Myth of the electable moderate

World net Daily ^ | 12/12/05 | Vox Day

[NormsRevenge]

Vox Day is a novelist and Christian libertarian. He is a member of the SFWA, Mensa and the Southern Baptist church, and has been down with Madden since 1992.

[Sister_T]

The constant substitution of "electable" moderates for principled conservatives is what repeatedly kills the Republican Party and prevents it from ever realizing even a small part of its platform when it is in power.

Worth repeating.

[supercat]

If liberals propose a program and it's a just plain bad idea, the only logical thing to do is oppose it entirely. Even if refusal to "compromise" means the liberals ram through the program "full strength" instead of settling for a "watered down" version, it's still better to remain firm in stating that it's a bad idea.

When the program fails, someone who said it's a bad idea will be in a good position to explain so. By contrast, someone who worked to "water down" the program will not be in a position to do anything but shoulder blame.

[Amerigomag]

I've said it before and I'll repeat it agian, with emphasis:

What the hell was the CAGOP thinking when they sidled up to a foreign national with clearly defined liberal tendencies?

[calcowgirl]

Bump and Ping!

Another good article.

[newfarm4000n]

What the hell was the CAGOP thinking when they sidled up to a foreign national with clearly defined liberal tendencies?


Well Arnie hasn't advanced the liberal agenda nearly as much as the so called conservatives in congress with their drug giveaways and farm pork not to mention creating a massive new department . Will some FReeper please explain to me why pretend conservative politicians like Delay and inc who consistently pass radically liberal bills that gouge Taxpayers are spared the vitriol directed at Arnie ?

[calcowgirl]

If liberals propose a program and it's a just plain bad idea, the only logical thing to do is oppose it entirely.

Unfortunately, in California we have a confused bunch in the GOP. In 2003, Gray Davis proposed borrowing $8 billion to address a cash shortfall for operating expenses. Republicans strongly opposed it and took him to court to stop him.

Fast forward... Davis recalled.... Schwarzenegger elected. Schwarzenegger replaces Davis' borrowing scheme with one of his own--borrowing $15 billion for operating expenses. He initiated it, promoted it, and got the CA GOP to endorse it.

It seems that even liberal ideas are embraced by this party, as long as they have an (R) next to them.

[tubebender]

I can't believe there were people advocating a Constitutional Amendment so the The Arnold could run for President...

[Amerigomag]

Will some FReeper please explain to me why pretend conservative politicians like Delay and inc who consistently pass radically liberal bills that gouge Taxpayers are spared the vitriol directed at Arnie ?

I will.

The criticism of Governor Schwarzenegger is limited to the California Topic. Were I a resident of Texas, Representative Delay would probably receive, on the Texas Topic, equal criticism for acts of political larder or liberalism.

[newfarm4000n]

I guess we don't gave any nationwide leaders of the caliber of say Margaret Thatcher or some other principled but electable conservative.

[The Duke]

Myth of the electable moderate.

Well, George W. got elected!

[OldArmy52]

Governor S got many votes including from conservatives such as myself simply because the Dem candidate was so much worse, we didn't want to vote the better man in an election where many, many candidates were on the ballot include S and McC at the same time.

Why S? Because McC had little money for his campaign and was trailing badly in polls by election day.

Might have been different if the election had had a primary and then a final election where one dem vs one repub was on the ballot.

Normally, we like to vote the better Repub for the primary election and then whatever Repub was running vs the Dem/Socialist (same thing here in Calif) candidate.

But no primaries were done. Primaries would have helped McC a lot.

[Carry_Okie]

The idea behind the Schwarzenegger gubernatorial candidacy was that his popularity and sheer manly presence would cause the Democrat-controlled legislature to genuflect in humble awe before him, thus allowing the state Republicans to return California to some semblance of fiscal and operational sanity.

BZZZZZZT!!! Wrongo! That was the pitch, not the idea. The folks who prepped, financed, and ran Arnold were looking to make sure the grubbamint gravy train they'd enjoyed under Bray Davis didn't get derailed by the recall.

When are these "experts" going to get it?

[ElkGroveDan]

Why S? Because McC had little money for his campaign and was trailing badly in polls by election day.

Not really. Arnold and Tom were very close in the polls until the final week. If everyone who said I like him better but he can't win, had voted for him. He would have won.

[Carry_Okie]

The backup plan, in the event that the state Democratic leadership proved more recalcitrant than expected, was that the Great Man would simply bypass the Assembly and Senate and go over their heads in an appeal to the people of California.

That was everybody's backup plan, including McClintock's. Unfortunately, this clown thinks fiscal sanity was Arnold's goal when in reality it was delivering the goods.

So, Arnold borrowed a bucketful, and his Wall Street backers got the bond auction they'd paid for, wasting a TOTALLY unnecessary cool-half billion in extra fees, lost in-state taxable revenue, and taxes on in-State economic activity resulting from an in-State auction.

What a guy.

[Carry_Okie]

If everyone who said I like him better but he can't win, had voted for him. He would have won.

How come nobody ever publishes that internal polling data? Its lack leaves us having to post parallel election results and leaving readers to infer the point.

It's been a pain.

[Fiji Hill]

Does anyone still rely on Hugh Hewitt? After all, he predicted that Oklahoma would win last year's college football national championship, and that both Notre Dame and UCLA would beat USC this year.

[tubebender]

I have been registered as a California Republican since 1954...

[JSDude1]

Mike Pence 08!

[JSDude1]

On another topic your (CA's) newly elected John Campbell (R-CA) looks to be another solid big (C) in the House of Reps. Just look him up on townhall.com (I did) He's NOT a RINO at ALL!