A Knife to the Throat (Nominating Giuliani Would Be "The Death Knell of the Reagan Coalition")

American Spectator ^ | 05/01/2007 | G. Tracy Mehan III

[Reagan Man]

Good article. Thanks for the post.

The old Reagan coalition joined social and fiscal conservatives together into a winning coalition that lasted untill today. Ronald Reagan first mentioned this coalition in a speech he gave in 1977. "The New Republican Party" .

[LouD]

Regarding my comparison of the Social Conservatives on the right to the unions on the left: It doesn’t undermine my point at all.

The unions have the resources to put paid staffers on the ground. Those are in addition to the Democratic party staffers, and in many cases they far outnumber them, making up the lions share of the cadres that get the volunteers organized.

The volunteers on election day on the left are frequently union members; They get leaned on to volunteer, and in many cases they have contracts that give them election day off anyway. But the key thing to remember is that far more of their workers on election day are paid staffers.

In the election last November, they had a well organized GOTV effort, with multiple observers at each polling location, equipped with one laptop per ward, checking off voters from their database. That level of effort does not come cheap, and it is not easy to get volunteers for a non-presidential election on our side.

In a presidential election, we get far more volunteers, which help to make up the difference. If the social conservatives stay home, we cannot run an effective GOTV effort, and the ‘rats can run circles around us with vote fraud, because we cannot effectively monitor all the problem polling locations. That is why they are essential to victory.

[Old_Mil]

If it becomes a Hillary, Giualini race, the conservative role will no longer be one of trying to win the White House. It will be driving a stake in the heart of the vampire that the Republican party will have become so that four years later we can win the White House and reverse this country’s errant course.

As far as an immediate pullout from Iraq goes, there are things that are worse - much worse than that. Things that Giuliani supports.

[Cacique]

bump for later read

[Kevmo]

Thanks for posting this. One question you might be able to help me with. When they say “as revealed on Youtube”, do they have a particular video in mind? There was no link in the article.

Maybe they mean this one... see tagline

[Josh Painter]

Eclectica wrote: “Why have I never heard of a ‘Reagan Coalition’ before this author?”

Someone would have to be very far removed from the conservative movement to have never heard of “Reagan Democrats” and the Reagan Coalition.

So... where ‘ya been the past 27 years?

[Josh Painter]

OldFriend wrote: “Mr. Thompson, who couldn’t even stand up to John Glenn could have accomplished as much or more...”

From the John Glenn Archive at Ohio State University:

“Glenn initially approached what became known as the ‘Thompson-Glenn Hearings’ with enthusiasm. He felt the hearings might lead to some significant and much needed reforms in the manner in which political campaigns were funded. By late February 1997, however, it became apparent that the hearings were going to focus mainly on the activities of the Democratic Party, and specifically on the White House, rather than focus on the inherent problems in the current system of campaign funding. Glenn attempted to use his position to shift the committee’s focus onto the larger issues, but for the most part was unsuccessful.”

http://library.osu.edu/sites/archives/glenn/politicalcareer.php

Unsuccessful? But... but... but, the Rudynistas keep talking about how John Glenn “rolled” Fred Thompson. Who rolled whom?

Even more importantly, let’s take a look at who stands up against real evil in this country:

Does Rudy G stand up for the innocent and helpless unborn? No, he facilitates paying for their gruesome deaths with the taxpayers’ money. Fred Thompson opposses partial-birth abortion and has a 100% pro-life voting record.

Does Rudy G stand up for those Americans who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights? NO, and if they live in a metropolitan area, he wants to confiscate their firearms. Fred Thompson has been a consistent champion of the RKBA, and the NRA’s president actively campaigned for Fred in his more recent Senate race.

Does Rudy G stand up for and support the laws of the United States? NO, he openly defies America’s immigration laws by providing a sanctuary for illegal aliens in New York City.

When a newly-selected president takes the oath of office, he swears to preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States. How would a Rudy G oath have any meaning when he won’t obey immigration law and is so willing to violate the Second Amendment?

(Sound of crickets chirping...)

[Josh Painter]

Steel Wolf wrote: “Diehard conservatives, like diehard liberals, are probably only about 15% of the population.”

Wrong!

The last Battleground Poll was in March 2006, just seven months ago. Had all the hammering of President Bush and Republicans affected the ideological opinions of Americans? These are the results of the same question in the March 2006 Battleground Poll. Fifty-nine percent of Americans described themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative” and thirty-six percent of Americans described themselves as “liberal” or “very liberal.”

Think about this for a minute. The number of Americans who affirmatively described themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative” has not varied by more than one percent in six consecutive Battleground Polls...

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1006/1006bgpoll.htm

I’m really getting tired of shooting down the big lie perpetuated by liberals to try to make us think that the United States is no longer a mostly conservative country. But I will continue to do it until they pry my cold, dead fingers off my keyboard.

America remains a conservative nation!