Posted on 03/28/2007 5:37:45 AM PDT by shortstop
The way it stands now, we Republicans are on track to get the thumping of a lifetime. We are about to get spanked, and spanked hard.
I realized that the other day when I saw this bumper sticker: “Is it 2008 yet?”
The point was clear. Democrats are eager for 2008 to come; Republicans are living in fear of its arrival.
Because our party is on the rocks.
George W. Bush and several years of a GOP congressional majority have just about killed it.
And the horizon looks dark and foreboding.
Let’s look at the two parties’ presidential prospects. The Democrats have two excellent candidates. We Republicans have two relatively weak candidates.
Though I disagree with them both, Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton are both electric candidates. They excite people, especially Democrat people. They both would be superstars on the international scene.
And they both are liberals.
Though they are each trying to conceal that little fact at this stage of the campaign, the two leading Democrat candidates are dyed-in-the-wool liberals. That’s probably a good thing for a Democrat candidate to be. It certainly would be seen as a good trait by the party’s philosophical core – which is itself liberal.
So the Democrats have two head-turning candidates who believe in things that represent the party’s traditions and which jibe with the beliefs of the party’s most active and vocal members.
If you’re a Democrat, that’s a good thing.
We Republicans, on the other hand, face a different prospect.
Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, while each is a man of significant accomplishment, don’t have the marquee appeal of the Democrats. They are probably Grade B politicians. Senator McCain is clearly a brave patriot, but he was shot down more than 40 years ago and those who remember the significance of his service are few. Mayor Giuliani owes his national reputation as much to “Saturday Night Live” as to anything else.
And they both are liberals.
On the great issues of our day and our Republic, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have spent their careers closer to the Democrat position than the Republican position. And that’s not so fun for conservatives, who are the party’s base. They face the likely prospect of having a candidate whose philosophy they disagree with.
That’s not good.
Compound that with the fact that the mismanagement of the war has turned the country not only against it, but in large part against the notion of national self-defense. The true Republican position on the war would be to fight it ruthlessly to completion. After this experience, it is far more likely the country will have no stomach for any fight whatsoever. That’s why Iran is posing 10 times the threat Iraq posed and getting one-tenth the flak from the United States.
Responsibility for that can only be attributed to President Bush. He roused the nation’s spirits after September 11, and led us into war, but somehow has not been successful at maintaining our interest and commitment. In all likelihood, the Iraq war will be a defining issue in 2008 and it won’t break in the Republicans’ favor.
Another area where we suffer is, unlike the Democrats, we have no galvanizing issue or cause. Winning the Congress for the GOP is no longer a draw. We did that already and got nothing out of it. Winning the White House in order to control Supreme Court nominations died the day George W. Bush uttered the name, “Harriet Myers.”
There is no real reason, other than fear of Hillary, that even comes close to uniting Republicans.
Democrats, on the other hand, are so seething with hatred for George W. Bush and conservatives – though George W. Bush is not a conservative – that they are highly motivated for the election. They are on fire with zeal in anticipation of 2008.
You add it all up and the Democrats are holding most of the cards. We Republicans can’t even seem to get excited or frightened by the contest.
Which is a good way to lose.
As it stands now, 2008 will be a Democrat romp. Only an unexpected and monumental collapse by the Democrats, or an unexpected and monumental surge by the Republicans, stands any chance of shaking things up.
Which is pretty gloomy.
And it means that while the Democrats are looking forward to 2008, the next best chance for Republicans is 2010 or 2012.
And that’s an awful long time.
So long, in fact, you wonder what form the Republican Party will take as it suffers all those years locked out of power.
I agree. Or Duncan Hunter or Newt Gingrich.
Okay, okay...fine. Just let it be known that Rudy is NOT the way to go. No way, no how. (Not that I'm saying you support Rudy)
As stated in someone elses post: Rudy will destroy this party if he's nominated...
We essentially have a one party system. Dems controlled the house for 40 years. Liberals controlled all levers of government from FDR forward, though occasssionaly with a moderate Republican at the helm. The Gingrich era takeover of the house attempted to unseat the ruling liberals, but floundered on the Clinton impeachment.
Bush 2 had an opportunity to make good on many Republican goals, but didn't.
Look for a return to the post-war (WWII) norm of Democrats and Liberal R's running everything, with Conservatives on the margin. Seeing as the R's haven't delivered much for conservatives it's hard to see this as a huge loss. You can only scare me with "but Hillary !!!" so long. I survived Buba nicely and will do the same with Hill or Obama.
I think the R's maybe need more time in the wilderness to get their ideas straight.
So. Bush didn't carry California either time. California is not needed for Republican electoral victory.
Provide more of a balanced ticket, in a close election, he may tip it towards the GOP by attracting a larger share of minority voters
He's not another old white guy
He's EXTREMELY articulate and intelligent, more so than Huntr in my opinion, is equally conservative on most issues, but won't be painted into a corner (by MSM as a radical conservative) as easily as Hunter, IMHO...
By the way, he won state-wide in MD, Hunter never has
Agreed- I was addressing that post to folks that think Hunter's addition to the ticket would help us win CA
What, are you reading my posts then re-posting them in a reformulated manner? People are gonna think we're the same person, or (gasp) involved... I'm glad you're a Savage fan, there's proof that we are NOT the same person, as I DESPISE Savage and think Rush is amazing
Rudy's about 4th on my list of who I'd support... but if he turns out to be the GOP nominee, I'll support him wholeheartedly, if only to stop the lying libs/dems
I call things like they are. Savage rules it, and so does Dennis Prager, Mike Medved, Hugh Hewitt, and Dennis Miller. And many others.
Hannity is stuck on 2003's talking points - he has fallen and can't get up. Rush will always be the Dean, but I find his cheerleading for the GOP a huge turnoff. Not much clarity with either of those guys, sorry.
But is he in the market for a VP nomination?
Not sure. I'm sure he wouldn't turn it down. Many of us FReepers thought he would win the Senate election last year...Any other year, quite possibly, but he got sucked into the anti-GOP wave.
Did you hear Savage say the 911 attacks were brought to us by God cause we went astray as a culture/society? What a pompous a $ $
No, I must have missed that episode, sorry.
The truth is inescapable. So what? If our philosophies are diametrically opposed to one another but we somehow manage to vote the same way, I'll thank God for it and I guess you'll just thank yourself. Whatever.
1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Perhaps I'm a "pompous a$$" for quoting Jesus but, I'll take any calamity or outrageous injustice as a reminder to repent and our Nation and culture, no matter how good and idyllic it may be, would be wise to do likewise.
that was yesterday's show
Does anyone care that they are "excellent candidates"?
Certainly none of the Democrats do. They just want to be back in power so bad they can't stand it.
"The only thing that will unify the GOP is a return the principles of Reagan and a platform and candidates that espouse it."
You mean a platform that doesn't promise all sorts of freebies for the lower wage earners?
Think about this: if Hillary promises them more money from the Treasury and Rudy/McCain/Thompson promises them nothing more from the Treasury, who gets the votes?
Yes Bush and the RINO's lost the 2006 election for the Repubs, via turning off the base.
Get a RINO McCain or R.G. as candidate and the job to finish off the Repub chances of holding it's own will evaporate.
Motivating the Repub base to come out and vote in 2008 for a RINO, despite their having to hold their nose to do so, is recipe for electoral defeat.
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