Posted on 07/06/2004 8:58:14 PM PDT by ElliotFladen
Am I A Republican? Only When its Necessary: Andrew Sullivan has this to say: THE LOOMING REPUBLICAN WAR: The current tussle in the Congress over the budget is just a precursor to what I think will be outright Republican civil war after this election. If Bush wins, it will cripple his ability to get anything done. If he loses, the recriminations will get vicious. The fiscal conservatives will be fighting the "deficits-don't-matter" crowd. The realists will be out to topple the neocons. The Santorum-Ashcroft axis will continue to wage war on any Republicans not interested in legislating either the Old Testament or the dictates of the Vatican. ... No single party can be both for individual liberty and for theologically-based social policy; both for fiscal balance and drunken-sailor spending; both for interventionism abroad and against moralism in foreign policy. The incoherence is just too deep, the tensions too strained.
I don't know anything about an overall Republian war but I connect with Sullivan's ambivalence to what has transpired with the current White House, but for different reasons then most. After supporting the President in 2000, I feel sold out on the highest level - I voted for Bush because of his stated desire to reign in big government. I should have seen during the Medicare debates that he was more apt to compromise for short term gain then seriously hold the line. Now we have the biggest growth in government spending since Carter. I thought Bush was for free trade. Then we had steel tariffs and continued tariffs on sugar and textiles. Against wasteful government subsidies? Don't get me started on the farm ones.
After these betrayls, I have lost faith in the Republican party to represent my interest. Yet I still realize that I prefer them to the Democrats. So instead of blindly voting for the Republicans, my attitude is to consider myself a member of two parties. On close stuff, I support Republicans, but on other matters, I do what I can to put the word out for liberterians.
My new rule of thumb - while a "big tent" is necessary to win, in the current enivornment the prize of winning just isn't all that valuable.
"My new rule of thumb - while a "big tent" is necessary to win, in the current enivornment the prize of winning just isn't all that valuable."
So why don't you just put up a big "Kerry for President" sign?
Don't get me wrong, I hate Kerry. Its just that if I can't trust Bush to shrink government, I am not really sure why I should give my best efforts to see him elected.
National or Statewide office = vote Republican
Local office = vote Conservative, no matter what the party.
3rd Parties are not viable nationally.... yet. For the time being National/Statewide elections are monopolized by the two party cabal.
3rd Party viability has to start at the local level and grow from there.
It gets worse - I'm an Ohio voter.
That is my hesitant conclusion in my blog post - and what I did last election. But I am not sure if I am getting enough out of the Republican party to continue voting for it. I'm just waiting to see what sort of new spending package Bush will unveil to "steal" an issue from the democrats a la education and medicare.
To sum up your postition: You hate Kerry. You hate Bush. But you'd rather have Kerry, than Bush. If Bush is not going to get re-elected, it going to be President Kerry.
That is the bottom line.
Anyone who prefers Kerry is NO CONSERVATIVE. PERIOD.
You got it backwards. I prefer Bush over Kerry.
I prefer Bush over Kerry.
Then why aren't you trying to get him elected by voting for him and encouraging others to vote for him, instead of the opposite, which only helps Kerry and hurts Bush.
Because I am not sure if I prefer him enough to justify that effort given his sell outs on the domestic policy side.
Obviously, I would prefer to have a small government liberterian in office over Bush.
Rationalize it any way you choose but the lever pull you make is ultimately your preference at that moment of decision..... the moment of truth so to speak
Its not that hard to figure out. In general, a large portion of the fiscal spending problem stems from the 9/11 terror attack and the WOT. as for the portion created by the medicare mess, I don't believe ANYONE has come up with an answer to that, and at least W. has steered it slightly in the general direction of a market based system.
as for a "Santorum-Ashcroft axis" or "legislating either the Old Testament or the dictates of the Vatican" sund more like the rantings of a athiest/lefty.
...."against moralism in foreign policy".....is he talking about G.W.?
to blame G.W. for government subsidies is like blaming G.W. for 9/11.
I don't think its about winning a prize. its more about not losing a cultural war.
Vote Bush or start learning French.
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