Posted on 06/28/2009 6:28:53 AM PDT by skimbell
A Gallup poll last week showed that far more Americans describe themselves as "conservatives" than as "liberals." Yet Republicans have been clobbered by the Democrats in both the 2008 elections and the 2006 elections.
In a country with more conservatives than liberals, it is puzzling-- in fact, amazing-- that we have the furthest left President of the United States in history, as well as the furthest left Speaker of the House of Representatives...
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Seems to suggest rampant election fraud...
It’s not a bit amazing. It’s exactly what would be expected when a “conservative” administration is in office and the worst economic conditions in a couple of generations pop up.
You said — Seems to suggest rampant election fraud...
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Well, not really...
You see..., the article said — A Gallup poll last week showed that far more Americans describe themselves as “conservatives” than as “liberals.”
Now, note this. In a poll, the person *self-identifies* as a conservative. That means that they are a conservative by their own definition. And *also* the meaning of “conservative” has obviously changed to the left over the last few decades.
All in all, that means that if many of these people who answered the poll, as “conservatives” — started posting here on Free Republic as a “conservative” — those same people would be told to “take a hike to the DU”... LOL...
I think most Americans (even if they describe themselves as conservative) get all of their information from the TV. They sit there and are passively brainwashed. Literally. Liberally (pun intended).
The Dems have taken advantage of this, to great effect. Ultimately this strategy of state sponsored media will backfire on them, as even regular folks are learning to distrust the MSM.
It takes more effort today to educate oneself and uncover the truth. You simply cannot flip on the boob tube or pick up the daily local paper. Most folks simply do not have the time, or do not care enough to do so.
Of course, anyone reading this does not fall into that group!
A weak article compared to Sowell’s usual. I can hear Gomer Pyle in the background going “S’prise, s’prise!” What he fails to mention is that, whether you like Bush or not (I do), he left things in a helluva mess, with no apparent successor to carry on his positions. Every one of the R candidates ran against Bush as much as against the Dems. S’prise, s’prise, RNC.
The shame of it is that there even *IS* a liberal element of the Republican party, given what he says in the last part of the article about Reagan and Conservatism. We got Obama because we lost our way and forgot our history.
And a good indication of how far out of touch the candidates in both parties are with the country.
What we have is a majority of folks who call themselves conservatives, with no one to represent them.
Agreed. I’ve spoken with many Democrats and “Independents” (usually a label used by someone who votes Democrat but is afraid to admit it), and they claim to be “conservative”.
However, later in the conversation, they are:
Pro-abortion (”those poor mothers...can’t have back-alley abortions...”)
Anti-gun (”there’s so much crime...”)
Anti-”war” (”What did Iraq do to us in the first place?”)
Pro-immigration (”Those poor people deserve a chance...”)
On and on and on...
You said — What we have is a majority of folks who call themselves conservatives, with no one to represent them.
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And when you “sort out” all those who “call themselves conservative” with those who *are* conservatives, that’s where you end up with less than the majority....
And that’s just the plain truth of the matter and why liberals win a lot...
THIS is what liberal dominance of the media does: people swallow left-wing ideas and don't realize that they are supporting radical ideas and putting themselves in opposition to the ideas that made this country great.
I’ve got to learn to type faster — you beat me by 4 minutes!
Yes, I suspect you are right. Folks like to call themselves “conservative” because the alternative (liberal) sounds less respectable. Otherwise, they’re happy to live and think (if you can call it that) like a liberal.
If Bush would have been more conservative, and followed the principles of conservativism, Obama would not have seen the light of day.
The party is in disarray because we have so many republicans want to just get along.
It is partially semantics.
First, people don’t like to be considered liberals - that’s why the democrat party is trying to sell themselves as Progressives. There are plenty of people who support abortion but do not consider themselves liberal.
Secondly, to paraphrase Bill Clinton:
“It depends on what the meaning of conservative is.”
Thanks to their friends in the media, democrats have been able to shift the entire political spectrum to the left, including the definitions of words used to define one’s political leanings.
In his day, JFK was definately considered a liberal. Today people with his exact same poltical views are labelled right wing fanatics.
To FREEPERS, George W. Bush is a nice man and a patriot but he is certainly no conservative on most issues. Yet for eight years the democrats and the media (REDUNDANCY ALERT!) pounded home the idea that he is a radical right winger and eventually they successfully defined him as such in the eyes of the public.
A true conservative would not support or vote for Barack Obama yet he got the majority of the vote. Since a majority of the people consider themselve conservatives, many of them must have voted for Obama. These are people who can’t face the fact that they are really liberals and that they voted for a man who is destroying the country their parents and grandparents helped build. So they kindly judge themselves less harshly than we would.
Agreed:The indoctrinated drones(some of whom I am related to or are “friends”) like the word Conservative but many of them don’t have a clue what it means.
And dontcha love the ones that say, “I’m for the troops but against the war” or “I’m an Independent. I vote for the person and not the party”. Ask them how many Republicans they have voted for in the last four elections...”Um, let me think about that”, ie they didn’t vote at all.
I am afraid that unless there is a drastic intervention of some kind before the next election, we are going to lose to the Libs again due to:
1.Ignorance of the masses,due to brainwashing by the liberal media and/or dishonest Democratic operatives like Acorn.
2.Election fraud. See: Acorn.
3.A clueless,linguine spined Republican party
Thank goodness for Beck, Hannity, Rush,Ingraham and Levin. May they stay safe and continue to carry on their very important missions to support, educate and motivate us Conservatives.
Without sites like FR and their shows to listen to, there would be much more despair amongst those of us who are on the “right” side.
Of course, they were abetted more than a little by a compliant, pro-Democrat press. The loss of an independent fourth estate is killing our country.
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