Posted on 01/17/2013 1:05:09 PM PST by cizinec
Kevin Madden, a GOP strategist who worked on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign last year, said the retreat gives lawmakers a chance to start laying the groundwork necessary to re-establish the GOP brand.
“Right now, we are caught in a vicious cycle of just reacting to events that happen in two-week increments. Instead, we have to look at our challenge of rebuilding in a much more comprehensive fashion,” Mr. Madden said. “What is the positive impression that we want voters to have two years from now, and then four years from now, when we have another presidential election?”
SNIP
Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist, said the updated party message also must appeal to nontraditional supporters.
“If we look at polling, the Republican brand is in the toilet. Part of that is the ideas are not connecting with what we would call the mainstream of the moderate voters,”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/16/viewed-out-touch-gop-gathers-forces-plot-rebirth/?page=1#ixzz2IGhjZoLH Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
“First of all, why would anyone listen to a guy whose resume includes devising Romney’s campaign strategy?”
ROFLOL
But these are the clowns they are listening to.
They also know how to play “the lesser of two evils.”. I’m sick of their games. I want a real candidate.
I think they are wrong on social issues at the state level and will fight them there. The feds have no business in 99% of what we argue about.
Rinos are embracing libertarianism/liberalism on more and more issues, abortion, homosexuals in the military, open borders, “gay marriage”and so on, libertarians and conservatives don’t argue about economic issues.
Leftists/libertarians have been winning the culture war for 50 years, they will fight it at any level that they can.
I don’t think 9-11 was created by repubs and we needed to respond in Afghanistan. The Federal government has very few constitutional jobs: national defense (which includes securing the border and foreign policy) and ensuring states don’t encumber interstate commerce are the two most important. They spend most of our money on redistribution of wealth and policing stupid crap that the STATES are constitutionally responsible for (war on drugs, polution, etc.)
I completely agree. If mexico were a free country with open markets, i’d be fine with opening the border. They aren’t. Opening the border is suicide.
Oh, cool! Now we’re going to have TWO democrat parties to vote for.
“Kevin Madden, a GOP strategist who worked on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign last year,”
This man needs to be pole-axed.
Libertarians want to disband the Border Patrol, and INS, and truly, literally, open the borders.
“Brother, your best friend ain’t your Momma, it’s the Field Artillery.”sue. Let’s agree with the libertarians that the other social arguments should be made at the STATE level.
Yes, that means fighting them on abortion state by state, but that’s much better than what we have now. Yes, that means we’ll have to fight them on homo issues. . . At the STATE level, which is where these issues belong.
Let’s work with the libertarians to get rid of this ridiculous notion that the feds have the authority to pass laws on everything because of interstate commerce. THEN we will fight them on military spending and border issues at the federal level and social issues at the state level.
They are beyond stupid. All of them have spent way too much time inside the beltway sipping Chardonnay. The GOP can stay on the ‘moderate’ track and there will nothing in their future except epic fail. But then, they truly enjoy being the minority party.
Yes, I know the Artillery and Ft. Sill, I don’t know how that got involved in this.
You won’t get me to agree with the left and their war against conservatism, whether they call themselves libertarians or democrats.
You are being told not to resist, to accept abortion the homosexual agenda, homosexuals in the military, open borders, drugs, prostitution and everything else, by the libertarians.
Libertarians are not fighting for social conservatism, they are against it.
Amen to that.
Democrats are statists - they believe in big, centralized government and making a law to cover everything. What is appealing is de-centralization, less laws - just the laws that deal with violent behavior - real crimes.
Freedom, Liberty, is what we were founded on. We should be against a police state and “wars on everything” - these causes have only made the DC beltway bureaucracies into monsters with soul crushing power. We were fooled into giving up our liberty for a false sense of security. It is apparent the patriot act is for going after american’s, and most likely, conservatives with guns - read that ‘act’ sometime, you’ll be shocked what ridiculous powers are in it - powers that have little to do with muslim terrorists.
True liberty is the torch that will bring us together. If all we are offering is just a slightly “different” kind of police state - a coke to their pepsi - then we are doomed. Because that is barely a choice.
God, I would love to live in a free country again... instead of this strangling snarl of laws and regulations borne out of cowardice.
Disarming a nation in a conflict with crminal states is not unlike disarming citizens in conflict with crminal individuals. It simply does not work and brings the conflict into the homes of the innocent, insteadd of the homes of the guilty criminals. As General Patton wisely observed, there is no such thing as a successful defense in military campaigns. Defensive campaigns are ultimately predestined to fail, whereas the best defeense is a successful offensive campaign. A war with an offender while the offeendor is vulnerable to countermeasures is far less costly in blood and treasure than it is to have a war where the offender has had the opportunity to grow strongest and most capable of inflicting the most in casualties to defeat their aggressions.
Well, in my experience there are two kinds of libertarians - the big “L” kind and the little “l” kind. Clint Eastwood says he’s a libertarian, but he seems to be the little “l” kind. Mostly the little “l” type just want be left alone. Now, the big “L” type are ideologues, and are mostly useless as they have utopian ideals that are akin to anarchy, and like intellectual mind games. Also, that type just fights with each other about this ‘pure’ system and basically can’t even get themselves together.
As for social conservatism, no matter who gets elected, the bureaucracy we have in place today is made up of socialists and government unions that are by nature leftists. They are deeply entrenched, and they foster leftist ideas. The only way to get rid of them is to have less government. That’s the only way. Then there will be no ‘officials’ to push abortion, the gay agenda, etc. You have to starve the beast that pushes that stuff, and that beast is government. You can elect anyone you want, but unless the bureaucracy dies, the agenda will always be leftist. The leftists LOVE to work in government. Freedom loving people typically work in the private sector.
Anyway, the small “l” libertarians - the ‘leave me alone’ type - are allies in starving the beast, and I feel strongly we have to do that first or we will never get out of this cesspit.
Sorry about the FA thing. I’m typing on my phone and sometimes, somehow my key combos jump the cursor around and then paste things in weird places. I usually catch it. Oh well. REDLEGS! King of battle! There we go.
” You are being told not to resist, to accept abortion the homosexual agenda, homosexuals in the military, open borders, drugs, prostitution and everything else, by the libertarians.”
Whoever is telling you that is an idiot, BUT I think there is a huge opportunity at the federal level. If you went to most libertarians and stated what you just stated followed with, “but I will work to restore the federal government to its Constitutional powers,” most won’t care as much about where you disagree and will work to stop the expansion of the federal government. Let’s start there. Once we win, we can fight the rest of the fight.
Extremely well said. I kind of classify myself as a libertarian who is prolife, pro-military and pro-border. If i’m not messing with you, leave me alone. If someone is going to mess with me, at least make it my neighbor so i have a chance to have my voice heard.
The way it is now, all i see is a bureaucracy made up of Republocrats telling me I have to ask Washington how many tp squares I’m allowed to use when wiping my butt. Why do I care if the bureaucrat has an “R” or “D” after his name?
There is only a single type of libertarian, and they are anti-social conservatism.
Social liberalism/libertarianism gave us this big government.
The effect of libertarianism/liberalism and open borders, is larger government.
In a democracy where every vote counts the same, then the more broken people, broken communities, and parasitic industries, and immigration, then more voters are created for more government.
The libertarian/liberal, social gains of the last 50 years demonstrates that.
We know how the vast majority of social conservatives vote, and we know how the vast majority of social liberals vote.
Anyone who doesn't know that, is an idiot.
Libertarianism is against social conservatives, if it wasn't, they could just call themselves conservatives.
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