Posted on 02/11/2006 12:49:16 PM PST by Reagan Man
Hardline conservatives, among President Bush's staunchest supporters, question whether he is conservative enough when it comes to government spending and growth, leaders of the movement say.
"What conservatives have realized during the last five years is that we have not elected a conservative president," said Bill Lauderback, executive vice president of the American Conservative Union. "Nor do we have a conservative majority in either the House or Senate."
Conservatives gathered at a Washington hotel this weekend for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, where they assess the status of their movement and what they think of government policies. President Reagan remains the champion of low-tax, small-government supporters even after Bush's re-election and the dominance of GOP lawmakers.
They are quite unhappy with Bush administration initiatives - for example, the multibillion-dollar prescription drug program and the No Child Left Behind education law - and special spending projects from Congress that have ballooned the cost and scope of the federal government.
"We are in danger of becoming the party of big government," said Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
Pence said he and his allies in Congress plan to make sure that trend is reversed.
"The era of big Republican government is over," Pence said, adding the word "Republican" to the memorable phrase used by President Clinton in his 1996 State of the Union address.
Many conference participants feel that limited government overrides all other issues such as gun rights, pro-life policies and conservative judges. Yet, despite their unhappiness, Bush remains popular with this group, especially for his court appointments and handling of terrorism.
"They like Bush," said David Keene, chairman of the ACU, which runs the conference. "But they are frustrated and disappointed with some things the administration has done. And the frustration is deep because government spending and growth of government are at the core of beliefs of many people here."
Keene said conservatives are starting to look ahead at future leaders, accepting that they've gotten some of what they want from Bush.
Some at the conservatives' conference measure the success of the Bush administration purely on their own specific issues. As National Rifle Association President Sandra Froman put it, "At the NRA, we're at the height of our power right now."
The campaign against terror has become the glue that binds the conservative movement, said Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group.
"If the fight against terror weren't part of the political equation, the focus would be on economic policy and if the focus were on economic policy, there would be an upheaval," Bozell said.
"We're ready for a candidate to assume the Reagan mantle," he said. "Bush has done an extraordinary job on the war on terror. But on economic policy, he fiddles while Rome burns."
I would love smaller government but I just don't think it will happen, though I believe Bush has tried. Usually he just doesn't have a lot of Republicans backing him up.
Why not? She chooses to roll in the gutter with her street talk.
You love it, though, don't you? Gives her lots of cred with you homey.
LOL! You "true conservatives' can be played like a violin.
Will lester, the writer of this article, is an AP hack.
What are right-wing extremists anyway?
It's a fabricated term concocted by the MSM and DNC. Most Americans are "right-wing extremists."
That you're a fan of Coulter is no surprise.
Never before has a basically good man been hated so univerally by both sides.
My kind of gal!
You are so correct, yet many Freepers and those in the general public insist that Conservative and Republican are the same. I'll concede that Republicans are conservative in comparison to the Democrats but they are by no means a true Conservative Party.
Now of course I'll have to listen to the tirade of "that's all we have" or "it's better than the Democrats" or "toll" or "stick your Independent Party thinking where the sun don't shine"........
The American voting public is just intellectually lazy, period!!!
Newsflash: There is no center. There's conservatism and then there's the kooky left. Most Americans are conservative and the results of the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections, and the 1994 mid-term Congressional elections is solid evidence that when Republicans run as true conservatives, they win overwhelmingly.
I appreciate your opinion, but I'd rather have J Scalia stay on until he dies. Before Bush43 took office, Scalia was talking about retiring, because of the court leaning so far left and being far too liberal activist. The Bush people changed his mind and I'm glad for that. Actually, J Anthony Kennedy is very conservative on law and order issues. When Reagan appointed Kennedy, all the major right to life organizations gave their backing to Kennedy. He was a strong pro-lifer. After a few years inside Beltway and socializing with the likes of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Joe Biden, J Kennedy changed his position and became a pro-choicer. Now with the court becoming more conservative, perhaps Scalia and Thomas with help from the two new justices, Roberts and Alito, will NOW have success in shifting J Kennedy back towards the right side when it comes to the abortion issue. Who knows, there maybe five votes on the SC to overturn Roe v Wade, as we speak.
OK--I'll bite, genius--what wasn't factual? Or are you one of those pubbies with a liberal mindset towards other opinions?
Congratulations, Reagan Embarrassment!
The thread went 28 posts until you launched a personal attack.
""The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure." -
Thomas Jefferson
That you're a fan of Coulter is no surprise.
That I find an intelligent, attractive, and Conservative woman appealing? Instead of some Lavendar-wearing limp-wrist type perhaps?
I'm a Heterosexual Sighted Conservative Male...Shocking!
You are correct.
In 2000, the election was close... Very close. This is because Bush was not perceived as "conservative enough." He got a lot of moderate votes and Anti-Gore votes, which is what tipped the scale.
In 2004, the conservatives turned out to vote against John Kerry, and for President Bush's strong opposition to the terrorists abroad. In a sense, Bush won in 2004 because of people either voted against John Kerry or voted against the terrorists.
Myself, I voted for Bush, but I'm a Bush-bot and this is expected of me. I think the man is doing the best job he can do in the political reality in which he exists. I grew up surrounded by a politically charged environment. Government is never straight forward, though it may seem that way from the outside. I've seen good men go into office only to have them become disgusted with the warped, bureaucratic, slanted, obtuse, oblique approach that government seems to require in order to operate.
It is my opinion that Bush is a well meaning, good man who hides his frustrations from the public because his office demands it of him. I think a great deal of his strength is drawn from his family and from the fact that he realizes that the execution of his job requires him to keep on trying, even when his own party continually stabs him in the back.
A modern day President can take one of two different approaches to the execution of his duties. In this, Clinton and Bush are diametrically opposed. A President can be a play boy who takes advantage of every perk, while dispensing with his duties with the least effort and investment, or a President take the necessary risks to improve and further the interests of the American people and the country pursuant to the responsibilities of the office, to the extent that he can, with as much cooperation as he can garner from the Congress.
We don't hate Bush. We are glad that Bush has restored honor and dignity back into the WH.
But what's wrong with disagreeing with some of his policies? Bush has not vetoed a single bill, he refuses to fight the envirowackos on energy, his guest-worker plan is pure amnesty, and the Dems/MSM will talk trash about him because his WH spokesperson is a joke.
We're conservatives, remember? We don't walk lock-step like zombies and vote in blocs for anybody unlike liberals do for Dem candidates.
Your post says it all.
Nothing is permanent. The only reason unpleasant things last so long is because there are so many enablers.
"The personal attacks against me during the primary finally became so heavy that the state Republican chairman, Gaylord Parkinson, postulated what he called the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. It's a rule I followed during that campaign and have ever since."
Reagan actually broke that promise when he ran against PresFord for the GOP nomination in 1976. Reagan criticized Ford during the primary season, and right up through and including the GOP convention. Reagan was a gentleman and he wanted everyone to like him, but when the chips were on the table, Reagan was a tough SOB. Ford found that out in 1976. George Bush found out how tough Reagan was in the 1980 campaign for President.
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