Posted on 08/28/2006 7:47:08 PM PDT by nj26
He supports tax cuts and the war in Iraq. He opposes stem cell research and the Medicare drug plan. He is a master of his movement’s medium, talk radio. Jesus Christ is his personal savior and Ronald Reagan his political idol.
Conjure what might be called the perfect conservative, and chances are he would look a lot like Representative Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican who in just three terms has turned 100 House allies into a vanguard and himself into one of his party’s rising stars.
Or that was the case until this spring when he sought compromise in the rancorous immigration debate. His complicated plan would strengthen border security and send illegal immigrants home, but let most of them quickly return. Since then, Mr. Pence — named last year’s Man of the Year by the conservative weekly Human Events — has looked to some conservatives like this year’s Benedict Arnold. They say he has lent his conservative prestige to a form of liberal amnesty.
Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum called his plan “a sick joke.” Richard A. Viguerie, the direct mail pioneer, threatened to punish politicians who support it. Pat Buchanan, editor of The American Conservative, likened the betrayal to a scene from “The Godfather.”
Perpetually genial, prematurely gray, Mr. Pence, 47, said, “I was taken aback by the level of invective.”...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So you are saying that Ronald Reagan would also take back his statement of "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall".
Ronald Reagan was against walls, in pure contrast of pat buchanan who hasn't seen a wall he never liked.
He's certainly not a RINO or he would have earned the title of "maverick" from the Slimes.
It wasn't a matter of losing the border security issue in the shuffle or granting amnesty to illegals 20 years ago that got us where we are today, what got us here is the government simply hasn't enforced the laws.
Pence is about as far from a RINO as one can get.
He just has a practical grip on what a mass deportation depicted on the Whirled Noos would look like
Yep, that old NAFTA sure did ruin the American economy, didn't it. Unemployment is rampant and the only jobs anymore are at McDonalds.
If the government enforced the laws, there'd be no need for walls, booby traps, mines, or razor wire on the border.
The East Germans and Soviets enforced their laws to the hilt and they still had to build a wall.
I have stopped posting on the border threads because of the level of invective hurled at good conservatives such as Pence. These people are truly eating their own.
".....themselves and not modern conservatism."
Ok, I'll bite.
What is your definition of "modern conservatism"?
Freepers like Dane define "modern conservatism" as everything Pence stands against. These folks who are temporarily on Pence's side are also the first to defend things Pence finds abhorrant such as No Child Left Behind and the MEdicare Prescription plan. They'll dump Pence in favor of a Guiliani Republican as soon as the border issue dies down.
That said, the people who now overlook Pence's awesome small-government record simply due to disagreement with him on one issue are being schmucky too.
Hmm, and you won't see me(in your words a Guiliani Republican) smearing pence in the NYT, ala buchanan and tancredo and ilk.
And, frankly, the rest of us are sick and tired of hearing you threaten to stay home.
BUMP! Every election these clowns say they're staying home and every year we win. Stay home paleofreaks.
Pence/Hutchinson excludes the vast majority of humanity. Your position is not pro-immigrant.
The Rabid will turn on you like a pack of wild dogs. They want NO practicality.
A majority of Republican Senators voted against the Senate bill that Bush has indicated he would sign.
Of course the NYT would consider the perfect conservative diabolical.
Regards,
TS
"A majority of Republican Senators voted against the Senate bill that Bush has indicated he would sign."
I do not understand how some on this forum could be in lockstep with the likes of Teddy Kennedy and have the unmitigated gall to claim to speak for a majority of conservatives. It's like the Democratic Party has planted its larvae in the RNC and we are witnessing the birth of something truly foul.
Looks like we have another Nacht der langen Messer against Pence.
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