[IrishMike]

Good read

[cripplecreek]

I have to question the intelligence of those who think people will be driven to vote by insults.

[pnh102]

I wonder if because of this piece the MSM will vault the Washington Times as being a "voice of sanity on the right" the same way it did when the Times called on Hastert to resign.

[MarkDel]

Blankley is right on target. This WAS a good read.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I'm voting, but if the Republicans are offering me an idiot then I just won't vote in that race. I don't do power plays any longer. Power is not sufficient enough reason for me to vote for a particular candidate. It's principle or nothing. If the party wants my support, let them earn it.

[Diddle E. Squat]

"I'm so conservative that I NEVER vote conservative" ( / sarc ) bump

[Dan Evans]

Why are we the ones who are stupid? Why isn't it the Republicans who are acting like Democrats the stupid ones? Why are we the ones who have to bend?

[RexBeach]

Tony's a right smart fellow.

We gotta get out the vote on November 7th or else we might find the nuts in charge of the nuthouse.

Speaker Pelosi? Gag me with a spoon. Literally.

[JFC]

Conservatives, you are either with us or against us..

[Siena Dreaming]

there may be a million or two conservative Republicans who are planning to not vote this November.

Several hundred thousand of them not voting because of that stupid story Blankley allowed to run which called for Hastert's resignation.

Who's stupid Tony?

[wagglebee]

BTTT!

Great Read!

[kittymyrib]

The same geniuses voted for Ross Perot and gave us the Clintons for eight years and possibly the presidency of Hillary! as their rancid legacy lives on. Stupidity of that magniture is hard to top.

[Sloth]

...these anticipated conservative non-voters are annoyed with Republican imperfection.

Imperfection? Talk about a strawman.

[SoFloFreeper]

If current polls and anecdotes are to be believed, there may be a million or two conservative Republicans who are planning to not vote this November.

I don't necessarily believe them.

[subterfuge]

So many of these articles are seemingly hoping for the self-fulfilling prophecy effect, I think.

I'm not buying any of it as I've yet to run into ONE person who leans right saying they are staying home. Not ONE.

[Soul Seeker]

Conidering Tony Blankley's paper decided that the winning strategy was to throw the Speaker of the House overboard just because the Libs demanded it weeks before the election, I'm not so sure he's on solid ground to lecture sanity.

Nor, does anyone in Washington have the right to lecture conservatives. I told them they risked letting this happen. I told them that while mid forties would stay pat that if a 1% or 2% decided to stay home they could easily throw the election. And some fools, even here, said fine let them stay home. That they weren't needed. Now they turn around, call them names, and threaten them to coarce their vote. The vote they decided wasn't so damn important by their words and by their actions earlier.

No, if Republicans lose anything the fault is theirs and theirs alone. They got arrogant and they assumed the conservative base was like members of the Dem coalition that cared more about power then the issues. That's their fault.

Now, do I think conservatives are going to stay home?

No.

Because the same condecension evidenced by the Reps throughout the last couple years is on full display by the Dems. The fact those idiots think Foley will send Christians screaming in horror, it's insulting to say the least. It is insulting to produce polls that show Dems with a 25% advantage. It is insulting to shop for curtains in advance.

Pelosi giving speeches preaching Marxism without fear of electoral fallout makes me gag.

And then we have the Reps. Reps that never want to do the right thing, never want to keep their campaign promises. They've shown with a litle fear in their soul they can be forced to heel. Oh, they find a way to still screw us. Like letting the filibuster stand. But some judges made it through and they couldn't succeed in putting another lib on the court. Some of them tried to stop the Patriot Act, they were forced to fold. McCain and Linds tried to further damage our troops safety, and they were forced to accept what the President wantd given the outrage. They tried to get amnesty, and were instead forced to ok and fund a fence. Now I know they are planning not to build the same, but they've planned a lot of things the last few years and had the rug pulled from them. That fence comes up or a lot of them have some explaining in '08.

Basically my opinion is this. If Reps couldn't be brought to heel with added pressure, toss them overboard. But since we have hope based on past experience they can be forced to keep their promises, they can stay temporarily and we'll re-evaluate their progress in two years.

But understand this Republicans. There is going to be no "rah Rah" pom pom waving after this election that you are still in power. You didn't earn it, you were just extended mercy. And the day after we're going to take back up the issues you have failed to implement and demand some changes.

[jveritas]

If Republicans win more elections than democrats why do some people call them the stupid party? How about the democrat losers, are they smart beyond belief? If they are that smart, why do they keep losing?

[FlipWilson]

Perhaps the Repubican base will stay home on election day as a protest, perhaps not. But lets look at this from another perspective. What exactly is there to inspire the democrat base to turn out on election day? Besides free smokes and some cash, hatred of Bush is the only think I can see that they have. Hell, they can stay in the comfort of their homes to do that. Why go out an vote? What is new and exciting for the base?

I keep going back to the election to fill Cunningham's seat. Prior to that election it was written that the scandal would anger Republicans and result in low turnout. Of course, the overall turnout was lower, but relatively speaking, it was the dems who didn't turn out and/or the Republicans who did turn out didn't vote dem as a protest.

[bigjoesaddle]

Rush went on a good rant about this yesterday. He said George W. Bush is not a true conservative (Ted Kennedy writing the education budget, immigration, etc.), but you have to win, so he supported him.

If the Dems win the House again, they may hold it for another 40 years. How would we win in that case?

[ProCivitas]

Trying to assess Republican federal legislative performance(on a scale of 1 to 5):

Domestic Cultural issues:Senate(S): 2 House(H):4
Domestic Economic issues:
Fiscal issues: S:2 H:2
Monetary: S:? H: ?
Work: S:2 H:3
Trade: S:3 H: 3

Foreign Policy: S:3 H:3

---

Other issue categories? Any good score-sheets by groups on these policy areas? Is any assessment relevant versus the likelihood that the Democrats are worse?

[Oberon]

This conservative says to Republicans, "You want my vote? Then EARN it! You people have owned the White House and both houses of Congress for six years, and what have we got to show for it? There's still a BATF running roughshod over honest citizens. There's still an IRS feeding its bloated self on a positively Byzantine tax code. There's still a Department of Education. If you want my vote, you have to do better than just not be a Democrat!"

(The way things have been going, it's hard to tell the difference.)

I mean, come on, who's stupider...the conservative who stays home and lets the Dems win big, or the conservative who votes for a party who treats him like a chump and doesn't pursue any of the conservative goals he believes in?