I am a Republican. Make no mistake about it. However, in light of Eric Cantor’s primary defeat yesterday, the party, both national and here in Michigan needs to sit up and take note.

Much like the story that Ronald Reagan often told about leaving the Democrat Party to become a Republican, my position and observations leave me at odds with the party on several issues.

That being said, there is no way that I will switch to being a Dem.

I get the feeling that I am far from alone in my observation that I have never left the party, but that the party is far too often “leaving me” (Thanks for that terminology goes to Ronaldus Magnus).  It is my hope that there are enough kindred spirits out there who will help apply pressure to put the party back on course to save the republic that we, the public, have obviously chosen to devalue over the last several decades.

Mr. Schostak and the rest of our party leadership, along with too many of our elected officials need to take a lesson from the defeat of Eric Cantor. Real conservatism is a growing phenomenon.  People are tired of the same old promises, accompanied by actions that belie them.  People are tired of incompetence in office, whether it be legislative or executive, state or federal.

We as a party should stand for the concept of quality as opposed to quantity. We as a party should be about the business of supporting candidates who understand the benefit of doing less, but doing so with a certainty that we are that we are doing the right thing, not just “doing something”.

I’ll have more to say about specific issues over the next few days. I’ll welcome all criticism.

Tom Stillings is an Antrim County resident, former candidate for the U.S. Congress from the 1st Congressional District and can be reached via email at; tstillngs@charter.net