Don't give the liberals too much credit. They, with a few exceptions, are not that smart. Most of the stories are wishful thinking stretched to fit their perception of an America yearning for a return of the glory days of Democratic leadership. We saw the same self-deluding hopefulness here last fall when people grasped every small encouraging sign as a denial of what was really happening.
What you see is the rough-and-tumble process of the party reforming itself. It is choosing what is important and what can be put on the shelf for another day. The process is messy, even brutal, but in the end it will come out with a vision of America as it should be for the next eight years. Some will be disappointed and we will lose some people but in the end we will have a general consensus of the issues the base thinks important.
Look at the issues in Presidential campaigns over the last fifty years and you will see some that flare and die out, some that are modified and some that are basic throughout. In 1968 the war was overriding but Ladybird's campaign to rid the Interstates of billboards hit bitter resistance from conservatives. Now I doubt that you could find more that a few who want billboards returned. A dozen years ago you would have been tossed overboard because, judging from your writing, you support food assistance for the needy. Welfare reform was a hot topic and zealots were rampant.
Last year at this time the common wisdom was that the Democrats had to make a good showing or they were Gone With the Whigs. This year the contentiousness and rancor are unusually sharp but I think that it is a good sign. Conservatives are none too happy with the record of this administration but they have flexed their newly found internet muscle thrice and been successful. The Swiftboat Vets, the Miers nomination and immigration reform all show the power of the grassroots. There is a disconnect on policy and practice but that is being ironed out now.
Interesting times.
MARTIAL MONK wrote: A dozen years ago you would have been tossed overboard because, judging from your writing, you support food assistance for the needy.
Courtesy Comment: I suppose that the die-hard (my way or the highway) self-serving bully’s can try to cleanse the party of all that do not tote the perceived ideals of a hard-nosed conservative.
Should this actually happen only a few pure bloods would be left, making them a small minority, unable to affect much or any of government in a democratic way
But in my lowly estimation, eating our young just to prove a point will only make us a permanent minority.
Yes, I do support food assistance to the needy as that is biblical.
I took my turn in the barrel so to speak several years ago.
I went to South America and worked with the poor and I do mean extremely poor, for five very rewarding years.
I saw things that make me sick to this day.
Many of the things that make me sick are some of the same things that Democrats are doing to this current congress.
Stealing votes is something you might expect to hear of someone doing in Cuba, Venezuela or our good acquaintances in Mexico City.
No, I am not ashamed to support food assistance to anyone as I have Jesus on my side in this fight.
BTW, I quit the Democrat Party back in Jamul Carters presidency to join in with the Republicans and have never felt out of step with the party or majority of the base.
I do not believe a few hard-nosed bullying hot heads have any means of excluding me from whatever party I want to be registered.
MARTIAL MONK wrote: The process is messy, even brutal, but in the end it will come out with a vision of America as it should be for the next eight years. Some will be disappointed and we will lose some people but in the end we will have a general consensus of the issues the base thinks important.
Comment:
I suppose that I will always be somewhere in or near the base, unless believing in God, Country and Family no longer qualifies as being conservative enough.