Posted on 01/29/2008 11:55:19 AM PST by Sideshow Bob
***
Sorry, certain evangelicals were either stupid or egotistical in believing that Huckabee's faith trumped all of the negatives of his candidacy.
If we don't recognize our mistakes and learn from them, we'll only repeat them.
You blame Dobson for Fred’s loss, but the fact is, Fred ran a lousy campaign and thumbed his nose at the evangelicals.
The Republican establishment loaded the candidate field with too many social liberals for any of the true social conservatives to get traction early in the primaries.
And now we have but one social conservative left.
As for me, I prefer Huckabee, but will take anybody over Romney. And that’s includes ‘rats if need be.
Mistake #6 wasn't a mistake after all. If Mistake #3 had been reelected, that would've truly made Mistake #6. Had Americans made the mistake of reelecting Bush Sr. he would've continued to destroy the Republican party as Noonan says his son has.
So, if you want to be intellectually honest, if you must blame Perot voters for Clinton's win, then you must give Perot voters credit for the Republican win in '94 because that certainly wouldn't have happened with Bush Sr meandering through another four years.
bump for later reading.
It’s Chuck Norris’s fault!
Actualy, Rush, like me is suggesting that the only thing that will bring Conservatives back together is for someone like Hillary to be in office for very long.
I’ve said it a couple of times, to unite Conservatives will take a Hillary (or even Obama) in office.
I say this because right now the media has pushed out the most Conservative of the candidates, by pushing polls down everyone’s throats, and what’s worse, people who are intelligent and KNOW BETTER have been getting in these very forums and whining about “the most electable” instead of actually standing up, supporting and HELPING people like Hunter and Thompson.
It’s too bad we’re going to see at least four years of a Democrat in office next... because of some of those whiny babies who tried to do the “pragmatic” rather than stand on principles.
Credibility-flush. Writer has personal issues. I stop reading.
Hogwash....
Ouch. I have seen that analogy made more than once lately.
***
Agreed. But conservatives knew the establishment GOP preferred Romney or Giuliani prior to Fred's entry in the race. Dobson's annointing of Huckabee was the final blow that eliminated Thompson's (and even Hunter's) chance at the nomination.
Uh, you might want to read the definitions for "bible thumper" in the Urban Dictionary. "Respectful" is not the first term that comes to mind to describe them . . . .
I think that Rush may be the most afraid of the dilemma that will face him as host if McCain is elected. Will he continue to attack McCain and run the risk of having liberals side with him, or will he grudgingly accept McCain and essentially ignore him in his criticism of liberals. His show could suffer.
President: ANYONE BUT JOHN McCAIN or Hillary Clinton!!!!
The John McCain Truth Files
Capitol Hill staffers rate their bosses. McCain got no glory from those who work with him.
“Every election year we survey top aides on both sides of the aisle—administrative assistants, press secretaries, legislative directors, and chiefs of committee staffs—to get their up-close and personal, and anonymous, views. While there may be lots of partisan backbiting among congress members, their staffers seem far more capable of putting politics aside and making honest judgments. It wasn’t unusual for aides in both parties to name one of their own as “spineless” or give the “workhorse” nod to someone across the aisle. “
Worst Follower 2. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Show Horse 2. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Hottest Temper 2. John McCain (R-Ariz.) , known to snap at staff when the cameras are off
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/1666.html
McCain’s the candidate of amnesty for illegal aliens.
McCain supports embryonic stem-cell research.
McCain has said “I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade”.
McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts, and refuses to sign the “No New Taxes” pledge.
McCain supports legislation that would increase taxes on energy.
McCain was the ring-leader of the Senate “Gang of 14”, which kept the then Senate Republican leadership from ending the ability of Democrats to filibuster Bush’s judicial nominees.
McCain supports legislation to grant due-process rights to terrorists.
McCain sponsored the inept legislation which restricts free-speech rights of those involved
in the political process, (the McCain/Feingold bill)
McCain called evangelical-conservatives an “evil influence” on the Republican Party.
McCain - member of the Keating 5 that caused a bipartisan scandal during the S&L meltdown.
McCain had a recall election ran against him by the conservatives in Arizona.
McCain blocked the investigation into whether Viet Nam and the Soviets were still holding over 600 of our missing POWs in 1990.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1958293/posts?page=52#52
Latest (Jan. 2008) OVERALL Presidential Candidate Ratings On IMMIGRATION
How Good Are The Promises of Each Candidate to PROTECT Workers, Communities and Taxpayers FROM ILLEGAL & OVER-IMMIGRATION?
VERY GOOD# Mitt Romney (28 points)
GOOD# RON PAUL(24 points) # MIKE HUCKABEE(24 points)
POOR# RUDY GIULIANI(7 points)
BAD# JOHN McCAIN (5 points) # JOHN EDWARDS (5 points)
# HILLARY CLINTON (4 points) # BARACK OBAMA (4 points)
Please note that our ratings do NOT amount to endorsements. Nor do they convey anything about the character, the strength or any other positions about the candidates. http://www.betterimmigration.com/candidates/2006/prez2008.html
THE McCAIN WAY - ATTACK REPUBLICANS
.Defending His Amnesty Bill, “Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday. In a heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul, McCain screamed, ‘F— you!’ at Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had been raising concerns about the legislation. ‘This is chickens—stuff,’ McCain snapped at Cornyn, according to several people in the room off the Senate floor Thursday. ‘You’ve always been against this bill, and you’re just trying to derail it.’” (Charles Hurt, “Raising McCain,” New York Post, 5/19/07)
In 2000, Sen. McCain Ran An Attack Ad Comparing Then-Gov. George W. Bush To Bill Clinton. SEN. MCCAIN: “I guess it was bound to happen. Governor Bush’s campaign is getting desperate, with a negative ad about me. The fact is, I’ll use the surplus money to fix Social Security, cut your taxes and pay down the debt. Governor Bush uses all of the surplus for tax cuts, with not one new penny for Social Security or the debt. His ad twists the truth like Clinton. We’re all pretty tired of that. As president, I’ll be conservative and always tell you the truth. No matter what.” (McCain 2000, Campaign Ad, 2/9/00; www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHoXkCprdL4)
Sen. McCain Repeatedly Called Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) nams. “Why can’t McCain win the votes of his own colleagues? To explain, a Republican senator tells this story: at a GOP meeting last fall, McCain erupted out of the blue at the respected Budget Committee chairman, Pete Domenici, saying, ‘Only an a–hole would put together a budget like this.’ Offended, Domenici stood up and gave a dignified, restrained speech about how in all his years in the Senate, through many heated debates, no one had ever called him that. Another senator might have taken the moment to check his temper. But McCain went on: ‘I wouldn’t call you an a–hole unless you really were an a–hole.’ The Republican senator witnessing the scene had considered supporting McCain for president, but changed his mind. ‘I decided,’ the senator told Newsweek, ‘I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.’” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)
Sen. McCain Had A Heated Exchange With Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) And Called Him A “F*cking Jerk.” “Senators are not used to having their intelligence or integrity challenged by another senator. ‘Are you calling me stupid?’ Sen. Chuck Grassley once inquired during a debate with McCain over the fate of the Vietnam MIAs, according to a source who was present. ‘No,’ replied McCain, ‘I’m calling you a f—ing jerk!” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)
In 1995, Sen. McCain Had A “Scuffle” With 92-Year-Old Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) On The Senate Floor. “In January 1995, McCain was midway through an opening statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing when chairman Strom Thurmond asked, ‘Is the senator about through?’ McCain glared at Thurmond, thanked him for his ‘courtesy’ (translation: buzz off), and continued on. McCain later confronted Thurmond on the Senate floor. A scuffle ensued, and the two didn’t part friends.” (Harry Jaffe, “Senator Hothead,” The Washingtonian, 2/97)
Sen. McCain Attacked Christian Leaders And Republicans In A Blistering Speech During The 2000 Campaign. MCCAIN: “Unfortunately, Governor Bush is a Pat Robertson Republican who will lose to Al Gore. … The political tactics of division and slander are not our values… They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country. Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.” (Sen. John McCain, Remarks, Virginia Beach, VA, 2/28/00)
Celebrating His First Senate Election In 1986, Sen. McCain Screamed At And Harassed A Young Volunteer. “It was election night 1986, John McCain had just been elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time. Even so, he was not in a good mood. McCain was yelling at the top of his lungs and poking the chest of a young volunteer who had set up a lectern that was too tall for the 5-foot-9 politician to be seen to advantage, according to a witness to the outburst. ‘Here this poor guy is thinking he has done a good job, and he gets a new butt ripped because McCain didn’t look good on television,’ Jon Hinz told a reporter Thursday. At the time, Hinz was executive director of the Arizona Republican Party. … ‘There were an awful lot of people in the room,’ Hinz recalled. ‘You’d have to stick cotton in your ears not to hear it. He (McCain) was screaming at him, and he was red in the face.’” (Kris Mayes and Charles Kelly, “Stories Surface On Senator’s Demeanor,” The Arizona Republic, 11/5/99)
Sen. McCain “Publicly Abused” Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). “[McCain] noted his propensity for passion but insisted that he doesn’t ‘insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that.’ This is, quite simply, hogwash. McCain often insults people and flies off the handle…. There have been the many times McCain has called reporters ‘liars’ and ‘idiots’ when they have had the audacity to ask him unpleasant, but pertinent, questions. ” (Editorial, “There’s Something About McCain,” The Austin American-Statesman, 1/24/07) /?p=161
Is it any wonder McCain has few endorsements from his Congressional piers? http://thehill.com/endorsements-2008.html
Best post I have read on F.R. since I registered.
This is the straw that broke the conservative movement:
“Unfortunately, Dr. James Dobson and a few evangelical leaders decided to cut off their nose to spite their face (Mistake #35). You see, Fred’s not a Bible thumper. Neither was Ronald Reagan. And like Reagan, Fred is a bona fide, all-around, federalist conservative. That wasn’t good enough for Dobson. And when Fred refused to kiss Dobson’s ring of evangelical purity, Dobson went shopping for a candidate he thought he could control.”
Dobson is a complete ass -— THAT was THE moment when the tide turned against Thompson.
Newt made a lot of mistakes (shutting down the govt and threatening to default was major no no)
Some of the conservative “mistakes” are actually consequences (3, 8, 14, 25 for example). Conservatives didn’t actually vote for clinton. well, if they did, we’re in really big trouble.
Fred made many mistakes too. He waited too long, hired Spence Abraham to be campaign manager, appeared to contradict the GOP pro-life platform and just gave the general impression he wasn’t really into it. And he justified that impression by dropping out. We were excited when he started to go after Michael Moore on his blog but he “fell asleep” until the SC debate and by then it was too late.
You left out Buchanan. He blew the Pubbies up in 1992 before Perot ever got a chance. With his sour face and angry diatribes, he became the poster boy for liberal fundraising. Bush I wasn’t perfect, but Buchanan did serious damage to the Republicans before leaving and then totally destroyed Perot’s Reform party, which actually had some momentum going to be a viable third party before Buchanan got there.
Well, what we got was a man who doesn't why his positions on things like open borders, campaign finance reform, No Child Left Behind Act, Prescription Drug Benifits - aren't conservative.
And unfortunately, the Commander and Chief is the one who embodies things like party ideology to the American public. He defines what it means to be a "Republican" to most Americans. And basically that means we have a party that stands for nothing because Bush stands for nothing.
My one slight disagreement is that I can no longer agree to hold my noise and vote for someone as lothesome as Romney.
I will write in Fred Thompson.
Losing power and elections is all the RNC can understand, so they need to know why they lost.
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