Free Republic

First Two-Party System Federalists v. Republicans, 1780s - 1801 Federalists Republicans Favored strong central government."Loose" interpretation of the Constitution.Encouragement of commerce and manufacturing. Strongest in Northeast.Favored close ties with Britain.Emphasized order and stability. Emphasized states' rights. "Strict" interpretation of the Constitution.Preference for agriculture and rural life.Strength in South and West.Foreign policy sympathized with France.Stressed civil liberties and trust in the people [In practice, these generalizations were often blurred and sometimes contradicted.] Second Two-Party System Democrats v. Whigs, 1836 - 1850 Democrats Whigs The party of tradition. Looked backward to the past.Spoke to the fears of AmericansOpposed banks and corporations as....

For California Republicans, whose fortunes are lower now than at any time since 1958, there is the best of news and the worst of news.The best of news is that eight years after 1958 Ronald Reagan swept the governor’s race, carrying virtually every constitutional office. The worst of news is that eight years is also the period between the election of the last Whig president and the demise of the Whig party. Both cases are important for Republicans to understand as they contemplate their party’s future.Reagan often urged Republicans to "paint our positions in bold colors, and not pale pastels."...

Idle Thoughts On The Road To Understanding Here are a few random thoughts that might help you to figure out the world in which we are currently living: The U.S. dollar is backed up by nothing and is convertible to nothing. It is a medium of exchange, and compared with the Euro, the currency of the European Union, it has lost 30 percent of its value since 2001. This is bad news for those of us whose investments, savings and life insurance are denominated in dollars. These dollars are exchangeable for less and less in goods and services. If the...