Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Daniel Weintraub: Schwarzenegger landslide is a win for centrism
Sacramento Bee ^ | 11/9/6 | Daniel Weintraub

Posted on 11/09/2006 8:02:20 AM PST by SmithL

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 last
To: daviddennis

I still believe a conservative can win, but on a platform of good will, backed by a huge war chest.

Unfortunately, likeability seems to trump everything else.

Fortunately here in CV, the likeable conservative creamed the corrupt incumbent.


41 posted on 11/09/2006 10:25:31 AM PST by b9 ("the [evil Marxist liberal socialist Democrat Party] alternative is unthinkable" ~ Jim Robinson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

Can someone explain what CENTRISM entails ?

What does a centrist propose for the following issues :

1) Terrorism and Homeland Security
2) Taxes
3) Energy
4) The environment
5) Education
6) Social Security
7) Medicare
8) Abortion
9) Stem Cell Research
10)Gay Marriage

Let's start with the above first. What exactly does it mean to straddle the center and why isn't Bush considered one and why is Arnold considered one ?


42 posted on 11/09/2006 11:16:39 AM PST by SirLinksalot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Oh yeah - and considered her husband one too.


43 posted on 11/09/2006 12:08:32 PM PST by greccogirl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: SmithL
Anyone who reads into Rinolds win that there was some shift is insane. Angelides was the most pathetic candidate the RATS could have put up. The real message from the election is campaigning on raisng taxes for everything imaginable is Losing tactic. I think Rinold is just a sock puppet for Ted Kennedy.
44 posted on 11/09/2006 12:14:17 PM PST by John Lenin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SDGOP
Do that and we lose.

Er, are you living on an island somewhere and didn't get yesterday's news?

45 posted on 11/09/2006 12:20:06 PM PST by meandog (While Bush will never fill them, Clinton isn't fit to even lick the soles of Reagan's shoes!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: DesScorp; SDGOP
Republicans would do well to purge you Libertarians from the ranks and be Republicans again.

Please review SDGOP's #34 post...it details what happens if Republicans do that.

46 posted on 11/09/2006 12:23:09 PM PST by meandog (While Bush will never fill them, Clinton isn't fit to even lick the soles of Reagan's shoes!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: meandog; xzins; SDGOP
In no way is Arnold a libertarian. He's a liberal Here are just a few examples from the OC Register:
... this "Republican" governor is promoting:

• A massive $42 billion spending program on infrastructure that exceeds even the amounts sought by Democrats.

• A prescription drug initiative that, according to the Pacific Research Institute, will impose price controls on pharmaceutical companies and will lead to the development of fewer new medicines and more government subsidies.

• A large increase in the minimum wage, just as the economy starts grinding to a halt.

• A costly anti-property-rights environmental agenda that includes government spending on solar roofs, hydrogen cars, the setting aside of 25 million acres of land, bans on offshore drilling and an otherworldly scheme to force businesses to comply with new global-warming regulations.

On his campaign Web site, the governor boasts about having created a new government health-care bureaucracy, about spending 27 percent more on health care than the previous administration and of increasing the enrollment of people in government health-care programs.

Funny me, but I thought that supporters of Milton Friedman's ideas understood that markets offer the best solutions to crucial issues, not expansion of government regulations and spending. Yes, the governor has vetoed many of the Chamber of Commerce's job-killer bills, but he has supported many other efforts that shackle the marketplace and impose undue burdens on business. His actions have shown no real love of freedom ... or of justice.

Please cite some examples from his governance that make you think he's libertarian.
47 posted on 11/09/2006 1:42:47 PM PST by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

Centrism? More like liberalism. Arnold has no problem with bond debt, abortion, the homo agenda, firearms restriction, etc.


48 posted on 11/09/2006 2:04:59 PM PST by Bonaparte
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL
"... as Angelides managed to eke out a victory only among high school dropouts."

And dieters.

49 posted on 11/09/2006 2:06:18 PM PST by Bonaparte
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

We voted for the Wimponator, holding our noses.

His victory was due to more folks voting for the bad candidate than the worse candidate.

People in Calif, most of whom get freebies and pay little or no taxes, vote for more freebies (gasp! surprise!)

Note that bond issues almost always pass in Calif, but tax increase measures generally lose.

Why? Because the voters are so smart.

They can figure out that tax increases raise their taxes (bad!). But they think bond issues do not increase their taxes.

The concept that a $500million bond issue will have to be repaid eventually with a lot of interest, is over their heads. As are, in many cases, ballots printed in English.


50 posted on 11/09/2006 2:20:06 PM PST by OldArmy52 (China & India: Doing jobs Americans don't want to do (manuf., engineering, accounting, etc))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OldArmy52

I'd like to see an Initiative put on the California State ballot to require a 2/3 majority for passage of State bonds, instead of a simple majority.
That is the current requirement for all Local bonds (except local school bonds that got reduced to 55% under Prop 39).


51 posted on 11/09/2006 3:05:39 PM PST by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator
How do that "real conservative" McClintock do?

He lost because of the Bay area.

52 posted on 11/09/2006 3:13:41 PM PST by LexBaird (98% satisfaction guaranteed. There's just no pleasing some people.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SirLinksalot
Can someone explain what CENTRISM entails ?

A lot of wetting your finger and sticking it up to find out which way the wind lies.

53 posted on 11/09/2006 3:15:18 PM PST by LexBaird (98% satisfaction guaranteed. There's just no pleasing some people.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: SirLinksalot
Can someone explain what CENTRISM entails ?

Good list. From those touting "moderation" and "pragmatism", I have often tried to get an explanation of what "far right wing" (or similar terms) constitutes in terms of issues. I think you'll probably get a similar response: the sound of chirping crickets.

What exactly does it mean to straddle the center and why isn't Bush considered one and why is Arnold considered one ?

Imo, Bush has governed as a Centrist; Arnold has governed as a liberal.

54 posted on 11/09/2006 4:08:07 PM PST by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: RexBeach

That does nothing to address Thatcher's inaction on the issue.


55 posted on 11/10/2006 3:20:15 PM PST by RightCenter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: RexBeach

Depends on how you define the sides.

Slavery: Well, it's not as if Lincoln (who was a moderate despite what the Southerons thought) moved to abolish slavery at first; the Southern states turned on him, forcing his hand. He detested slavery, but he didn't move first to kill slavery. So centrism didn't necessarily fail on that issue.

WWII: Uh, wasn't FDR a liberal? Then doesn't that mean liberals won the war? Or perhaps you'd prefer thinking of him as a centrist?

Extending the franchise: Just who extended the franchise? Lots of reformers over many different periods. It was hard to define centrists for those cases. However, take women's suffrage for example. Who's more centrist, Emma Goldman or Jane Addams?

Christianity: How do political terms like "centrist" even come into play when describing the Son of God and the Apostles? Though you do have to admit that Jesus was quite temperate to the unbelievers, at least until they made a mockery of His house of worship.

Building America: What are you referring to, exactly?

Centrism just means that you look at the real-world from time to time and get your mind out of ideological biases and idealistic fantasies, and *gasp* be willing to work with those who share different views, ocassionally.


56 posted on 11/10/2006 3:25:05 PM PST by RightCenter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Bratch

God never said this had to do with politics, only following the Word and the Law.


57 posted on 11/10/2006 3:26:37 PM PST by RightCenter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-57 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson