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To: Maneesh; Impy; Clintonfatigued; BillyBoy; darkangel82
I believe a Conservative Republican could get elected Governor (after all, Don Carcieri could do it in RI, and RI isn't terribly different than MA, although RI was (at least in recent decades) not favorably disinclined towards the GOP, although that is on the downslide, but for different reasons). But there's no point to any Republican getting elected Governor as long as they have no real power (and let's face it, if you don't have substantive veto power or the ability to appoint a Senate vacancy, you're practically a figurehead).

I'm not expecting some miraculous turn to the right, but there needs to be a viable Conservative opposition minority that reflects the voting preferences of the state. The state isn't 100% leftist, yet the pols largely are. If we finally purge the leftist guards of the GOP corpse and tell those that have been disconnected (or just plain disgusted) with the political process and get young student activists and older retirees involved, that party could be resurrected. It doesn't serve any state having 90%+ of its elected officials in one party (that wouldn't be good even in a GOP state, because statism, arrogance of power and corruption inevitably seeps in).

I do admit an admiration for how the Dems took over what was once one of the most heavily GOP states in the country (go back to the late 19th century, and the Dems were as shut out of the process as the GOP is today. If you talked to them back then and told them they'd have 100% of the major offices by the start of the 21st century, they'd have thought you were crazy. How they outpaced the GOP in the 1950s-70s when the state officially became a Dem majority state was that they start replacing a calcified Dem apparatus down to the lowest levels with young activists and once they got control, they went after a similarly statist and calcified GOP (where the party was failing to replace old timers with young activists that could carry on to the next generation). They picked off our low-hanging fruit and aggressively grabbed seats with our retirements, and that's how they got to where they are now (and we didn't fight back just as hard, we just kept ceding ground until there was nothing left to cede). There's no reason if we don't use their playbook (but NOT the ideology), we can't score wins. If we keep up with it, by the 22nd century, the GOP might be back as the overwhelming majority again (presuming we still have a country as we do now - but one thing is for sure, if the Conservatives doesn't fight back and use the GOP as the vehicle for change and reform and restoration of sanity, we will lose this country).

20 posted on 07/02/2009 10:18:28 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

I agree with all your points but in organizing the libs have an inherent advantage. I am a typical conservative and my #1 goal in life is to orient my life to minimize govt interaction. I want to be left alone, pursue my happiness and be self reliant for most things. The typical liberal views govt as their god and want to interact and be part of the govt at all levels. The best and brightest of the conservatives never enter politics whereas in the case of liberals ( although if they were bright they would not be liberal !) do. They actually have a goal of ending up as a school teacher or academia or media. Most conservatives want nothing to do do with these professions as a profession and this is a huge philosophical gap which creates a huge advantage for the libs.

Your point about using lib tactics without their ideology is spot-on.


21 posted on 07/02/2009 11:14:36 AM PDT by Maneesh
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To: fieldmarshaldj
". It doesn't serve any state having 90%+ of its elected officials in one party (that wouldn't be good even in a GOP state, because statism, arrogance of power and corruption inevitably seeps in)."

You'd have all the states liberals be and vote RINO.

24 posted on 07/02/2009 3:35:15 PM PDT by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

You might be right. I don’t know anything about the Republicans running for Governor in MA.

Rhode Island is different from Massachusetts in a few ways. It has a significantly lower percentage of the university and government crowd, not to mention professional political activists (including reporters)l and a larger portion of its populace is blue-collar.


25 posted on 07/02/2009 6:08:53 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (The McCain/Palin ticket was like a Kangaroo, stronger on the bottom than at the top)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

While states like Ca, Ct, Ri, and MA are strong Marxist Red states during Presidential years, these states have not had much luck in electing Rodent Governors in the past 20 years. The question is why haven’t the GOP Governors of these states had much success in builiding the state parties to at least be competitive?


27 posted on 07/03/2009 4:59:21 AM PDT by DanZanRyu
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