Posted on 11/07/2006 7:37:08 PM PST by Middle Aged White Male
Folks, one thing needs to be considered with the election results. Tonight was a loss for Republicans, not conservatism.
Look at the emminent domain ballot measures; they are winning all over the country. Look at the democrats that are being put up: many are progun/prolife. They were put up there as a candidate that people could actually vote for because they are not far left candidates. Even if these dems do fall to the far left with their party, it doesn't change the fact that the country is voting with a foundation in many conservative beliefs.
Just a thought.
1) Who have we lost for sure? The returns aren't 100% in. The recounts aren't over.
2) So far, I see losing DeRino and Chaffee in the Senate as good 'losses,' for they will almost certainly result in RINOs teeth chattering and toeing the conservative line.
3) Sure, Santorum was a good conservative, and Toomey did endorse him, but some folks in PA would never vote for him again after his carrying water for Spectre. I'm not among them, however, to quote from the REV-UH-rend JACK-son, I don't condone it--but I UNDERSTAND it. I don't think it will make RINOs feel better, either, and again, I bet it keeps some waffly conservatives in line.
4) What has happened is a good year, relatively speaking.
First, the GOP doesn't seem to have lost at the historical level it SHOULD have lost, after 6 years in power. Jim Talent seems on target in a bellweather state. Allen, for all his missteps, seems on target for reelection.
Second, the GOP has had some lousy, idget candidates setting themselves up, practically volunteering to lose seats, throwing away good cash on what should have been in GOP hands easily, and allowing Rats to divert cash from 'safed' seats to contested ones--and the GOP STILL seems to be narrowly holding the House and Senate.
Speaker Hastert and Tom Reynolds were reelected, even after the left's wailing about their 'involvement' in the House scandal. Whether you think that's a good thing or not for the GOP's conservative wing, it's a great thing to see the politics of personal insult turned aside in these cases.
Fox News was exposed, and finally, to many on the right here on FR as the middle-of-the-road, NOT conservative, news station it is. It is certainly far more fair and balanced than the ABCBSNBCNN crowd, but seems to have clearly been biased left on the news side to many here.
The left still could not RUN left, anywhere but their dirty little holes. Perhaps most embarrassing to the left, Lieberman was reelected, making the lib left look awful weak in its own backyard.
Yet so many on FR seem to be sold on the media line. Suckers.
Nope, the only bad note of the night to me seems to be the bench strength that will result of the gubernatorial races. Who will be the future candidates for the GOP? There aren't many new faces at that level for the Republicans, and I think we have real trouble ahead if the GOP doesn't make amends in Ohio and some of the states where it lost other promising races and candidates, probably at least in part because of the aforementioned idgets.
When haven't they shilled for Democrats? I've been watching politics and watching the media all my adult life. It has never been any different. If anything in this election cycle really astounds me is just how brazely patisan they've been this entire year. They wanted this election BADLY and this was no time for self-restraint.
Read any leftist blog and you'll hear Matthews, Blitzer and all these other clowns mouthing the same jargon, right to the letter.
CNN nearly had a breakdown on-air when Lieberman won. They had trouble containing their disgust. The bald-headed 'political-analyst" was mocking Lieberman the rest of the night, making sure the entire country knows that he got 26% of the Republican vote, completely ignoring 38% independents in his favor.
The sooner most conservatives learn to accept that the media will never, never, never, EVER support any Republican (unless you're John McCain) the better we'll do at the polls.
It also doesn't help that the liberal cancer from NY and NJ is spreading into PA.
If this goes down as it appears it will, then the Republicans will be finished for some time to come. They deserted their base who will not come back until the Republicans admit that they truly screwed up with this compassionate conservative crap. The party is filled with Rinos who don't have the gumption or the honesty to reveal their true motives, in it for the ride like so many of their peers.
Pro-gun, pro-life Democrats? LOL! Talk about a duck swimming with the crocodiles. Nothing heartening there.
"With Allen barely holding on you can see that there is NO WAY IN HELL a conservative will win a Presidential election. Guiliani in 2008."
Santorum burnt bridges and the Casey name made a difference in PA, as did the fact that Rendell had to run and brought out the local weasels this time to vote him back to the trough.
But that's not VA. There, let's be fair--Allen dug himself a hole this year. Allen was Mr. Misstep this election. So 'don't give me that' back atcha.
Let's see over half of them don't vote. And of the 40% or so that do 20% GOP, 20% Dem, and the rest flip a coin.
Give the "people" who are happy when they can kick up their feet, drink a beer, and get numb watching Jerry Springer, credit?
Ok, I will give the American people the credit they deserve. Or better yet, in time the Islamofacists and socialist will for me.
Sorry I am not much in a mood for giving Americans at large much credit at all. Except for being the fattest/dumbest group of hedonists since the Romans perhaps.
Wait until there is another and worse attack folks......
It will take just another attack for the folks to learn.....
The conservative democrats won't get any committe seats, assignments, or funding from the DNC for re-election.
Independents, hun. Not conservatives. Santorum's ads (or lack thereof) did nothing, NOTHING, to persuade anyone but conservatives.
I agree. For one thing, the House of Reps has *every* member up for consideration every two years, meaning that whatever hot button thing was going on that causes some big change (and the rate of incumbency/longevity is generally much lower in the House, because of the length of term) in any election year will be forgotten by the time everyone gets sworn in. And it's only one house of Congress; the Senate wasn't in the R column until 2001, and that lasted just a short time, because the turncoat Jim Jeffords (who will replaced by "independent", Sanders, it sez here) left the Republicans, sending the Senate from 50-50 to 50-49-1.
And of course, being a turncoat, he didn't go back after 9/11, and has been a liberal Republican throughout his career, even voting in favor of Clinton's stupid national health care proposal when a good number of Dims voted against it as too far gone.
regarding the Senate's other "independent":
Lieberman Looks Up
National Journal Group | November 05, 2006 | KEVIN F. RENNIE
Posted on 11/06/2006 12:44:15 AM EST by george76
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733011/posts
and all is not well in Dummieland, either:
Liberal bloggers rip party over Lamont
Washington Times | 3 November 2006 | Charles Hurt
Posted on 11/03/2006 3:09:44 AM EST by Aussie Dasher
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1731322/posts
You are whistling in the dark if you think that any democrat congresss critter will vote pro-gun or pro-life.I agree with that too. Committee assignments will trickle down from the reprehensible Nancy Pelosi, and freshmen will have to toe the party line.
--the majority rules but it is not always wise.---
True words. And yet, we keep on keeping on.
as a pro-gun Democrat, I am glad to see more flexibility about this issue in my party. I think the hard-line anti-gun policy has always been both unrealistic and a heavy burden for my party.
There are areas where both parties need to be more open-minded.
BTW: if you're curious, 22 mag, 9 and a compact 45 as soon as I get some free time to buy the thing.
oh, and I think we can all agree: this post is NOT trolling.
They won't be that way after they get to Washington and Pelosi/Reid/Hillary are through with them. The Rats don't care for dissidents from the party line. They'll be saying "Mister and Missus America, turn 'em in" before you know it.
"Tonight was a loss for Republicans, not conservatism."
That being said, conservatives have never held a majority.
Their usual vehicle is the Republican party. Therefore conservatives have slipped insofar as political power.
That is a loss for conservatism. Conservatives have failed miserably to be CONVINCING.
By that I mean doing more than repeating mantras.
I think Gingrich is most effective in talking to people, about conservative principles. He has few equals.
More conservatives need to bone up on SELLING. Convincing people about how the world and the economy work.
Positive messages; not just warning how bad it will be if the other side wins.
That means having arguments, debating and winning people over to your views. It will NOT be effective if the tone is name calling.
That applies to how you talk to and about your political opponents. Republicans seem to have decided to rely on waiting for a Kerry gaffe, pouncing on that; as if that will carry the day.
It didn't work. But it, along with countless other examples have taken time and energy better spent on adult-like CONVINCING and SELLING of ideas.
A lot of very good conservatives went down in the battlezone, though.
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