Posted on 01/16/2004 8:47:57 AM PST by Abram
OLDWICK, N.J. -- On May 5, 1996, when I was halfway through my first term as governor of New Jersey, there was a picture of me on the cover of the Sunday magazine of The New York Times, accompanied by the headline "It's My Party, Too." I liked that message so much, I had it framed and hung it in my office in Trenton and, later, Washington, D.C. To moderate Republicans like me, that headline proclaimed our belief that there was still room for us in the party of Lincoln.
Now, almost eight years later, many moderate Republicans feel even less certain of their place in the party. When President Bush, arguably one of the more conservative presidents in recent history, is under attack from the right wing of the party for his proposal regarding immigration and migrant workers, is it any wonder moderates feel out of sync?
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
In the GOP, you find far more people who are one-issue voters among the social conservatives, primarily on the issues of guns and/or abortions. They'd vote for a Democrat or worse who shares their view over a Republican who didn't. We see it here every election cycle.
You're certainly correct that many "evangelicals" share the fiscal responsibility philosophy, but when you're prioritizing issues, the social issues generally come first.
In that context, the comment isn't bizarre at all.
That sounds like a libertarian leaning republican more than a 'moderate'. I have no problems with them and have a strong libertarian streak myself.
That's a lot different than the gun grabbing, tax loving moderates like the Jersey crew who sabotaged Bret Schundler's campaign.
Perhaps.
But even then, I have more in common with the "one-issue-voters" with passionate conservatism than I do with mantra-chanting 'bot cheerleaders who constantly make excuses for abandoning conservative principles.
You're no RINO. Of course, you're no Republican, either, as we well know. Who are you supporting this November now that Buchanan destroyed the Reform Party? Do you have a candidate?
Actually, I am, once again.
Nevada election law is different than Michigan, so it made sense to register GOP when I moved so I would be eligible to participate in the primaries.
I'll have to see who's on the ballot when the time comes.
A week or so ago I saw a thread that discussed a GOP primary challenger to Bush somewhere up in New England, but I don't know much about him yet. I voted for Alan Keyes in the primary the last time around. But I'm willing to consider 3rd parties, such as the Constitution Party. And I can always write-in my own choice: PJB or Keyes or Tom Monaghan or William R. Hawkins or Alan Tonelson or...
Well, I can easily come up with quite a few names that I can seriously cast my vote for as a write-in whether they're actually running or not.
I'd rather cast my vote for somebody that I respect than somebody where I'd have to hold my nose and pick the lesser of two evils. I just don't have the stomach for that anymore. Even if "my" write-in candidate loses, at least I can sleep with a clear conscience.
Your approach has a lot going for it, also, and if it makes you sleep better I'm not going to criticize it as a personal choice.
Oh, I don't know that I'm an "idealist".
But I am firm in my convictions...
And sooner or later there comes a time when you gotta draw a line somewhere.
I was 19 when ratification of the 26th Amendment enabled me to first register GOP. That awesome right must've made quite an impression on me because I've always taken it very seriously. It's just that in the 33 years since then, the GOP has continually drifted leftward and I grew tired of being sold-out and back-stabbed.
I cherish my vote too much to disgrace it with a "protest vote" for Mickey Mouse or some other such idiocy. But as long as I can at least write-in the name of an actual person whose opinion I respect, it doesn't even matter to me whether they're running or not. I'll won't throw away my vote on somebody who has lost my respect.
I'm in the same category. I probably don't agree with you on everything, but I do get called a RINO.
I've never figured out exactly who it is who gets to define what a "true Conservative" is. But the people who seem to know always find me lacking on one issue or another. :-)
Screw the moderates. - Spiff
If spending is your ONLY indicator, then you might be right.
But only if you ignore all the other issues GW Bush is super conservative on.
Taxpayer money going to fight Africa AIDS.
Increase of the Dept of Education budget (the Dept would be eliminated by a conservative)
Increase in Dept of Agriculture subsidies
Money for "faith based" charities
Money to promote marriage
About the only conservative thing George Bush has done is cut taxes. A true conservative would cut the federal budget by a couple of hundred billion dollars as well.
Keerist! That's all they got in that party these days! Any time I object to massive prescription drug benefits or universal health care insurance or renewing the assault weapons ban, I'm told to sit down and STFU.
Then I'm told it's strategery.
I guess 'strategey' is code-speak for becoming a liberal.
An amoral society is impossible. Ours will be either moral or immoral.
While it is true we cannot, nor should we, try to legislate morality, we certainly can, and do, give immorality a green light. And then we wonder; whatever happened to civility?
Fiscal responsibility is important, but in the absence of a strong moral foundation it's absolutely worthless. I would ask you to consider the costs of abortion, the costs of sexual saturation, the willful distruction of traditional families and traditions in general. We're not living in a laboratory, the decisions we make have real long term, often irreversible consequences.
Consider well your priorities, what value is there in gaining the whole world and yet losing your immortal soul? That is the question facing our nation, and sadly, a large portion of the population doesn't even posess the wit to measure its dimensions.
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