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A Fine Field of 41/2 (Pubbie Primary Candidates and a Reagan Reality Check)
Washington Post ^ | 26 October 2007 | Charles Krauthammer Once a Shrink

Posted on 10/26/2007 6:50:39 AM PDT by shrinkermd

Major grumbling among conservatives about the Republican field. So many candidates, so many flaws. Rudy Giuliani, abortion apostate. Mitt Romney, flip-flopper. John McCain, Mr. Amnesty. Fred Thompson, lazy boy. Where is the paragon? Where is Ronald Reagan?

Well, what about Reagan? This president, renowned for his naps, granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli bill. As governor of California, he signed the most liberal abortion legalization bill in America, then flip-flopped and became an abortion opponent. What did he do about it as president? Gave us Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy, the two swing votes that upheld and enshrined Roe v. Wade for the past quarter-century.

The point is not to denigrate Reagan but to bring a little realism to the gauzy idol worship that fuels today's discontent. And to argue that in 2007 we have, by any reasonable historical standard, a fine Republican field: One of the great big-city mayors of the past century; a former governor of extraordinary executive talent; a war hero, highly principled and deeply schooled in national security; and a former senator with impeccable conservative credentials.

So why all the angst? If you'd like to share just a bit of my serenity, have a look at Sunday's Republican debate in Orlando. It was a feisty affair, the candidates lustily bashing each other's ideological deficiencies -- Mike Huckabee called it a "demolition derby" -- and yet strangely enough, the entire field did well.

McCain won the night by acclamation with a brilliant attack on Hillary Clinton that not so subtly highlighted his own unique qualification for the presidency. Citing his record on controlling spending, he ridiculed Clinton's proposed $1 million earmark for a Woodstock museum. He didn't make it to Woodstock, McCain explained. He was "tied up at the time."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: gop; primary2008; reagan
Reagan wasn't really Reagan until he ran for President.
1 posted on 10/26/2007 6:50:40 AM PDT by shrinkermd
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To: shrinkermd

Face it, too many conservatives are not going to vote for the country club Republicans.

Rooty needs to bow out.


2 posted on 10/26/2007 6:53:17 AM PDT by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: indylindy

Dragging Reagan down to make the RINO brigade seem palatable doesn’t sound like the action of a party on the rise.


3 posted on 10/26/2007 6:59:15 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Greed is NOT a conservative ideal.)
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To: cripplecreek

The Country Club Rooty Toots drag Reagan down to make their liberal candidate look better.

Nothing can make Turdiani palatable to me.

He will not get my vote because he is a schnook compared to Ronald Reagan. He is a party destroyer.

The country club, martini sipping, harpies and fops, can up their liquor intake while Hillary robs their coffers. They will have asked for it.


4 posted on 10/26/2007 7:04:12 AM PDT by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: shrinkermd; pissant

Why are consevatives grumbling?

Duncan Hunter is just about everything for which they are looking!!


5 posted on 10/26/2007 7:07:58 AM PDT by CPT Clay (Drill ANWR, Personal Accounts NOW , Vote Hunter in the Primary)
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To: shrinkermd

“Reagan wasn’t really Reagan until he ran for President.”

Ronald Reagan, October 27, 1964

http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan/speeches/rendezvous.asp

“Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn’t been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few weeks.” snip


6 posted on 10/26/2007 7:19:12 AM PDT by Vn_survivor_67-68
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To: indylindy
Is this your job? Spend all day reading articles and reading into some Guiliani conspiracy in everything?

This article is optimistic about our candidates. Thats it.

7 posted on 10/26/2007 7:22:30 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: KC_Conspirator

Is it your job to go through and find people to disagree with?

Buzz off.


8 posted on 10/26/2007 7:23:48 AM PDT by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: indylindy

Will do, wackjob.


9 posted on 10/26/2007 7:34:50 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: KC_Conspirator

buh bye


10 posted on 10/26/2007 7:35:58 AM PDT by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: KC_Conspirator; indylindy
Is this your job? Spend all day reading articles and reading into some Guiliani conspiracy in everything?

What conspiracy? Rooty Toots is a LIBERAL, he's not trying to hide it.

Of course Krauthammer is "opimistic," he would love to see a liberal RINO elected.

11 posted on 10/26/2007 7:51:32 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

Bingo. The Girlie Man rooters, think we don’t know that the FOX ALL STARS are for Rooty.

They always make the mistake of getting it wrong.

Same big mistake they are making by supporting a liberal RINO for the GOP nomination.


12 posted on 10/26/2007 7:57:50 AM PDT by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: indylindy
As I've asked many of them, consider you have an unidentified candidate with the following positions:

- They believe in unlimited and even taxpayer-funded abortions.
- They believe in militant homosexual rights, including the right to marry (though they will call it by a different name).
- They believe that the federal, state and local governments can and should restrict the right to keep and bear arms.
- They believe in ignoring the illegal alien crisis by enacting "sanctuary" policies and they do not believe in securing the border.

Would your normal conclusion be that this candidate is a liberal Democrat or a conservative Republican?

13 posted on 10/26/2007 8:05:51 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

Well wagglebee, it seems the country clubbers no longer care about principles.

They actually believe they are going to be relevant as a party that is open borders, pro corperations, and pro war(as long as the soldiers are not their kids), is going to be a winner. Thats about all they stand for.

What incentive does anyone have to support a party such as this?


14 posted on 10/26/2007 8:10:58 AM PDT by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: indylindy

They seem determined to do the same thing to the Republican party that the British did to the Tory party — reduce it to nothing.


15 posted on 10/26/2007 8:14:04 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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