Posted on 10/25/2006 7:02:29 AM PDT by 13Sisters76
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Holding my nose and voting Republican By Linda Chavez Wednesday, October 25, 2006
I am not happy with the Republican Party, but on Nov. 7 I will cast my vote for my incumbent Republican congressman and senator nonetheless. I don't feel I have any choice -- and it's not just that the Democrats running in my state are particularly unappealing candidates.
I'm angry at Republicans for abandoning their principles. This Republican president, aided and abetted by Congress, has increased federal spending at a reckless rate, even when the costs of the war in Iraq are taken out of the equation. I'm embarrassed by the scandals that have plagued some Republicans and by the abject failure of the leadership to do anything meaningful on lobbying reform.
I'm sickened by the cronyism that protected former Congressman Mark Foley and put children at risk. I'm disappointed that after years of claiming to be the party of colorblind equal opportunity, Republicans have actually expanded racial preferences in federal programs. I'm disheartened by the demagoguery on immigration and the refusal to do the one thing guaranteed to stop illegal immigration, namely, enact a broad guest worker program.
But none of these issues will make me stay home, much less vote Democratic. The fact is I don't trust the Democratic Party to lead this country in a time of uncertainty and war. While the Democrats say they want to refocus the nation's energy on the war on terror, they've demonstrated time and again that they oppose the most effective means of fighting terrorism.
Democrats would interfere with the National Security Agency's ability to intercept communications between terrorists abroad and their agents in the United States. They would extend to terrorists being held overseas access to the U.S. civilian court system, which could jeopardize national security by making classified intelligence available to the terrorists and their attorneys. They would treat terrorists like common criminals rather than as combatants who are at war with us.
Nor do I trust that Democrats would do the right thing in Iraq -- not that the current administration has had a stellar record there, either. I'm tired of debating whether we should or should not have gone into Iraq -- both Republicans and half the Democrats in the Senate voted to authorize the war in 2003. The question is what the United States should do now. It's clear the war is going very badly and that Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. Democrats have offered no clear plan except to leave Iraq as quickly as possible, regardless of the consequences.
And I don't think the Democrats would back tough measures if Iran and North Korea continue to pursue nuclear weapons either. Certainly the Clinton administration's record with respect to North Korea doesn't inspire confidence. Democrats like carrots a lot better than sticks and are more concerned with "world opinion" than American interests.
Democratic control of Congress also worries me when it comes to the economy. Democrats always want to raise taxes in order to pay for social programs, transferring money out of the hands of ordinary people and turning it over to bureaucrats. Most Democrats are also infatuated with government regulation and rarely find a government directive they don't like. Higher taxes and more regulations are a recipe to cool our healthy economy. Democrats seem to want to punish businesses rather than encourage the creation of more wealth. And they have a nasty propensity to encourage envy and class warfare, which benefits no one.
Politics is sometimes about making the least bad choice. I know some of my fellow Republicans will stay home on Election Day, hoping to send the party a message that they're fed up with the current leadership. But putting the Democrats in control won't bring about needed changes -- it will make matters even worse. The place for revolt is within the party itself, by urging the elected representatives to pick carefully when they choose House and Senate leadership in January and by challenging incumbents in primaries next time if they don't stand up for basic Republican principles.
Linda Chavez is chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and author of Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics .
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Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
This article is full of things that should be said, but not necessarily in a public forum. Just like McCain, she uses this tactic as a way to gain credibility with the MSM. Republicans trashing their party is always a big hit and she knows it. I'm glad she will vote for the best choice, but I'm disappointed she is stepping on the heads of others to elevate herself.
Republicans or conservatives not voting would be holding their nose and voting Democrat.
In my state, this is not applicable. As usual, many people here think the election is a national one. It is 435 separate local and regional elections, something the pollsters and news media would like us to forget.
Needed to be said again... only louder this time, for the benefit of all the slow children sitting in the back row.
And that's where you lose me.........
Please explain.
"Don't think of it as voting FOR the hapless Republicans. Think of it as voting AGAINST the treasonous Democrats."
Republicans almost ALWAYS vote, but unfortunately not always for the right reasons, as both of you indicate. Don't you think it is time that we started running on our own agenda, not AGAINST someone else?
Sorry, let me qualify that Newt's IDEAS about government is Reaganesque, not his personilty.
It's a shame that Bush's public/political persona doesn't match his charmful private persona.
I hope you are right about the GOP holding both houses. If they do, hopefully this whole ordeal will be a wake up call to them that they need to get back to basics, double up the effort on iraq and cut the budget to give the democrats that long sought budget surplus.
That is very right about what you said. I know I will get nothing if I sit this one out.
We are harvesting the crop produced from voting for the lesser of two evils for generations now.
Seems to me the choice is like voting for a size 9 ½ EE shoe up your hind end or a 10 D.
No kidding, since when is holding your nose NOT a part of voting republican? In 1994 I didn't have to hold my nose, but that was the exception that proves the rule.
The problem with this common complaint on the part of some conservatives is that it fails to accept that most of the electorate likes it when federal spending comes back to their state, city, or district. That goes for democrat and republican voters. This is especially so at an individual level.
I know a fairly conservative guy, a former nyc cop. He has a retarded son and was used to getting some help from the Feds for the extra care his son needed. He was very happy when the GOP won in 1994 for most of the reasons you hear. He was happy that welfare and social programs were going to be cut. The smile was wiped off his face when it became clear that some programs he benefited from might be on the chopping block, too.
In other words, his welfare was fine and everybody else's had to go. We can be critical of the mindset and point out the obvious problems with it, but it's very real and very common, and not uncommon among conservatives.
Spending is a problem because the electorate, when you get down to it, likes getting it and likes complaining about it.
Bush is a great campaigner and will be the only reason we hold on. It certainly has nothing to do with the RNC which has become virtually worthless.
From Yesterday:
"The Democrats have made a lot of predictions. Matter of fact, I think they may be measuring the drapes," Bush said yesterday to laughs at a Sarasota, Fla., fund-raiser for GOP House hopeful Vern Buchanan.
"If their electoral predictions are as reliable as their economic predictions, Nov. 7th is going to be a good day for the Republicans."
I disagree with much of what she says about illegal immigration, but she is HARDLY a "ditz".
I of course can not vote in these elections, but this article seem very reasonable to me.
I mean, I supported the invasion, but weather you did or not, the absolutely worst thing that could happen is if the country was left in the hands of the warring factions wanting to control it. But on the other hand, if they are made to work together through democratic process, and thus more reasonable voices within each group gets to power, that will have rippling effects through all the muslim world, effects that are neccasery to blunt the power of the islamist militants that have declared war against the West.
The Democrats seem to me to be worse than our socialistic parties, wich is contrary to many claims that both parties in the US are essentially right winged in comparison to our parties. I mean when it comes to taxation and such things, they talk just like socialists.
And about the spending, ok, the US seems to have spent like Mikael Jackson on a shopping spree, but they have also managed to half the budget deficit. Just by lowering taxes, they have experienced the same as we did, lower taxes mean more income. The Democrats seem to want to get taxes higher just for principles sake, and refuse to look this in the eye and accept it.
I would say that a guest workers program would help you get control over your immigration, but other thing is also how hard it is f.e. Europeans that come to the US to study to stay longer and eventually emigrate. I would think you would need to open up that process a little bit, people will try to escape the socialistic hell holes in Europe for many years to come now, and the US would gain from opening up for them.
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