Posted on 02/26/2007 10:49:56 PM PST by Jim Robinson
It is too early to make definitive statements about 2008, but the evidence points to a change in the tone, if not the substance, of the Republican message.
Although moderation is in the eye of the beholder and difficult to define, the GOP message and messenger are much more likely than in the recent past to be less beholden to, or a member of, the party's strongly conservative wing.
There are two reasons why:
* The background and views of the two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
* The lesson that may lie in the success of GOP governors with high approval ratings. Florida's Charlie Crist, California's Arnold Schwarzenegger and Connecticut's Jody Rell are thriving with a vision that features a larger role for government.
Since the nomination of Ronald Reagan in 1980, moderates have fared poorly in Republican presidential primaries. The GOP has stood for lower taxes, toughness on defense and opposition to abortion, gay rights and gun control.
But while McCain and Giuliani spout that line on taxes and terrorism, their views on lifestyles issues are less in sync with recent Republican tradition.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Jim Robinson for president.
I don't buy for a second that majority of the GOP base prefers Giuliani. He's largely a creation of the drive-by media.
Rudy 33%, Pissant 0.0000000000001%. But I'm gaining quickly!
"there's no Reagan or Lincoln or whatever we can all agree on and rally around"
Exactly! Aint gonna be no rally around the Rinos. The Republican party has little to offer and no leadership capable of changing that. That's a fact. Deal with it.
You got a great attitude, don't give up!
This is mostly about dividing t6he oil spoils, and local control of their territories.
Once these are settled thing will get much quieter.
Iraqies can take care of al-queda by themselves; they just need a few more months of training.
Jeez, it's only been 11 months since they got a government; this will be straightened out soon.
Have faith.
Regards.
I am a Conservative first and foremost. When the R's veer away from Conservatism, I veer away from the RINOs. The pic vividly illustrates my personal opinion of polls by anything 'mainstrteam'.
Nam Vet
Jim:
The GOP moderates are DEMOCRAT LITE!! That is moderate GOP are moderates because they don't want to be ASSOCIATED with a MURDERER (Teddy 'the swimmer' Kennedy), Robert (KKK) Byrd, or the MOONBATS Anti-war kooks.
Thanks so much.
The general effect of a third party candidate is to elect the candidate with the views most opposed to their own. With the fragmentation of the voting public, though, that might change, although I expect it to take several election cycles to take hold.
There are a couple of problems with trying to start a third party, or fourth or fifth or sixth or seventh, if you count the Constitutional, Libertarian, Communist, and the Green parties. The first is that they have a deep, but narrow appeal. They have a difficult time expanding beyond their initial base. The second is that people move and create these parties because they're tired of compromising, but politics is often the art of compromise. It's appealing to enough small constituencies to form a governing coalition. The third problem is that these parties frequently try to start at the top, with the presidency, as opposed to getting on school boards, city government, etc., where party identification is less important and experience and political savvy are built.
As politics makes strange bedfellows, one strategy might be to form a coalition of the Green and Libertarian parties, for example, where they only agree to pursue races in areas where they can both create influence, and in races where the other party fields a candidate. This would have the effect of making the two main candidates be more attentive to the desires of the voters who are most likely to be pulled away to one of the other parties. In a four way race, it might actually allow one of the alternative parties to have a chance to sneak out a victory.
I have a bulletin board in my business where I shine the light of truth on evil dims. I donated well over $8,000 to REPUBLICANS in the last election... $2000.00 to the RNC and $1000.00 each to the Senate and House Republicans. The balance went to CONSERVATIVE candidates directly. I worked for two campaigns. What more would you like for me to do?
I will just have more to give individual Republican CONSERVATIVES, if I am not supporting "some" of the rino, anti-American vermin passing for Republicans in today's Congress and Senate. I fight to defeat dims every day of my life.
LLS
This has nothing to do with the thread but I want to
Thank you!
for making FR possible.
I and others DO appreciate it.
Love ya too!
;)
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