The Crisis of 'Sam's Club' Republicans

Los Angeles Times ^ | January 11, 2004 | Reihan Salam

[concretebob]

Well, hey, you know how sexy them liberal women are.
Just look at Hillary or Helen Thomas../sarcasm

[Wonder Warthog]

"Agreed, but I'm not going to support everything that he does because he was the best we could do at the time."

Of course not. The "best" reason to have voted for him is the need to get conservative (or at least "more" conservative) aka "strict constructionist" judges onto/into the Supreme Court and other levels of the federal judiciary. Jimmuh Cahtah and Clinton both "packed the judiciary" with doctrinaire liberal---it's time we conservatives did the same.

[weshess]

What Pawlenty realized — and what President Bush apparently fails to grasp — is that the Republican Party has changed. The rich still vote for Republicans in large numbers, but they're not the party's heart and soul. To win elections, the GOP increasingly relies on socially conservative voters of modest means.

Hmm, please don't let me keep any more of my money, tax me to the hilt, abort all babies, redistribute wealth, and make health care free I can see where the Democrat Party has alot of appeal.

[apillar]

Well the battle between the conservative and liberal wing of the republican party is nothing new, it dates back to at least the 1960's when you had your liberal "Rockefeller" Republicans and your conservative "Goldwater" Republicans. I think over the last 40 years most of the Rockefeller Republicans became democrats and most of the conservative democrats became republicans.

This realignment has caused both parties to polarize. In 1960 the democrats were roughly 60% liberal to 40% conservative, I would say that today they are at least 90% liberal and 10% conservative, there is no viable conservative wing of the democrat party to speak of anymore. In fact, most people can probably count off the number of conservative democrats at the national level on one hand.

The republicans have polarized too, but to nowhere near the extent of the democrats. I would say the republican party is probably 75% conservative 25% liberal. The republican party has a viable and (all too) active liberal wing at the national level, ( Think McCain, Chafee, etc)

[feralcat]

OK. Bush can abandon his efforts to reform taxes and Social Security and instead focused on a social conservative agenda of ending abortion, keeping marriage heterosexual, and reducing to proliferation of pornography and obscenity. That's the agenda that social conservatives would support.

For some reason, I don't think this author would really be happy with that. (I know the LA Slimes and the MSM sure wouldn't.) If the GOP grassroots really longed for the sort of economic agenda this guy outlines, then they could have easily gotten it by voting for Kerry/Edwards two months ago.

[Texas Eagle]

Which is why Bush's second-term agenda is so spectacularly wrongheaded. Social Security privatization (a good idea whose time hasn't come)...

Liberalism in a nutshell:

We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[Angry Republican]

I haven't gotten my Sam's Club card yet. Do I still fall under this category since I'm not rich by any means?

[agincourt1415]

LA TIMES, Straight Liberal Socialist Dogma, BORINNNNNG!

[MissAmericanPie]

Don fire suit.

[GOP_1900AD]

In fact, where I live (SF metro) the rich vote Left, for the most part. I think the same pattern is typical in all coastal urban areas. It's only in the interior that the rich still vote (by a bare majority) at all to the Right. The furthest Right among those considered wealthy tend to be farmers, ranchers and others who derive their living from hard working of the land.

[GOP_1900AD]

Also known as "voice of the customer."

[weegee]

Yep. The left tried telling Republican voters that they did so at their own peril; that it was not in "their best interest".

Funny how it is the Michael Moore Millionaires of this country who tell people that they can never expect to earn much money and that they will always live from hand to mouth.

[CaptainAwesome2]

The working Americans get raped by social security. I dont see how thats a country club issue and not a sams club issue.

[weegee]

To win elections, the GOP increasingly relies on socially conservative voters of modest means.

To compound the insult, the left will say that those "socially conservatives" are xenephobic, racist, and theocratical heterosexists.

[Fiddlstix]

OK, who forgot the "Barf Alert"??

---

Here it is.......

Presented as a Public Service
Certain FReepers may need this

Click the Pic

[sixmil]

The 'tax cut for the rich' thing sticks because there is a kernel of truth there. If you wanted to give everyone a tax cut and cut taxes on the people who are more likely to spend it (Bush's stated goals), you would simply raise the standard deduction, or at least cut taxes on the lowest bracket, since everyone who works has income at that level.

I listen to the people on our side of the fence and I swear most of them think that if you have income in the top tax bracket, all your income gets taxed at the highest tax rate. This simply is not true, and anyone who believes this, liberal and conservative alike, is painfully ignorant.

[Denver Ditdat]

While I disagree with amnesty, I don't recall the President making that statement. Do you have a source?

These excerpts are taken from the transcript of the President's press conference on December 20th, 2004 as posted on the official White House website:

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Mike, welcome.

Q -- since early in your first term you've talked about immigration reform, but, yet, people in your own party on the Hill seem opposed to this idea. And you've gotten opposition even on the other side. Do you plan to expend some of your political capital this time to see this through?

THE PRESIDENT:

"Now let me talk about the immigration issue. First, we want our border patrol agents chasing crooks and thieves and drug runners and terrorists, not good-hearted people who are coming here to work. And therefore, it makes sense to allow the good-hearted people who are coming here to do jobs that Americans won't do a legal way to do so."

"Now, we need to make sure the border is modern, and we need to upgrade our border patrol. But if we expect the border patrol to be able to enforce a long border, particularly in the south -- and the north, for that matter -- we ought to have a system that recognizes people are coming here to do jobs that Americans will not do."

"It's a compassionate way to treat people who come to our country. It recognizes the reality of the world in which we live. There are some people -- there are some jobs in America that Americans won't do and others are willing to do."

"I know what it means to have mothers and fathers come to my state and across the border of my state to work. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River, is what I used to tell the people of my state. People are coming to put food on the table, they're doing jobs Americans will not do."

"And to me, it makes sense for us to recognize that reality, and to help those who are needing to enforce our borders; legalize the process of people doing jobs Americans won't do;"

[Clemenza]

Thanks.

[Denver Ditdat]

You're welcome.

Your tagline intrigued me, so I Googled "liger". Do you really breed lion/tiger hybrids? Very cool!