Replies

"I don't know. Given the amount of animosity here against (L)ibertarians in several areas, I don't see that the GOP really represents them these days. Nor does it represent the right end of the conservative spectrum very well.

The organized GOP, it seems to me, is pretty centrist these days, for whatever that's worth."

Thats what I see, and thats the reason so many here say they aren't voting. They are without representation and have nowhere to turn, so they get angry at those who they think should be on their side.

Its a mistake for the republican party to abandon political conservatives and libertarians. The most popular Republican president was Reagan, was also the most conservative. Even then the moderate republicans tried to destroy him, and threatened to throw the election if G HW Bush wasn't given the VP. All the disastrous loses the republicans have had came from moderate republicans, and the 1994 revolution was based on conservatism.

The GOP is what it is. If it gets too far out of touch with a good-sized proportion of its members, it will lose elections. As long as it wins elections, it will feel reaffirmed and do whatever it thinks best.

That's reality. The drift towards the center has been fairly slow and has gone unnoticed by many Republicans. That seems to be ending. There's a lot of dissatisfaction going around these days. Will it cause the GOP to lose control of the Congress? I don't know.

If it does, there will be a retrenching of the party. If it retains power, the drift may continue. We'll know more in a couple of weeks. The polls right now are useless in figuring out what will happen.

Me? I just keep voting my conscience, as I have always done. Sometimes you win...

I had enormous respect for Barry Goldwater, and worked, as a young guy, on his campaign. He lost miserably. He was too far to the right for the electorate, apparently, even though he was a great thinker on many issues. The beginning of the centrist shift happened after that, and continues to this day.

I think that Conservatives need to be cautious not to create another Barry Goldwater candidacy. That, I believe, would set the party back for another 20 years or so. Somehow, the shift needs to be more subtle, but the direction is going to have to change, from a move toward the center, to movement in the other direction.

Again, this will be a telling election.