Centrist Democrats pan Dean, Gephardt

Washington Times ^ | Friday, May 16, 2003 | By Donald Lambro

[JohnHuang2]

The centrist Democratic Leadership Council yesterday criticized two of its party's presidential candidates for lurching to the left on positions that it said would ensure President Bush's re-election next year.

The DLC, which helped elect Bill Clinton to the presidency, singled out liberal, antiwar candidate Howard Dean of Vermont for what it called a message of weakness on national security and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri for his universal health care plan, which the DLC derided as a liberal, big-government proposal that was doomed to fail.

[JohnHuang2]

Friday, May 16, 2003

Quote of the Day by Maigrey

[DPB101]

has led them to take positions and stances that have alienated the Republicans traditional base of Middle and Upper-Middle class suburbanites

Such as?

[DPB101]

the gun-totin'/bible preachin' focus

That is more a product of liberals in the media than the GOP. Not saying it doesn't have an effect, Jerry Falwell on Larry King is terrible for the GOP but that is not the fault of the GOP. I haven't seen any legislation on those issues which would, or should, make a Republican decide to vote Democrat.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[DPB101]

Immigration, government unions and the mob turned those states.

Connecticut began turning in 1932 when towns which had never voted Democrat went for FDR. The trend accelerated in 1960 with JFK (Catholic immigrants).

The GOP isn't about to ditch gun owners and conservative Christians because People for the America Way, Barry Lynn, and the ACLU try to scare everyone into thinking gun toting, bible thumping, snake handling Christians are going to create a theocracy in America.

[js1138]

And exactly how many years did the Republicans have a majority in congress when it was "moderate", and how many "moderate" Republicans won the presidency?

[DPB101]

Not true. Connecticut voted Republican throughout the 1970's and 1980's

For President, I suppose. For everything else, I don't think so.

[DPB101]

The demographics in CT have changed. The mills in New Haven, Derby, Ansonia, Branford and other cities and towns where blue collar, Reagan Democrats worked are gone. The workers are either retired in Florida or calling up Rosa DeLauro to get help with Medicare. Public sector unions in CT overtook private sector unions in power some years back. The cities are black and solidly Democrat. 30 years ago, one could find conservative voices at Yale, Wesleyan and certainly UConn. Now they are rare indeed. The swamp Yankee farmers sold out to NYC stockbrokers who are willing to pay anything in taxes as long as minorities are zoned out of their towns. In 1996, the American Spectator reported that the number of tax consumers in CT passed the number of taxpayers.

In other words, I don't see much the GOP can do, if anything, to win CT.

[ladyinred]

That's it, listen to Clinton. He will tell you how to lie as well as he did by pretending to be centrists and strong on defense. That is how he deceived the public into voting for him. As for Lieberman, as half of Soreloserman team, let's remember how they did all they could to keep the military from voting in the 2000 election. Surely they haven't forgotten that have they?