You mean landslides in 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1994 weren't enough to convince you that this is generally a conservative country?
- In 1980, Reagan won the presidency, the GOP won the Senate, but the Dems kept the House. This was repeated in 1984, but the GOP lost the Senate in 1986.
- In 1988, Bush I won the Presidency, but the Dems kept control of the House and Senate - that's not exactly what I'd call a "conservative landslide" either....
- In 1994, the GOP took back both houses of Congress, but Dems kept the presidency (it being an off-year election) and also kept the presidency in 1996.
Frankly, it looks to me like this is generally a divided country, but maybe that's just my opinion.
After the 94 take over of the House, we were set to take the presidency, but the RINO wing of the party worked their butts off to nominate one of their own. With the help of the elite press, they managed to get Dole nominated assuring that no matter who won the presidency we would have a lying, liberal, scum bag in the presidency.
Many pro-life Christians, Second Amendment supporters, and other conservatives who make up the base, either sat out the election or voted third party. There was no real difference between Dole and Clinton. The main distinction between the two is that Dole never raped anyone that we know of.
That is why we failed to take back the presidency in 96. It wasn’t because conservatives can’t win. We didn’t have one running.
The 92 and 96 elections should be a lesson for the Bush camp. There are enough conservatives who will only take so much, to derail a Republican’s campaign. There aren’t enough swing votes to offset the loss if the candidate is too far left for the rock-ribbed conservatives in the base.
George the Elder and the RINOs who ran the RNC in 96, made the mistake of thinking they could scare enough conservatives into voting Republican. They thought wrong. They underestimated the commitment many conservatives have to some issues.
Look, Bush is doing well on foreign affairs. He is doing pretty well on taxes. If he will shift gears on spending and entitlements, and veto the ugly weapon ban extension, he will hold the conservatives that his father and Dole both lost.
This isn’t too much to expect. And IMHO it is the lesson of 92 and 96.
In 1980, Reagan won the presidency, the GOP won the Senate, but the Dems kept the House. This was repeated in 1984, but the GOP lost the Senate in 1986. In the 80's there were many democrats in the House, mostly from the south, who were more conservative than the northeastern Republicans. You have to keep in mind, that most of the south was a one-party region until 1994. So while the House may have been "democratic", it was somewhat conservative to the point of voting for Reagan's massive tax cuts.
Also, since democrats controlled most state houses, until recently, the districts were biased towards the dems.
In 1986, fallout over Iran Contra cost the GOP the Senate.
In 1994, the GOP took back both houses of Congress, but Dems kept the presidency (it being an off-year election) and also kept the presidency in 1996.
They won in 1996 because the GOP nominated Bob Dolt and the Congress backed down to Klinton. If you looked at policies, there wasn't much difference between the two candidates in 96.
Frankly, it looks to me like this is generally a divided country, but maybe that's just my opinion.
That's what the RINOs want you to think. As long as enough people believe this crap about a 50/50 split, the trend towards more government will never be reversed. You know, "we can't rock the boat with all this division". Politicians have really done a good job turning men vs. women, whites vs. blacks, etc.... when the real enemy is THEM.
Maybe I'll believe the country is really 'divided 50/50' when the liberals can duplicate the 4 landslides the conservatives have had during the last 20 years.
Of course, if Bush continues to follow in the legacy of his daddy and Klinton by leaving our borders open, the country really will be divided. But not for long, as we're quickly outnumbered by third world parasites.