Posted on 05/21/2004 2:54:58 PM PDT by Jean S
Last week, the Democratic National Committee began distributing several pages of quotes from conservatives critical of President Bush on a variety of fronts and suggesting to the media that the fact that we don't agree with the man on everything all of the time is evidence of real weakness in his base. Some in the media took the bait, and many of us got calls from reporters wondering if the president can really rely on the strong support he's going to need from his conservative base to win in November.
Now, the summer silly season is fast approaching, so perhaps one has to cut these folks a little slack, but their reasoning defies logic and represents little more than a hopeful fantasy among those who go to bed at night hoping the conservative Republican coalition will somehow fracture. It isn't going to happen … at least not this time around.
While the Democrats were circulating their theory, the president himself was addressing the 40th anniversary banquet of the American Conservative Union here in Washington. To say that he was well received by the audience of more than 700 activist conservative leaders would be a gross understatement. Indeed, we welcomed him as one of our own. Those attending agreed, I think, with my observation in introducing him that they, like millions of conservatives around the country, are prepared to do their part to see to it that he is re-elected this fall.
Does this enthusiastic support mean that we agree with his every act as president? Of course not. But he knew when he accepted our invitation and when he took the microphone that he was speaking to friends who believe he's done a remarkable job given the challenges he's faced since taking office in January 2001. He knew, too, that we all consider ourselves part of the same team and that he can count on us both to work for his re-election and to prod him to govern as we hope he will.
Frankly, those hoping for a collapse of the president's base don't seem to be able to grasp the simple fact that conservatives can differ with their friends on matters of policy but rally behind them if they are doing a good job overall, and are quite capable of recognizing the difference between friends, allies and those, like John Kerry, who oppose everything they want. In fact, it is not all that hard to tell when we are really mad enough at those who need our support to take a walk.
When many of us concluded prior to the 1972 elections that President Nixon had forfeited his claim to conservative support, conservatives ran a protest candidate against him in New Hampshire. When his successor did everything he could to infuriate us, we almost denied him his party's nomination in 1976. In 1992, conservatives flocked to Pat Buchanan because they were upset and offended by the current president's father's abandonment of the promises he'd made during his 1988 campaign.
None of those protests succeeded, but each reflected deep discontent within the GOP base. In none of those cases did it take a Democrat with a divining rod and a bunch of handouts to find out we were upset.
There was no talk of a primary protest against the current president this year for the simple reason that, while we might oppose such things as his Medicare prescription drug program and believe he could do far more to cut government spending, few believe he's abandoned us or the principles we like to believe we represent. No president is perfect, but most conservatives believe that this is one who deserves another term.
This doesn't mean that conservatives will agree with everything the president says or does in the future. We'll agree with him when he's right, urge him to change course when we believe he's wrong and work as hard as we have to to make sure he's there to listen to us for another four years.
Moreover, even those few with lingering doubts about whether he will be able to deliver as much as they'd like in his second term know that Kerry is not the answer to anyone's prayers. Ideologically, stylistically and in every other way, the Democratic nominee is just the guy to get conservative juices flowing.
So the president's political coalition is in pretty good shape, and certainly in far better shape than that on which his opponent will have to depend. Ralph Nader, the spoiler out there, is not a conservative but a nutty liberal who thinks the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate should be rejected by Democrats as not liberal enough.
Perhaps someone should be distributing a few pages of what Nader thinks about Kerry.
(Here's a 'Maxi-Rant' for you)...
Well, I'M disgusted with Bush AND the DemoRepubRat-NeoCons (don't stay home - vote Constitution Party.com...here's why:...
Oh sure, go through that pit with the vipers, but if you dropped your wallet in San Francisco, would you bend over to pick it up or kick it to Oakland first?
"I would crawl through broken glass lying atop burning coals,covered over with razor wire,to vote for President Bush! :-)"
LOL!
I was laughing at your hyperboles on what you would do in order to vote for "W" in the fall....then it occurred to me....our troops throughout our history have done those things and worse in order to assure that we can vote at all!
I love the bumper sticker I saw somewhere:
IF YOU CAN READ THIS...THANK A TEACHER
IFYOU CAN READ THIS IN *ENGLISH* ....THANK A VET!!
Great bumper sticker!
Constitutional conservatives Still follow Pat Buchanan, but I believe they will 'flock' to the Constitution Party.com See 'American Conservative Mag's article:...
'The Madness of Empire - The War Party’s militarized strategy will unite the world against us'...By Scott McConnell
excerpt:...
...'The positions of the neoconservative foreign policy team in exile (a sort of shadow subcabinet during the Clinton years) were fleshed out in a PNAC book, 'Present Dangers', which called for the U.S. to “shape the international environment to its own advantage”...
For such a nation suddenly to decide that its best and only option to “save itself” is to embark on a course of imperial expansion, one that will be opposed vigorously by the rest of the world, seems almost a form of madness. '
Gee, that's pretty tough talk for a cheerleader.
Cool picture!
Thank you...good stuff!
The votes of you "Conservatives" won't matter to Bush anyway you look at it. Go and vote for your irrelevant fringe candidate and watch Bush get re-elected.
LOL!
The media shading us from Kerry, or Kerry from us is going to back fire on the Democrats. People often start paying attention during the debates, Kerry can't just not show up for a debate, he's going to have to confront every voter under a bright glare of stage lights, whether he wants to or not.
Bookmarked. Thanks for the ping/post.
I love the bumper sticker I saw somewhere:
IF YOU CAN READ THIS...THANK A TEACHER
IFYOU CAN READ THIS IN *ENGLISH* ....THANK A VET!!
Bless our troops, bump! (^:
My pleasure. Tis good, isn't it ? It is hard for me to believe that there are
ANY 'Conservatives' that would try to abandon Bush at this time in history.
There will be some, but not many I bet !!
I'm still a broken glass Republican too, but notice a few neighbors of mine who have lost their zeal for the president. There is still time for me to work on them, however, and make sure they at least vote, even if it's without enthusiasm. They certainly wouldn't dream of voting for Kerry.
It's hard for me to believe there aren't more conservatives who see thru the RepubRat-Neo-Con NWO Smoke Screen Agenda
We see through you!
George W. Bush has my vote and will everytime he needs it.
You and your Bushies are More blind than your accursed DemonRats - because you refuse to see the TRUTH when it's put before your faces...
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