Is Free Republic too "Republican?"

Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

Is Free Republic too "Republican?" I've been receiving a lot of complaints lately that FR is not really conservative, it's Republican. Is that a bad thing?

When I started FR (see the wayback machine) I don't think I even used the labels conservative or Republican. But, even though I was a registered Democrat at the time (I registered when I was very young), I was definitely anti-Democrat. And definitely anti-big government, anti-government corruption, anti-government abuse, anti-liberalism, etc. And I still am.

As FR became more and more popular, people started referring to it as a "conservative" web site and so eventually I posted the label to the front page. If it no longer applies, big deal. What's in a label? I'll change it to "Republican" if demand warrants.

I'm still anti-big government, anti-government corruption, anti-Democrat and anti-liberalism. I just happen to believe that in the current political environment we stand a better chance of defeating the left (liberalism/socialism/marxism, etc) by using the Republican Party to defeat the Democrats. The organization is there. The platform is there. The winning candidates are there. The dollars to run winning campaigns are there. The momentum is there. And the vast majority of the conservative voters are there.

Makes perfect sense to me. I want to defeat the left, and I want to do it as quickly as possible. I'll go with the organization that can get the job done.

My current goal is to defeat liberalism by defeating the Democrat Party. If that labels me a Republican, then so be it. If the vast majority of the FReepers want it so, then Free Republic will officially become the newest "Republican wing" of the Republican Party.

Long live Republicanism. Long live the Republic!'

What say you, FReepers?

[ApesForEvolution]

"I won't officially change the label on FR unless the vast majority of FReepers want it done, but I'd like to see the whining stop. I announced way back after the 2000 primaries my intentions. Three years and many successes later, we still have some people objecting."

Who's whining about what? What are your intentions? Why break something that is fixed?

[Fred Mertz]

Howz about Moderately Free Republic?

[united1000]

As others have said:

 

"Nay"

"In reference to your question, Jim, I don't think that this site needs to be affiliated with anything other than Free Republic"

 

 

[Psalm 73]

"I wanted to make a statement."

Yea, I go for the most pro-life candidate, and I know that Gary Bauer is equally pro-life, but Gary is just a little too, well, he doesn't exactly have a commanding presence. Whereas Alan Keyes is a bit edgy.
And my wife is registered as an Independant, because she says that Party politics disgust her.

[Dead Dog]

No.

IMO, there are far too many self righteous, self diluted libertarian/objectivist/tofumunchers that think they are the oracles of conservative thought and reason. These are the same folks who accuse voting Republicans of "group think" while they sit at home on 2 November wallowing in their "disenfranchised" pity party as Socialists get elected. It is the price of freedom.

In Short "Whatever?"

That is just my opinion, but thanks for asking. :)

[Question_Assumptions]

I'm for leaving it conservative. There are enough libertarian and other non-Repulbican right-wing viewpoints expressed here to justify the label.

[Jaxter]

If you'd prefer one of the democrats to Bush, by all means feel free to vote for third party nut of your choice.

[ApesForEvolution]

Well said Saber.

Is there a money motive in any of this Jim? I mean, mainstream pubbies could bring a lot of money...

[ApesForEvolution]

The ideology is greater than any party.

[Dead Dog]

As far as labling the site as "Republican" I don't see any real upside.

Well, I want to defeat liberalism, and not only defeat it, but drive a stake through it's cold, dead heart

Don't forget to burn the corps, plow the ashes, and salt the earth where the bodies fell. ...Just a little something I learned here at FR.

[united1000]

Jim everyone is still free to post and be who they want to be. It sounds like Libertarian crying to me.134 posted on 06/13/2003 8:45 AM CDT by bmwcyle (Here's to Hillary's book sinking like the Clinton 2000 economy) 

I'll second that

[He Rides A White Horse]

While a registered Republican, I admire some of the third party types around here. While I might disagree with many of them on certain issues, they do provide a valuable service in that they cast a spotlight on things that may bear watching.

Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong, but they keep us looking, which is important.

[Dead Dog]

they do provide a valuable service in that they cast a spotlight on things that may bear watching.

Like Canaries in an ideological coal mine. < Asbestos On>

[SupplySider]

It's interesting how the labels change. Freedom advocates were once classical liberals. Then they were conservatives. Now that the "liberal" left has held sway for so many years, they are the conservatives. Reaganites are radicals working for change and reform. And of course "moderate" Republicans are actually immoderate socialists!

[HatSteel]

Conservative, but open, is best. That way, if others see the name being neutral they will be more likely to participate. If it says "republican," then they will believe that it is not for them.

The benefit for the republicans is this: if they bring together conservatives of all stripes, then they stand a chance of influencing them at the last voting minute to stand with the larger group and thereby make their vote more effective.

If the non-republicans are not present to listen to your final appeal, then you can hardly influence them.

[eskimo]

From the "wayback machine":

And most importantly, we hope to involve you in the process. If you believe that an informed public is the first step in returning to a Free Republic, and that this is the way to ensure that we remain free, then we hope you will help us make this a useful and active forum. Please join us in seeking out and disseminating the truth.

If the truth is that the GOP has failed to conserve our Free Republic and pedantic groupies, frightened by the present political reality, seek every distraction that facilitates their purposful ignorance of that truth, should not those who cherish liberty consider it their duty to make others aware of these facts?

[Sabertooth]

Incrementalism.

No problem with that, but packaging a slower move to more government power as though it is GOP incrementalism is disingenuous, and we see this frequently. An incremental retreat by our side is an incremental advance for the opposition.

By electing Riordan (BTW - I voted for Simon)

I voted for Simon to block Riordan, but we were given those two options because of the Bush family tradition of settling political scores against Bill Jones, who had the temerity to support McCain in the 2000 primary. He was the only statewide GOP office holder and would have been the strongest candidate against the weakened Davis, but Bush and Rove brought their usual tin ear to California politics and botched it, but good.

I find it ironic when I hear '92 Perot voters (I wasn't one) blamed as short-sighted, while the Bushes get passes for failed strategeries.

Riordan was unacceptable under any circumstances. He's endorsed Democrats against Republicans, and contributed to their campaigns... what party loyalty should he command? He's pro-homosexual, pro-Illegal, and anti-gun. We don't need two parties like that, and Riordan's long term damage to the California and national GOP would have been far worse than anything Davis has done to this State. Davis will ultimately be the Bill Clinton of California, helping to rejuvenate the Republican Party.

There are no silver bullets and those that believe there are are better left alone, pontificating about their righteousness and away from the planning sessions.

Fine, so long as the RNC-type "realists" with losing strategies are shown the same door.

When the politician moves to the electoral middle to get votes, he's right where you want him.

When politicians "move to the middle," what they're actually doing is allocating their resources to win the votes they perceive are up for grabs. To get them where we want them, which is moving toward us, the last thing we should do is tell them that our votes can be taken for granted.

[Cathryn Crawford]

What say you?

Defeat liberalism in all its forms, whether it's cloaked in the mask of Republicanism or not.

[jmc813]

The problem is that the whiners here on FR are really fighting for Democratic moral-liberal goals, such as acceptance of sexual perversion and drug legalization, and against religion in the public square.

Would you say that the "whiners" also include people who whine about Karl Rove meeting with gays and threaten to bolt the party? Or is it just the evil capitalist liberdopians?

[Snuffington]

I want to defeat the left, and I want to do it as quickly as possible. I'll go with the organization that can get the job done.

Amen Jim!

In my time at FR, I have become decidedly more pragmatic and practical in my politics. At one time, I was a utopian kool-aid drinker of the (small "l") libertarian, pro-life sort. Becoming actively involved in how agendas are actually implemented within our political system has been quite an education, and FR has been a great tool for teaching me all about it.

It's not enough to be right in principal. You also have to have an achievable plan for implementing those principals, or you become an ineffective voice shouting from the sidelines while the real game of politics goes on without you. That is where the Republican Party, despite its well noted flaws, serves as THE primary tool for conservative success.

You can abandon the Republican Party and still be right in your principles. But you're unlikely to abandon the Republican Party and make the success of conservatism more probable in reality.

Which is not to say it's not appropriate to criticize the Republican Party when it does something stupid. But you also have to know when it's time for internal party debate to be set aside, and come together to defeat the common foe.