Post #8 was dealing with the topic of the thread, as headlined. Your response didn't.
Since the President's high poll numbers don't necessarily translate to votes for Republicans this Fall, how about answering the questions I posed for you at #50?
Posted on 07/15/2002 10:28:18 AM PDT by gordgekko
Maybe I am totally off base, and probably I should keep my views to myself, but I sense a Democratic victory in Congress in the making. It is true that President George W. Bush still has sky high ratings among the electorate. They see him as someone who thinks like they do. No matter what issues the Democrats throw at the President, nothing sticks to him. They used to call Ronald Reagan the Teflon President, but if Bush continues these ratings into 2004, he will do Reagan one better.
The Bush ratings do not apply to his party, however. In fact, several recent polls find that while the average voter believes that Bush is on the side of the average voter, Republicans in general are seen as being more interested in the welfare of corporate bigwigs. If Democrat strategists are able to take advantage of this voter perception they will hold on to the Senate, but will win control of the House as well. Republican strategists already concede gains in the gubernatorial realm. They are defending many more state houses than the Democrats.
One of the problems for Republicans in Congress is that grass roots conservatives don't feel that the party is willing to raise issues they care about. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision removing God from the pledge of allegiance and a New York federal judge's decision to release a terrorist are good arguments for confirming President Bush judicial nominees. It is unclear if the party is willing to make this a burning issue because the judge who wrote the pledge opinion was a Republican appointee. If the judiciary becomes a really credible issue, it does have the opportunity to arouse some voters.
One issue that would really stir the grass roots is immigration. Look at what has happened in Western Europe. Eleven of 14 Members of the European Economic Community now have right of center governments. And it is possible that total will be 12 this fall if German voters go the way the polls are now suggesting. Immigration was one of the key issues that brought those right of center governments to power. Even the Dutch government intends to curb the liberal lifestyle in that country. The problem is that President Bush has a fundamental disagreement with Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) whose views on immigration resonate well with the grass roots. So immigration will not be made an issue by the Republican Party or if it is it will be in the form of President Bush's outreach to the Hispanic community.
Another issue that stirs the grass roots is the Boy Scout issue. The Boy Scouts have lost millions and have also lost the right to use many public facilities because they refuse to permit homosexual scout masters. The grass roots are all with the Scouts. The party could win seats in the South, Midwest and even Southwest if the party made this an issue. But it is unlikely the party will raise this issue because the Bush Administration has made an outreach to the homosexual community. Just recently, the president signed a bill providing some benefits to same sex partners who were victims of the New York disaster on September 11th.
The Supreme Court's decision on vouchers thrilled most conservatives. This decision is very popular in minority communities where school children are trapped in failing education institutions. However vouchers are not popular in suburban communities. The issue has been defeated in Congress by suburban Republicans. Voters from the suburbs have defeated vouchers when they were on state ballots. So while the party might make this an issue and grass roots conservatives would like it, the suburban Republicans who are part of the Bush coalition might well revolt.
The voters and even some in the grass roots have turned on to the privacy issues. A year ago, in the wake of 9/11, they were willing to support intrusions into their privacy in the interest of safety. Attorney General John Ashcroft was once the darling of grass roots conservatives. He is now seen as the enemy of the Fourth Amendment and impatience with Big Brother security measures grows, especially among grass roots activists. But privacy will not be an issue with the voters at-large this fall.
That is why it is possible that the Democrats will make gains. The Republicans may not raise any issues that will get grass roots conservatives to the polls. In 1994 these conservatives constituted 37 percent of the vote. In 2000, they constituted only 31 percent of the vote. If they drop another percentage or two, Republicans will lose, and could lose big.
We shall see if Democrats are smart enough to turn voter perception about the Republican-Big Business connection into an issue that resonates with the average voter. Thus far they have proved remarkably inept in their efforts to develop issues against President Bush. It could be they will miss what for them is a golden opportunity. However, if they get their act together, President Bush will be dealing with a Democrat Congress for the two years before he has to face the voters. If what has happened in the Senate this past year is any guide, the president will get nothing conservative through the Congress. He will only win if he compromises with the liberals. Then the Democrats will say he is a do nothing president.
Paul M. Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation.
No, of course not. The solution is for the existing party to stop being hypocrites and to stand up for the core beliefs of conservatives. The third party scenario is only for expressing disapproval. But as long as the GOP encourages conservatives to leave by constantly courting those who don't share our agenda, the third parties will get bigger.
The solution is for someone like Bush, who could do it if he wanted to, to just stop playing games and start playing hardball. Use the damn bully pulpit, use the veo power, use whatever political capital he needs to.
Stop emulating Trent Lott and George Michel and start acting like Reagan.
SD
You confirm that you don't read, research or care to know anything about the truth.
Don't hold your nose. Don't vote. Stay home. We don't need you. You lower the IQ of the entire party.
Lots of great TV tonight. Don't miss it.
If anything, Weyrich understates the potential clout of the Boy Scouts issue. It is not just in the Conservative regions that the issue would be effective. Properly projected, it would have power even in the more liberal realms. Of course, we will never know how powerful, if no one rasises it. The sorriest thing about politics today, is how few candidates really put principle first! (But see The Boy Scouts Of America & A Leftist Agenda.)
The political future does not look very encouraging right now. And anyone who relies on yesterday's poll data as a sign of what tomorrow will bring is less than merely foolish.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Say what? Now are you going to tell us that Bush never said "read my lips no new taxes?"
SD
"Um, no" hell.
This is what we call "projection." YOU are the one talking about affirmative action and stuff, not me.
I'm simply using the evidence here at FR. I'm not talking about an actual plan or policy submitted by the GOP, either. I'm talking about when a thread talks about convincing American blacks to vote for the GOP instead of the dims. Many FReepers become fit to be tied in these threads.
Tell you what. I'm going to keep you in mind for the next time I see this, then I'll ping you to it.
Lastly and again, I didn't say anything about preference policies or handouts. You did. When a rock is thrown into a pack of dogs, the only one who barks is the one that got hit.
You barked...
My honest opinion here, Deb, is that it's far easier for them to blurt out "There's no difference" than it is to weigh the differences.
If there wasn't a difference, why'd I switch?
Post #8 was dealing with the topic of the thread, as headlined. Your response didn't.
Since the President's high poll numbers don't necessarily translate to votes for Republicans this Fall, how about answering the questions I posed for you at #50?
Your post is funny. You say that polls are unreliable (actually, they're quite reliable), yet you use one that reflects negatively on Bush as if it were gospel.
Did you post with a straight face?
I don't think it is rage. It is more perpetual whining, IMHO. Some people are not "happy" unless they are miserable all the time.
Liberty, people. It's all about liberty.
Is your powder dry?
Post #8 dealt with Pubbies/conservatives abandoning President Bush. My response most assuredly dealt with that topic.
I did answer your question in a follow-on post, since I too quickly posted my first response.
And just where are these potential (?) turncoats going to when they leave? Who are they voting for (we know they are voting because "Hard Core" Conservatives know it's their patriotic duty to vote)? I thought it was only the Liberals who wanted everyone to be as miserable as them.
What and actually use their thought processes rather than blurting knee jerk responses.
That would be a novel concept too complicated for them to understand, IMHO.
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