[no dems]

You know inquest, I'm embarrassed at the number of people on this thread who are too not intelligent enough to conduct an open discussion with out getting an "in-your-face" attitude if you don't agree with them.

I apologize for them. Don't ever cease to stand for what you believe. Conservatives who voted for Perot in '92 gave us 8 years of Bill. I guess angry Conservatives will now give us 8 years of Hillary.

[MaineVoter2002]

Perot in '92 gave us 8 years of Bill. I guess angry Conservatives will now give us 8 years of Hillary

New taxes after promising "NO NEW TAXES" gave us 8 years of Hillary. Lack of credibility gave us the Clintons.

[inquest]

First of all, thanks for making an effort to bring this discussion back on to a reasonable track. As to your points, the defection in '92 may have given us Clinton, but it also resulted in the spectacular takeover of Congress by the Republicans for the first time in a generation. This is what happens when ideas are given more attention than who wins a particular election.

Secondly, I really don't think that if the Democrats win in '06 (a questionable outcome to begin with), they'll necessarily continue in power much beyond that, especially if it's made clear that the only reason they won is that the conservative vote was divided. The effect that'll have is a redoubled effort in '08 to make sure we have a good solid nominee who'll unite the base and bring fresh ideas to the country. Conservatives who campaign unapologetically as conservatives (without doing everything possible to antagonize people the way Goldwater did) historically do quite well in national elections.