Senator Rand Paul did the Republican Party an enormous service and showed them the path to victory. Unfortunately, it is a path establishment Republicans (ERs) refuse to follow. The ERs are on a quest for power, and that means they see big government as a prize. The core of the ER argument is that there is nothing wrong with big government if the "right" people run it. Until the ERs abandon this argument and relinquish the quest for power, they will always be the "mean spirited" party because they are not as generous as their Democrat rivals.

The ERs are facing a crisis as more and more Conservatives see them for what they are, not an opposition party to big government but a party in league with their rivals to create a ruling oligarchy. What did Senator Paul do to arouse the ire of two leading ER oligarchs, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham?

While McCain and Graham enjoyed being wined and dined by the oligarch-in-chief at a palace outing, Senator Paul drew national attention with a filibuster in the Senate. Even more remarkable, Democrat Senator Ron Wyden joined the filibuster and most certainly drew criticism from his party. The point of Paul's filibuster was the Executive Branch's refusal to give a straight answer concerning constitutional limits on that branch's power. Imagine that, and there lies the key to victory.

There is just one problem; ERs believe there should be a ruling elite and that they should be that ruling elite. To the ERs, the Constitution is an obsolete scrap of paper created for simpler times and not suited for today's complexities. Today, we need "geniuses" to make all of the "important" decisions, like what kind of light bulbs we use, how much soda can be served, and who gets what health care.

Before discussing the winning strategy suggested by Paul's action, let us be clear about the losing strategy of the ERs. Most obvious is the ER contempt for Conservatives who believe in the smaller, limited government required by the Constitution. Small, limited government is inconsistent with ER ambitions. Less obvious is that ERs have been lured into a battle fought on liberal terms. Liberals have divided the country into competing voting blocs and ERs accept the premise these blocs must be courted to win elections. Do American's of Hispanic ancestry really want America to be more like Mexico? The ERs say they do and legalizing millions of illegal aliens will win their vote. Of course, the ERs are not offering anything the Democrats have not already offered.

The ER strategy to fight on these terms gives each voting bloc the contest they seek; which party will do our group the most good by wringing concessions from our opposition? The ERs pursue bloc votes the way liberals have defined those blocs and in opposition to an implied opponent that must remain unnamed. There is the black, Asian and Hispanic vote in opposition to the white vote. There is the women's vote in opposition to the men's vote. There is the poor vote in opposition to the rich vote. There is the labor vote in opposition to the business vote. There is the tenant vote in opposition to the landlord vote. There is the youth vote in opposition to the senior vote, and the senior vote in opposition to the youth vote. This last example is interesting because it shows you can cast one interest against another and win with both as long as the opposition remains unnamed and nebulous.

And on it goes, division by division, contest by contest until every American is in a voting bloc, promised that their bloc will receive some special consideration to be favored over their opposition.

What Senator Paul's filibuster revealed was the existence of a far larger voting bloc but one that power-hungry politicians are loathe to court. It is the American voting bloc and its opposition is tyrannical government. The only favor this bloc seeks is that government (read politicians) relinquish power they have seized and exercised illegally (read unconstitutionally). ERs will not grant that favor. No ER runs for office on the promise he will reduce his power. Quite the contrary, the ER will claim they need more power to do what the voters want them to do.

Paul appealed to our patriotism and belief that the Constitution rules, not the president or his stooges, nor Congress nor the courts. ERs like McCain do not believe the Constitution rules (i.e. McCain-Feingold) and pursue bloc votes by promising extra-constitutional favors. All we have to do is get out of McCain's way by allowing him to ignore the Constitution so he can make all the right decisions for us.

The American voting bloc believes in the flag, motherhood and apple pie. The American voting bloc clings to its Bibles and guns. The American voting bloc believes our Creator is the source of our unalienable rights. The American voting bloc supports the Constitution. The American voting bloc is larger than all of the other blocs combined. It includes black, Asian and Hispanic Americans. It includes women Americans, poor Americans, working Americans, renting Americans, young Americans and old Americans. It includes people who consider themselves and others American's first and reject the divisions created to separate them from their votes and their liberty.

If the ERs fail to come to this realization and do not mend their attitudes, they will never see a road to victory, but will stay on the road to extinction. America does not need two elitist parties. One is more than enough.