Posted on 02/02/2005 4:35:53 AM PST by goldstategop
President Bush's agenda for the next four years, much of which he will highlight in his State of the Union address tonight, includes many proposals that would not only change public policy but, the GOP hopes, achieve an ambitious political goal: Stripping money and voters from the Democratic Party and cementing Republican dominance for years after he leaves office....
On issue after issue, the White House is staking out positions that achieve a policy goal while expanding the GOP's appeal to new voters or undermining the Democrats' ability to compete. Interviews with Bush advisors, a recent memo drafted by a senior White House strategist and a speech last month by the Republican Party's new chairman show that the political advantages are very much part of the calculation.
Bush's plan to alter Social Security, for example, would allow younger workers to divert some of their payroll taxes into privately owned retirement accounts. GOP strategists hope it would also foster a new "investor class" that would vote Republican.
Republican support for free trade undermines labor unions which, like trial lawyers, are a bedrock of the Democratic Party, strategists say.
The president's faith-based initiative, which encourages government funding for religious social service agencies, and his opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage are popular with socially conservative African Americans, who have for decades leaned Democratic but are increasingly viewed as potential GOP voters.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Denny Crane: "I want two things. First God and then Fox News."
First off, Chief Justice Renquist needs to resign and get that out of the way.....next we need to get Scalia in the Chief Justice spot and a new conservative justice to fill out the bench. (then hopefully Breyer or Ginsberg will opt out soon)
then we can go ahead with our agenda.
"And Bush's call to revamp the nation's immigration laws makes the party more appealing to Latinos, another traditionally Democratic group.
At what price to their LOYAL base of voters? This could be the achilles heel.
Oh the humanity! Not THAT!
This new "Contract w/ Black America" or whatever the title is called is a stroke of genius too. Lay it out on the line for the black Dems and show them where we think alike. This thing is gonna work wonders.
If the GOP actually decides to fight for Bush's nominees they could really hurt the Dems.
But GOP strategists say the difference this time is the sheer scope of Bush's political ambitions and his willingness to push sweeping ideological changes. The party is aiming for a 21st century political realignment comparable to the Democratic domination spurred by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Bush often refers to his agenda as building an "ownership society," a phrase that strategists compare in political terms to the New Deal: a package of programs that builds loyalty among voters for generations. While Roosevelt expanded the role of government in lifting seniors and workers out of poverty, Bush's domestic agenda stresses the creation of personal wealth and individual responsibility, pure Republican ideology.
"FDR achieved for the Democrats two generations of support, in part because people thought he had done something that was real and permanent and improved their lives," said Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker who also is close to White House strategists. "Handling Social Security correctly, so that we win the argument over personal savings accounts, I think puts the liberal Democrats in a permanent minority status for a long time."
The Democrats are the party that want to keep you dependent on lawyers, on social security and have you keep looking to them for your needs. Republicans want to make your self-governing, allow you to get wealthy and own your own dreams. Now which party would you rather vote for? This is too easy! (laughing)
Denny Crane: "I want two things. First God and then Fox News."
And that's... baaad?
Republican Latinos are different from those who are not. They are active in church, care for the family, think marriage is between a man and a women and they love starting new businesses. They work hard and have a short history of going from poverty to the American dream...all things we should want in our party.
Someone in the Party finally woke up to what some of us have known for awhile. That Bush's goal is to destroy the Democrat Party. They were caught up in the caricature and never saw it coming. Now they are sacred and trying to obstruct everything because they don't know how else to put the breaks on this. They don't realize this blatant obstructionism plays right into his hands.
Destroying the Democrat party is indeed a worthy goal, but destroying the REPUBLICAN party in the process will be the result if he insists on the ILLEGAL ALIEN WELCOME AGENDA.
Most Republicans are not going to ditch the GOP over one issue. They are smart enough to know that doing so would ensure Hillary in the White House come January, 2009. Of course there seems to be a group of self proclaimed "conservatives" who seem to be hoping for the GOP to implode.
bump
Just like the freedom of Iraq did? Think bigger.
The truth is: most labor unions follow the communist party line: Democrats have caved in to this marxist dogma.
I see it as a "cold war" against communism right here in the US.
You're confused. I don't think any conservatives are "hoping the GOP will implode". However there are many that wish the President would stop pandering for the ILLEGAL ALIEN VOTE.
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