Sounds like wishful thinking on the part of the LAstTimes.
More support for welfare programs...
That's what happens when you put party over principles.
Simple reason for this: Republicans haven't stood for anything, and accomplished relatively little while they were in power in Congress and the White House. They were capable of far more, but were too weak, too worried about the MSM, and too lacking in conviction and dedication to principle to acheive anything. Now, the Republicans are for the most part acting as though they are comfortable in the minority again. Why support the party? I'll support those (Republican or not) that are committed to Conservative Principles. The party can take a flying leap.
I don't even see conservatives being able to agree on their "core principles". I hardly think the GOP will be able to agree on core principles. People only left in 2006 for a variety of reasons. For every election since 2000 the GOP actually increased its numbers in elective office. This article is mostly wishful thinking.
Now someone here please explain to me how someone can get elected president with 35% of the votes in a general election. And remember this is the 35% who are "aligned" with Republicans, i.e. probably some independents included, to whom Republican fiscal conservatism appeals. The % of those who are solidly also social conservatives are most likely much less.
REALITY is that for ANY Republican to get elected president he MUST appeal to independents/moderates and even some Democrats.
Either nominate a Republican WHO CAN WIN -- i.e. APPEAL to a broad spectrum of voters or say hello to President Hillary.
Anyone who prefers Hillary to an imperfect Republican is either not a conservative of has his/her braincells in storage.
The vast number of people in America are libertarian conservatives--limit goverment, limited government power, limited spending, reduced government regulation, lower taxes, government out of our lives. Run on that platform and then do it, and people will vote for you. Run on that platform and then do the opposite, and people will abandon the GOP.
Your comment is right on from my perspective. Bush is the best moderate Democrat we could elect - playing footsie with Kennedy since he arrived. Lacks the testicular fortitude to stand up to the Democrats, hangs on to failed policies viz. why didn't he send more troops to IRAQ years ago; never explains what he is doing except for illegals - there he says "it isn't practical to deport them" buy never tries and continues to allow them in while hemming and hawing - secret agreements with the president of Mexico etc etc.
If it isn't Tancredo or Newt in the primaries, I'm not voting.DO NOT TELL ME NOT VOTING IS LIKE VOTING DEMOCRAT - LOOK AT BUSH!
The left has been forecasting the doom of the right every since there was a left and right.
Hasn't happened yet.
I think the difference is that the left always identifies with the democrats. They support theirs no matter what.
The right only identifies with the Republicans when the Republicans identify with the right. We support ours only when they are right.
Ours is a more principled stand - theirs is a more powerful stand.
As I said, if Republicans won't appeal to independents, they are setting themselves up to be not only a permanent minority, but an ever shrinking minority -- ciding the leadership of the country to the Democrats entirely, for the next 50-100 years.
"nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People & the Press"
yeah right
Again , the pew institute and the Left Angles Times are parts of the leftist pr machine .
Its odd how they never have studied the even larger drop in Democrat voters ? This is more DNC propaganda meant to disillusion the RNC base. Ignore it !
It's like all our worry about the country going under. If you or your leaders do all the stupidest things for long enough, there will be consequences. If countries can collapse, a political party damn well can.
When the GOP allows scumbags like Giuliani to run as an R, what choice do we have?
You are correct - the first paragraph is hogwash wishful thinking on the part of the MSM.
In reality, it is those conservative value-holders that are sliding away from the left-moving Republican party.
Isn't it funny (in a sad way), how we were laughing at the apparent falling apart of the Democrat Party just a few years back - they couldn't seem to win their way out of a wet cardboard box and the bickering and cannibalism among their own was a sight to behold. Yet they stayed "true" to their causes - and continued to run the Senate, despite being in the minority. And they fueld the MSM's hatred of GW and the WOT. And they continued to spout their leftist propaganda.
At the same time, the Republican majority sat on their duffs and did nothing. The party continued to slide Left. They failed to stand up for what their supposed platform said. They would not stand up against the lies being spouted. They would not stand up for judicial nominees. They compromised at every turn (what is the point of having a majority?).
And now, the supposed front-runners for the GOP nod in '08 are pretty much all RINOs - or psychopaths (McLame). What are we to expect? The Republican party has two choices to even think about victory:
1. - The apparent thought on the mind of GOP leadership is to get a "centrist" (read that RINO) candidate that just maybe enough moderate lefties might support with Hitlery or Obama representing the FAR Left side of the Dem Party. In this scenario, the GOP thinks they can steal the election from the Democrats by taking some of their own.
2. The GOP can grow a backbone in the congress (yeah, right) and do SOMETHING. At the same time, the GOP could get behind a real candidate with real conservative values (Duncan Hunter or Fred Thompson type?) and run a REAL campaign (not a PC looser campaign like we are trying to fight wars now...).
OF course - Scenario #1 would spell the end of the Republican party. Even IF they could somehow find a way to win with that option (which I do not believe will happen. The GOP cannot win the POTUS without the conservative base), our country will be still on the express train to Hell because we will have a re-branded liberal with an "R"...
With the second option - The Republican Party would keep the conservative base, and even if they were to loose (which I think is less likely than plan 1), would at least demonstrate some sort of leadership ability and backbone - which I believe voters want.
It takes a lot more than sending 25K troops to Iraq to show backbone.
People are going nuts over this story, as its creators hoped they would.
I seriously question the methodology of the poll. I don't think that in just two years that much of the the population of the USA could change their core political opinions diametrically.
I call bs.