Compassionate Conservatism Lost

Townhall.com ^ | Wednesday, November 8, 2006 | Herman Cain

[dfwgator]

Conservatism IS Compassion!

[rhombus]

But it won for the Democrats.

[ken5050]

Looking back, it's hard to believe that in 1994, the newly elected GOP Congress, actually, for a brief time, contemplated DISMANTLING the Dept of Education....just eliminating it...6 years later...

[af_vet_rr]

Bush's big-government policies have certainly transformed America, but they are not even in the same neighborhood as true limited-government conservatism. Worse, the president, his advisors, the Republican National Committee and Republican leaders in the House and Senate have alienated the party's conservative base of activists and voters.

Compassionate conservatism first brought us the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. NCLB further consolidated federal oversight of education in an era when local control was the mantra of conservative voters and Republican congressional candidates.

2006 is going to be the start of the Conservative base taking back control of the GOP.

[FourPeas]

Compassionate conservatism failed America and cost Republicans control. Bush's guiding philosophy attempted to co-opt the liberal Democratic strategy of campaign to the right, and govern from the middle. To accomplish that feat one must pander to all interest groups, and hope the traditional base stays home on Election Day. If you recall, Bush's predecessor in the White House utilized the exact same strategy. He called it triangulation.

Well said.

[100-Fold_Return]

find a snitch to explain how the dims programmed the votes to have them victors would be a better idea.

[FourPeas]

2006 is going to be the start of the Conservative base taking back control of the GOP.

We can hope, but we need a leader.

[DTogo]

The last major "compassionate conservative" BOHICA Bush is looking forward to passing is his Shamnesty program.

Will the Dems tie it to elimination of some Bush tax cuts, causing GWB to repeat GHWB's blunder??

[A_perfect_lady]

Can we bring back Dispassionate Conservatism now?

[dawn53]

Seems to me what really allowed the Democrats to win (at least in the Senate) was that the candidates they put up against the Republican incumbent claimed to be "conservative"...i.e. pro-life, pro-gun, like Casey in PA.

Whether or not those elected Senators stick to their
stated ideals once in Congress (which is something I doubt), will be another story.

Those kind of Republicans (i.e. the Republicans that could win in Democratic strongholds because they're so liberal) have always proved a bane to the Republican majorities.

Will the same thing happen with the newly elected "conservative" Dems...will they be a "thorn" in the side of Pelosi? Time will tell.

[mak5]

This country could use a little less compassion and a whole lot more conservatism from this administration.

[CyberAnt]

And .. not soon enough to suit me.

Compassion has it's place - but it's NOT IN POLITICS. If you're not in it to WIN - then get the hell out. This constant cow-towing to the other side is what caused the base to stay home.

[Long Island Pete]

To hell with compassion. This is war.

[goldstategop]

Bush's brand of pork barrel politics was neither compassionate nor conservative. Which why it is now histoire.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

We need a real spiritual revival. Otherwise, no point to life. I mean if you live for a few years, than your dead forever, what was your purpose in living, just struggling with all the evil in this world. America needs Christ back in everything, so we can all rejoice together in our eternal future. We must keep praying until God answers our prayers, and literally changes the atmosphere from depression and despair to love, joy, and REAL peace.

[Txsleuth]

Dang....the piling on is pitiful.

All of the things in this article was KNOWN in 2003...Bush was reelected in 2004.

[LibLieSlayer]

NO! AMERICA LOST!

LLS

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

"Compassionate conservatism is the theory that the government should encourage the effective provision of social services without providing the service itself."

And THAT is exactly what America was.....until LBJ and the other "Great Society" socialists took over the role of charity from churches and other charitable agencies to make providing these goods, funds, and services a responsibility of the gummint and the taxpayer.

[af_vet_rr]

We can hope, but we need a leader.

Agreed. We have to find this person ourselves - the current GOP leadership will just give us more big government, country club Republicans for Presidential candidates, GOP leadership positions, etc., because that's all they know.

We need to find a true Conservative who is outside of the GOP leadership right now, and who has no ties to either of the Bush's administrations. I foresee the GOP leadership trying to regurgitate members from both administrations.

You know who I like, and I maybe wrong about her, since I had no knowledge of her until recently - Sarah Palin from Alaska. Somebody mentioned she had no experience - I told them by the time she's put in a second term as Governor of Alaska, she would have had more political experience that George W. Bush, and at different levels of government, as well as doing it without the family ties Bush had.

I'm impressed by her taking on entrenched Republicans and Democrats and blowing the whistle on them. A lot of people who came across that kind of corruption would have backed off and she didn't. She's also, in my mind, well outside of the mainstream GOP (it helps that she's in Alaska, lol).