainstream that year sounds perfectly in line with the comments of Republicans like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) or Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), and criticism of the GOP or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are no longer controversial in the party’s grassroots.

“If you want to compare to Washington, yes, I’m a radical extremist,” Kokesh told TWI. “If you want to compare me to normal American values, I’m right in the middle of the road. I’m finding out that the grassroots of both parties are so grossly misrepresented by their representatives in Washington that we have more in common with each other.”

Depending on who’s analyzing the race, New Mexico’s third district is either an ideal or a poorly chosen battlefield for a candidate like Kokesh. It’s the most Democratic-leaning district in the state, having given 61 percent of the vote to the Obama-Biden ticket in 2008. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), the freshman that Kokesh wants to challenge, won his election by 27 points, spending $1.5 million to fend off a Republican who spent only $190,000. One Democratic insider labeled Kokesh as an interesting candidate with an interesting strategy and no chance to win.

Read More: Washington Independent

I know many of my fellow Tea Party activists are going to hate me for this, but it’s time to face reality. The Republican Party must be our vessel in 2010.

Let’s face it. The passage of Pelosicare last weekend was the equivalent to the modern day “Stamp Act.” You see, when the stamp act was put in to action back in 1765, the folks began realizing that their government was asserting significant authority over their lives, even though the people had not found the action permissible.

We the people will accept certain levels of authority to exist, but only to the extent we deem acceptable and only as long as we have the ultimate control over the outcome.

What Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat thugs did to us last weekend is exactly what the King of England did back in 1765. Democrats ignored the will of the people and passed a dangerous bill that threatens the freedom and liberty we cherish.

Let’s be clear. Democrats are responsible for this gross abuse of power. Democrats crafted the legislation, ignored our will, and jammed it through with applause and cheers.

As a libertarian who voted for Bob Barr in 2008, I find it very difficult to state this in a public manner, but I will now be joining the Republican Party. Not because I trust Republicans or believe the existing establishment properly represents me. Not because I think the Republican Party has brought upon us the full protection of our individual rights and liberties.

No, it’s because I believe the Democrats are literally trying to destroy the free-market fabric of this country. And I believe that if we spend even another week working towards a third party for 2010 and 2012, we commit ourselves to certain doom.

I’m in no way advocating that we as a movement stand behind the existing Republican establishment. I am, rather, suggesting that we become the establishment.

As Erick Erickson and so many others have rightfully pointed out… we have the numbers. We have the people, we have the passion, and we have the organization. What we don’t have is unity.

I know many of us in the movement have different goals. Some are to weaken the two party stronghold. This is understandable and a good long term goal.

But look, if we screw around and let dangerous Democrats walk all over us in 2010 and 2012, we’ll never again get the opportunity to do ANYTHING as free Americans.

Love or hate the Republican Party… it’s our only vessel in the short term. We either unify through it and make a stand strong enough to stop this madness in government, or we fracture over third party efforts and meet uncertain political demise.

This choice is ours to make. I’m making my choice now.

Source: Eric J Odom