Posted on 11/09/2006 8:23:16 PM PST by Halfmanhalfamazing
DALLAS (Reuters) - Thumped in Tuesday's elections, the Republican Party faces a dilemma as it prepares for 2008: trying to claw back support in the center while keeping loyal conservative Christians happy. Religiously motivated social conservatives are an important base for base for President George W. Bush and the Republican Party, which lost control of both houses of Congress in the elections amid voter anger over corruption, intrusive government and the Iraq war.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Exactly! The conservatives and Christian right feel betrayed by the whimpiness of our elected pubbie officials. I was ashamed of them.
I didn't see any FReepers claiming to have worked against Allen or didn't vote for him if they could.
You're exactly right.
I was listening to Joe Lieberman yesterday on Hannity and what he said was striking. It used to be that you could disagree with someone and still admire them. Today, it's all hatred and venom.
I don't agree with Joe Lieberman on a LOT of issues, but I do agree with him on the single most important issue of our time. But I don't hate him because I disagree with him on many issues.
We need to embrace the Reagan policy. Period. That means having an open arms policy toward people from other parties who agree with us on certain important issues.
And yes, that means Libertarians too. :)
Anyone who quotes and sources "Pastor" Chuck Baldwin is a nutcase.
Good riddance, don't let the door hit you in your crackpot.
We lost because we pussyfooted around in Iraq, not because of the Religious Right. If we had real men like MacArthur and Curtis Le May instead of faggots like Paul Bremer and the Pentagon Pussies, we would have taken care of business in Iraq long ago. Does anyone think MacArthur would have left Al Sadr alive for a single day? He executed nearly 1000 Japanese, including Communist agitators. What did Rumsfeld and his armchair losers do? Prosecuted our men on trumped up charges on the sole witness of the enemy. They have disgraced our brave fighting men, and the whole lot of them should be thrown out on their asses with Rumsfeld.
Well when the Republicans remember what you said, they'll win.
When they forget, they'll continue to lose.
End of story.
Nice try DUmass Media. Why not be blunt and say this was a call for godless Communism in America?
A truer statement could not be made. We don't just WANT Newt, we NEED him!!!! (Newt, if your out there.... throw us a bone.)
ok Mr. Atheist so what you want is another Klintoon and that's what Rudy is going to give you at least he knows how to run the city that hails the queen Hitlery Klintoon you will get what you asked for & that's Diddly Squat!
Remember we just lost an election & the Dimwits put many of those we needed into the fray & look where were at, Baby Bush will go down as one of the worst Presidents in history just give it time.
I can't believe all the excuses and they are useless Foley the Gaywad, Abrahm the JackOFF & on & on. Voters have to have a reason to vote there has to be something deep down inside that will bring them to the polls & i think we found out last Tuesday.
First the Religious Right does not like corruption and Republican party has a lot of it.
Second, it's becoming increasingly obvious that a hypocritical, cynical attitude towards the values of the Religious Right is prevalent in the highest levels of the Republican Party. I can't imagine that the Religious Right likes being played for fools.
Finally, the Religious Right is growing increasingly green and this is at odds with the Republican moneyed interests.
I am not saying they will switch parties. But, they are not going to be as easily played as before.
There is no such thing right now. I doubt that one federal judge in 1000 actually follows the constitution to the letter and the spirit it had before 1900.
The unappeasable utopian segment of social conservatives will balk, but they will be replaced with far more independents/moderates/blue dems/social lib-fiscal conserv. votes
So you think. If 20% of your base (10% of the electorate) votes soley on the abortion issue, I think you have a hard time making that up. There's plenty of people who will say, "He believes in killing babies, so I am not going to vote for him."
and most social conservatives will pragmatically stay.
Social conservatives, if they are like me, are not pragmatists. Christianity is the antithesis of pragmatism. That's the behavior of the children of the world - shift your "beliefs" and allegiances for wordly advantage. This is the solution of no honor. There is just no reason to support a flaming liberal like Guiliani, just to put the likes of the Republicans like Delay, Abramoff, Ney, and Co. back into power and covering up for moral turds like Foley and Sherwood.
Most realize that with a Dem president they get NOTHING.
We will get less than nothing with Giuliani, and we already got nothing from Bush either. For the last 4-6 years, the Republicans have finally had their first bout of governing control since the days of Eisenhower. They've done NOTHING with it. N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!!
Social Security reform? Nope.
Tax reform? Nope.
Reduction in size of government? Nope.
Reduction in government intrusiveness and unconstitutional behavior? Nope.
Avoidance of foreign misadventures (have you forgotten Bush's pledge in 2000 to avoid "Nation-Building"?)??? Nope.
Reduction in federal land holdings? Nope.
Federal government out of education? Nope.
Movement forward on defeating the homosexual priveleges agenda? Nope.
Anything besides hot air concerning abortion? Nope. Why is Planned Barrenhood still getting my tax dollars?
Elimination of affirmative action? Nope.
Shall I go on?
What exactly do you expect Guiliani to do to move any of that forward? Guiliani is a double-divorcee, adulterous, unfaithful, unstead, untrustworth, big government, social-liberal agenda a security/crime freak. That's it. Why do you trust a man with our country who broke his word sworn before God to two different women? I am sick to death of having my privacy violated by the security freaks like Guiliani, who refuse to admit the obvious that we are at war with Islam and simply go after our real enemies. Frankly, we'd be a lot more secure today if we'd just nuked Mecca, Medina, and Riyadh in 2001, and deported our Arab Muslim population back to the desert, than we are from the mideast wars.
REALLY? Hmmm that is very interesting. Must indicate they are internalizing what Leiberman's win indicates about the "Anti War" activists in their base. Looks like they may be thinking they can thread the needle. Do JUST enough on Iraq to show they "Are doing something." Their "International Conference on Iraq" would do that but otherwise simply ignore what is going on. Wonder if the Junk Media will follow suit. Now that the Dems are back, do they keep up the relentlessly negative coverage or simply drop the story to make sure the Democrats backside is covered on Iraq?
"Second, it's becoming increasingly obvious that a hypocritical, cynical attitude towards the values of the Religious Right is prevalent in the highest levels of the Republican Party. I can't imagine that the Religious Right likes being played for fools."
I suspect that the country-clubbers who dominate the Party treat principled conservatives (not just religious ones) the way the Demonrats do blacks: Keep them agitated, but do nothing to improve their lot. They came to me with their scare tactics "vote for me or the Dems will raise taxes and....". This from the Party which refused to push action against Sandy Burglar, which collaborates on legislation with Ted Kennedy, whose ex-Pres. pals around with Bubba Clinton, etc. I sometimes think they don't even want to stop abortion because they can push that button and rally the Religious Right again and again. (I voted for them anyway, because of the war.)
You said, "I completely disagree. The GOP lost for a combination of reasons-allowing the preachy RR to dictate the agenda was most certainly one."
I started a long and detailed thread earlier today explaining why ALL factions within the Conservative Movement share SOME of the blame for the failures in the 2006 Election. Like everyone else on our side of the ideological aisle, the Christian Conservatives have to accept some of the blame...BUT...that does NOT mean that the Republican Party needs to move towards the center and abandon those social conservatives who have been one of the true foundations for the Republicans starting with the Reagan era. There is plenty of room for ALL kinds of Conservatives, social, economic, libertarian, etc, etc...Reagan held that coalition together in the 1980's and Newt did in the 1990's, so it CAN be done without throwing any particular group "under the bus."
Hellbender, as someone who used to work for the Republicans on Capitol Hill, I can assure you that the so-called "Country Clubbers" do not look down on social conservatives the way you claim. And believe me, I would know since "that type" would assume I'm one of them since I'm from the Northeast, went to an Ivy League school, etc, etc...
Yes, there are surely a few of what I like to call the "Wall Street Republicans" who look at Social Conservatives as a necessary evil, but it is NOT the view of the vast majority of the Republicans working on Capitol Hill or inside the Beltway. You can't everyone love you all the time...LOL. I consider myself a social conservative on most issues, yet some of the people on this forum think of me as "immoral" because I believe in the legalization of Gambling, something I see as a CHOICE like Alcohol or Cigarettes. But even though some social conservatives demonize me over this view, you don't see me taking a negative view of ALL social conservatives. By the same token, don't condemn ALL the so-called Country Clubbers because some of them hold poor opinions of religion.
I don't disagree, but I've been very concerned for several years now about the degree with which the GOP has been pandering to the social conservatives, and allowing them to limit the agenda to abortion, stem cells, vegetative states, Ten Commandments, and fence building.
Even the WOT got lost in the rhetoric during the past year, and it was a key issue for us.
The moonbats will not shut up, and the Dems will not be able to quiet them. They believe that their policies are what caused the Repubs. to fall, specifically their opposition to Pres. Bush on Iraq. Oh, they'll continue to squeal, likely calling for Bush's impeachment, and will expect the Dems to do what they say since they think they got them into the majority. It'll be fun to watch.
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