Bush's Base Betrayal

The Washington Post ^ | Sunday, May 21, 2006 | Richard A. Viguerie

[gwb43_2004]

As a candidate in 2000, George W. Bush was a Rorschach test. Country Club Republicans saw him as another George H.W. Bush; some conservatives, thinking wishfully, saw him as another Ronald Reagan. He called himself a "compassionate conservative," which meant whatever one wanted it to mean. Experts from across the party's spectrum were flown to Austin to brief Bush and reported back: "He's one of us."

Republicans were desperate to retake the White House, conservatives were desperate to get the Clinton liberals out and there was no direct heir to Reagan running for president. So most conservatives supported Bush as the strongest candidate -- some enthusiastically and some, like me, reluctantly. After the disastrous presidency of his father, our support for the son was a triumph of hope over experience.

[unseen]

And he's divided the party how?


let's see to name a few:

Immigration
Spending
Dubai ports
Meir's nomination
Katrina mess
out of control budget
bigger government
drug coverage
no child left behind
campaign reform
wire taps
backing specter in the 04 election
Cafta
Trade policy
New world order view point.

united it on :

tax cuts

[rodomila]

VIGUERIE IS 100% CORRECT
We Conservatives have been had once again. The only way we will ever have a party that represents us is to have the current corrupt and ineffective Republican leadership go down in flames. Out of the ashes of 74 and 76 we got Ronald Reagan. Maybe after a few years in the wilderness a leader will emerge who remembers the ideals which made us the majority party after forty years on the outside looking in. I have given thousands of dollars and thousands of hours to the Republican party. This year I will give neither. I don't care what happens to the clowns running the Republican party now.

[Zeroisanumber]

Yeah...tell that to Bush he too believed that conservatives were a minority. Reagan was the only person in the last 45 years to understand that conservative thinking is the norm of America not the minority.

Reagan became a great president by appealing to all Americans, not just a select minority. My dad voted for Reagan in 1984, and he hadn't voted for a Republican before, nor has he since.

[lakey]

I'd love to hear that. Everybody thinks they win when they yell.

[unseen]

agree...sent my request form the senate Republican back without any funds and a letter detailing not to contact me again until they remember what got them elected in the first place.

[HitmanLV]

Don;t get me wrong - I value marriage and the marriage vows. I dislike divorce immensely, not so much for the adults but when kids are involved.

All that being said, it pays to have a mature view of things. Adultery happens and it's not always because the adulterer is a bad person. I don;t think adultery has as much to do with morality as it does with opportunity and emptiness. I think when most spouses sat 'trust me,' they really mean it. Many of the ones that cheat were just wrong when they said 'trust me,' they didn't lie. Or if anything, they were lying to themselves.

It's bad business, but I don't think it's the end of the world like some Freepers do. I have been told that adultery is among the worst things a person can do to another person. Some say it should be a criminal matter. I've read long winded posts telling me how deeply terrible it is, and how it should mandate the cheater's fair share of the marital property.

As for me, I wouldn't want to stay with someone who didn't want to be with me. Go for it. I'll feel pain for a short while, give her the fair share of money that's hers, then I'll recover. I have the rest of my life to make the money back, plus I get to date women who want to be with me. Maybe even settle down again with one. What's so bad about that?

[napscoordinator]

If we stay home when its time to vote and the Democrats take Congress, believe me, it'll probably be 2 decades before we take it back.
Control of Congress just does not switch back and forth every 2 years... it'll take quite a while.



Seriously isn't that something the President and congress has to think about. Why do we always have to step up when they don't. Don't worry I will vote Republican, but damn shouldn't they worry and not us. I am sick of this stuff!!! Making us feel guilty because they suck. This just is not fair. OK, like is not fair, but these guys make it even worse.

[Zeroisanumber]

Part of Ford's problem was, while he is an ethical and good man, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Things like appointing Nelson Rockefeller VP. I don't know why the GPO always believes it must appease its left wing. The Democrats literally ran its right wing out of the party.

Ford could have flown around the country in a red cape fighting crime and he still wouldn't have won reelection. He was too damaged by Nixon's pardon and the fallout of Whitewater to beat Carter.

[unseen]

that's because Reagan understood the American people and thought of them as intelligent hard working people that cared for their families. Now we have a leadership that thinks Americans won't do blue collar work, that thinks we are very stupid, and that we only care for ourselves. They are wrong on all three accounts. (btw both the DEMS and REPS leadership think this way)

[lone star annie]

That was my betrayal moment too. Ever since he referred to the Minute Men as vigilantes, his poll numbers have tanked.

[Annie5622]

I think it depends on how much you've tried to communicate that you were unhappy, etc. If you just lied to her for years and then drop it like a bombshell, you need to be beaten and quartered. LOL I think it's up to each individual to help themselves be happy, not their spouse's job. Life is too short to live in a miserable relationship. However, for some, it's all they know and they can't imagine a life outside of that marriage.

What were we talking about? Oh, yeah - adultery. I say keep your pants on until the divorce is over. LOL

[unseen]

you obvious never knowingly been cheated on. A cheater is not someone that has a moment of weakness it is a flaw in that person's character. The cheater will cheat, lie, steal say and do ANYTHING to cover the cheating. When caught the cheat 9/10ths of time will not admit to any wrong doing and instead try to paint the other person as the one that was wrong.

[napscoordinator]

And you call yourself conservative? If you do we don't need ya!

[jaime1959]

> He isn't the best there is, but he is the best we've got. <

Then Heaven help us.

[HitmanLV]

You're 100% right about a serial or habitual cheater.

However, stats have shown that around 1/2 of married men and around 1/3 of married women ADMIT to an extramarital dalliance of some kind. The way the questions are worded this can range from a sudden passionate kiss to enjoying a sexual encounter once or twice, and all the way up to an extended extramarital romance with all the requisite lies.

I can't believe that that many men and woman are all dreadful, loathsome individuals. Most of those people are not the kind of cheaters your describe, though they may use some of those tactics out of fear if cornered. The truth is it happens, and it happens for a variety of reasons.

I personally would dump a spouse who cheated on me, even if I was convinced of their regret and sincere intent to never do it again. If anyone's interested in my detailed reasoning behind this, I'm willing to share it. Essentially, it's a kind of mathematical analysis where I figure it's not worth the energy invested to try and make a go at it.

[RightWinger]

I wouldn't vote for him again.

Probably won't vote for McCain or Giuliani .

[jaime1959]

> Why the big donors got behind dubya so quickly is something I will never understand. <

You don't understand why corporate fat cats got behind Bush?

I think one of the big mistakes liberals make is assuming that the extremely wealthy and the corporate elites are fundamentally "conservative" or Republican. I think one of the big mistakes grass roots conservative make is in assuming the same thing.

[HitmanLV]

Why? What's the social value served by sticking by a dreadful spouse?

[Cicero]

It's obvious why the Washington Post published this. They will do anything to divide the Republican base.

Unfortunately, however, Bush has already accomplished that.

This article makes depressing reading. Very depressing reading. But it's entirely true. Maybe the only sentence in the whole thing that had me questioning the argument was the one about not sending enough troops to Iraq. But that was one questionable sentence out of a very long article.

[BW2221]

"Yes, we're really united!

No, we're not. But why do you think it's Dubya's fault?"

Things things like governmental spending, pushing the GOP to go all-out for Specter to win the Pennsylvania primary against a conservative (can you see the Dems going all-out to support a conservative incumbent?) and the major issue is immigration and border security.

Read the entries on this thread. Six month ago, there would have been little, if any, criticism of Bush (me included).

Monday's speech was a defining moment in his presidency and the 2006 election. His unfavorable rating among Republicans has gone from 15% to 30% in the past month. Many conservatives believe he has abandoned his base.