Posted on 01/11/2005 1:40:46 PM PST by RWR8189
Back in 2002, two die-hard social conservatives fought for Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial nomination. Brian Sullivan was a successful entrepreneur backed by the Freedom Club, a group of "pro-growth" millionaires lifted straight from Central Casting. With his zeal for tax cuts and his privileged background, Sullivan was a Bush Republican down to his wingtips.
His opponent was Tim Pawlenty, a state representative born on the wrong side of the tracks. Pawlenty embraced the state's populist tradition, insisting that Republicans "need to be the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club." And it was Pawlenty who ended up winning the GOP nod and the statehouse by wide margins.
What Pawlenty realized — and what President Bush apparently fails to grasp — is that the Republican Party has changed. The rich still vote for Republicans in large numbers, but they're not the party's heart and soul. To win elections, the GOP increasingly relies on socially conservative voters of modest means.
Which is why Bush's second-term agenda is so spectacularly wrongheaded. Social Security privatization (a good idea whose time hasn't come) and tax cuts for the rich (cast as "tax reform," of course) are on the front burner, and an amnesty for illegal immigrants (which would put even more pressure on native-born workers without college degrees) isn't far behind. The Freedom Club GOP is riding high — and the Sam's Club crowd is left in the dust.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Repackaged class warfare. You have to admit - the left doesn't give up bad arguments easily (nor will they relent on stereotypes)!
OK, who forgot the "Barf Alert"??
This author must be smoking some form of illegal drug.
Bush's agenda is SPOT ON for the young republicans. Especially for those for whom paying social security tax is a BURDEN which at present will NEVER BE GIVEN BACK.
This is the LA times so there is no accounting for inteligence. The left wonders why their newspapers are dying.
This needs a Barf Alert added to the title!
Even a blind squirrle (In this case the LA Slimes) will eventually find a nut. Although we do need ss and tax reform, we need to control our borders more.
I thought I didn't need to do that when LA Times was in the header. ;)
Blecch!
I'll pass.
Reihan Salam: "Conservatism is deeply unpopular."
December 22
Reihan, who counts himself as a conservative, writes: It’s not just that Republican partisans are unpopular. They’re not, or at least not yet. It’s that conservatism, understood loosely as an “ideology of self-reliance,” has failed to make serious inroads since the mid-'90s. It’s still nowhere near a popular majority. This is why conservative politicians are often forced to use deception to advance conservative policy proposals.
Reihan Salam is a writer living in Brooklyn. He regularly analyzes the Sunday political talk shows for TAP Online.
He is a former reporter-researcher at The New Republic.
Yeah. If he understood that he would have won by 10 million votes instead of the 4 million or so. He just doesn't get it.(rolling eyes)
I just am sayoing that the writer had a point. GWB won because of values he had reflected the middle class. The rep party would do well to pay heed to the values now they are in power. You dance with who brung you.
I'm sold.
I wish some people, e.g. the Republican members of the U.S. Senate, would get the message.
LOL! So true. They are not nearly as clever as they think they are.
Welcome to Pittsburgh, Pee-Yay.
Whaalll Golly,
Us hicks out here in the sticks uh Tennesee, we doesn't know nothing 'bout 401Ks or them thar investment thingies. We jus live offen the land like our grandpappies...
exactly..........the article is right about immigration but the minute anyone says "tax cuts for the rich" I tend to nod off.......like they have been singled out to only get cuts....or when they say Repubs are against immigration and always somehow forgetting the word "illegal".......just can't stand fear mongers....they are moral cowards
Hey leave my Gov alone..LA Slime.
If they are going to use him as an example why dont they print what he thinks of Bush's agenda?
Oh thats right, he was the co-chair the Bush-Cheney campaign in Minnesota. No support for the Presidents agenda there.
GWB won W.Va. by 13 percentage points in 2004, compared to 5 points in 2000. I certainly hope he doesn't forget the "modest means" base, but I don't agree with any thesis that says tax cuts benefit only the rich.
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