I believe the majority is seens as stronger than in 2000 when Jeffords jumped...
Sharper Minds Daily
Posted on 12/19/2004 1:28:02 PM PST by quidnunc
Imagine a country that considers itself at war and which is distinctive among advanced industrial democracies in terms of its pervasive patriotism, religiosity and entrepreneurial spirit.
Assume, too, that in this imaginary country there is a political party, Party A, the central tenets of which are support for a strong national defense, free enterprise and family values.
Finally, envision an opposing party, Party B, in this country that represents a mixture of anti-war pacifism, watered-down socialism and cultural permissiveness based on secular impulses.
Would it be surprising that Party A won more elections in such a country than Party B? To the contrary, if one considers that the imaginary country pretty much resembles America and the two parties the Republicans and Democrats, what would be surprising would be to find out that the former hold only about 53 percent of the seats in the national legislature and have lost the popular vote for the presidency in three of the past four elections.
The congruence of GOP values with broader American values is the second most striking aspect of contemporary American politics and goes a long way toward explaining Republican control of the three branches of the federal government. But that the degree of Republican control in each of those areas is so tenuous despite this advantage is more striking still.
That a sharply left-leaning Democratic Party remains electorally competitive in a right-leaning country like America can, however, be attributed to two overlapping factors, the first of which is its newfound ideological cohesion.
Will Rogers’ famous quip that "I don’t belong to an organized political party, I’m a Democrat" once nicely captured the idea of the Democratic Party as a gaggle of ill-coordinated interests. But today’s Democrats are far more motivated and ideologically united than were the disparate components of FDR’s New Deal coalition.
Indeed, the three animating impulses of the post-modern left — anti-Americanism, socialism and anti-clericalism — have come together under the rubric of "Bush hatred" to create a lock-step conformity that smothers anything resembling the free expression of opinion in such quarters. But what is lost in intellectual vitality and self-criticism as a result of such conformity is more than made up for in electoral urgency and esprit de corps.
The conservatism of the GOP may align more neatly with the inclinations of what Richard Nixon once called the Silent Majority, but it is the Democrats who today possess the greater solidarity and sense of shared grievance, if only as a consequence of their shared alienation from the cultural mores and sensibilities of their fellow citizens.
There may be fewer of them, in part because of such attitudes, but what Democrats who agree on most everything these days agree on most of all is that those people who voted for George W. Bush are simpletons and ignoramuses.
That so many Democrats view so many Republicans in such a fashion can be partly explained by the close association in the public mind between the GOP and its fervent religious-right base, i. e. the social conservatives in general and the evangelicals in particular who have fueled its rise to majority status.
What is often overlooked, though, is the extent to which the same religious right that has been so crucial to the Republican ascendancy continues to be the primary impediment to its continued expansion. The Republican Party as constituted cannot win without the religious right, but probably can’t form a durable governing majority while so dependent on it, either.
Evidence for such a proposition can be readily found in the likelihood that the four most popular Republicans in America — John McCain, Colin Powell, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuiliani — also are perhaps the four Republicans who are incapable of being nominated for the presidency (even were Schwarzenegger’s constitutional obstacles to be removed) because they are judged insufficiently conservative on social issues by social conservatives.
That Republicans win elections by nominating conservatives and Democrats lose elections by nominating liberals is what we would expect in an essentially conservative nation.
But the narrow nature of the GOP majority in Congress, on the Supreme Court and at the ballot box in the past election also suggests that there are many otherwise conservatively inclined voters who, for whatever reasons, aren’t particularly comfortable voting for what passes as the nation’s conservative party.
Imagine this.
I say "bull hockey." This writer is analyzing a ball in the middle of it's upward spiral. We ain't quite there yet but we're on our way!
As was said before the election, 15% of Kerry's support comes from the Main Stream Media. And it is true. If the MSM simply reported the news instead of slanting it, things would better reflect the political leanings of the country.
Quidnunc, posting a full article? What did you do to the real quidnunc?
Let's go get these other conservative voters by being more liberal.
Talk about rectal-cranium inversion.
I wouldn't lump McCain in with the other RINO's. He's actually more conservative than W, in spite of being somewhat friendly with "the other side of the aisle", and being a gadfly to the Administration.
I don't like him too much, but I've come around to seeing him as our best bet for 2008. He does have the name recognition. He'll have to understand that the news media aren't really his friends, and since he's not running against W they'll turn against him like rabid dogs, but he can be a good national candidate, probably the best we have right now.
His biggest problem is that he's wrapped a bit too tight and likely to fly off the handle, like he did on Mike Reagan's show in 2000. He'll have to control his temper.
I'm officially putting my money on McCain for the Republican nomination in 2008. Anyone want to take some early bets?
"FRAGILE"
ROTFLOL!!
The only thing that's fragile is the sanity of Algore and JohnSkerry.
"That Republicans win elections by nominating conservatives and Democrats lose elections by nominating liberals is what we would expect in an essentially conservative nation".
The DemocRAT party is all liberals. They are the biggest God haters. They would set up abortion Clinics, in elementary school doorways if they could. Get real poor reporter.
This sounds like some really "wishful thinking" on the part of the leftist press.
Sounds to me like this writer feels alienated as well in the Republican party.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That's not so far fetched of a statement as you might think! There are many in the Republican Party that think the Borders need to be Defended, really defended and that Illegal Immigrants sjould be deported, really deported, on the day they are discovered with a boot in their asses.
Thereare also many that want allof this Socialist Crap of Hate Crimes, Abortion, acceptance of Homosexuality reversed and I mean really reversed, out of the UN and the UN out of the US!!! I could go on but it really is a return to our Constitutional Republic doctrine of America First, Last and always.
Get our noses out of all these foreign countries and mind our own borders and business, Aide to US Citizens and I really mena US Citizens only!!
When you sit down and think about it, really think about it, It Makes SENSE!!
The Democrat party is becomeing too radical for most Americans, it makes them very, very uncomfortable.
If not for lying journalists, the Republicans would be doing much better. Most of the new breed of leftists belong to the elite. Therefore they control our schools, colleges, foundations, government bureaucracies, the entertainment industry, and the press, and they take full advantage of being in this position of power to tip things their way. Hopefully that will change, but it will take a long time to do it, because when these folks seize power, they hold on to it.
"imagine yourself in a country that considers itself in a war".
How 'bout imagining a country like the USA which is in a real war? Why bother with imaginary scenarios? Why not merely accept the reality that Democrats were sitting on the same branch they just sawed off? Americans rejected your silly candidates and all your Hate America folderol. Imagine that!
The media that loves him now, would skin him alive.
Will somebody explain to me what ROTFLOL and LOL stand for? I am somewhat new here and I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Thanks
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