Posted on 11/08/2006 4:50:12 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
Republicans lost control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, because they abandoned their conservative principles and in the end stood for nothing, Rush Limbaugh said today.
In his Wednesday broadcast, America’s top talker said that until Republicans begin asking themselves what’s wrong with themselves they are never going to fix their problems.
When things go wrong, Rush said, "you must look inward and ask first, ‘What did we do wrong? What could we have done better? What mistakes did we make?”
Commenting that although Republicans lost, "Conservatism did not lose, Republicanism lost last night. Republicanism, being a political party first, rather than an ideological movement, is what lost last night.”
The Democrats, he said "beat something last night with nothing. They advanced no agenda other than their usual anti-war position. They had no contract — they really never did get specific. Their message was one of ‘vote for us; the other guys have been in power too long.’”
Rush further admonished, "There was no dominating conservative message that came from the [Republican] top and filtered down throughout in this campaign.”
He added that if there was conservatism in the campaign, it was on the Democratic side: "There were conservative Democrats running for office in the House of Representatives and in a couple of Senate races won by Democrats yesterday.” He cited James Webb as an example.
He also said it was conservatism that won fairly big when it was tried yesterday, but it was Democrats who ran as conservatives and not their GOP rivals. He added that the Democratic leadership had gone out and recruited conservative candidates because they knew liberals could not win running against Republicans in red states.
Rush quoted Thomas Sowell as explaining that the latest example of election fraud is actually what the Democrats did — they nominated a bunch of moderate and conservative candidates for the express purpose of electing a far-left Democratic leadership.
"The Democrats could not have won the House, being liberals,” Rush said. "Liberalism didn’t win anything yesterday; Republicanism lost. Conservatism was nowhere to be found except on the Democratic side.”
The root of the problem, Rush said, is that "our side hungers for ideological leadership and we’re not getting it from the top. Conservatism was nowhere to be found in this campaign from the top. The Democrats beat something with nothing. They didn’t have to take a stand on anything other than their usual anti-war positions. They had no clear agenda and they didn’t dare offer one. Liberalism will still lose every time it’s offered.”
Republicans, Rush said, allowed themselves to be defined. "Without elected conservative leadership from the top Republicans in the House and Senate republicans are free to freelance and say the hell with party unity.”
That leads, Rush said, to the emergence of RINOs — Republicans in name only.
Republicans in Congress, Rush explained, were held captive by the party’s leadership in the White House. They were put into a position of having to endorse policies with which as conservatives they disagreed.
"The Democratic Party,” Rush went on to say, "is the party of entitlements; but the Republicans come up with this Medicare prescription drug plan that the polls said that the public didn’t want and was not interested in. That is not conservatism. Conservatives do not grow the government and offer entitlements as a means of buying votes. But that’s what the Republicans in Congress had to support in order to stay in line with the Party from the top.
"It is silly to blame the media; it is silly to blame the Democrats; it is silly to go out and try to find all these excuses,” Rush said. "We have proved that we can beat them … we have proved that we can withstand whatever we get from the drive-by media. Conservatism does that — conservatism properly applied, proudly, eagerly, with vigor and honesty will triumph over that nine times out of 10 in this current political and social environment. It just wasn’t utilized in this campaign.”
Rush also blamed the failure to embrace conservatism on Republican’s fear of being criticized from those in the so-called establishment. Republicans, he charged, go out of their way to avoid being criticized, fearing they will be characterized as extremists and kooks.
As a result conservatism gets watered down, and the GOP loses the support of the nation’s conservative majority Rush stated.
Anything can beat nothing, Rush concluded, "and it happened yesterday.”
Well look at it this way, Frist can forget about running for the Presidency now.
Rick is viewed as being too extreme. Conservatives are usually not extreme except on the issue of taxes. That is what killed Bush Sr's chances at a second term even though when I look back I am thinking he was a great president.
Even if you call Rick a conservative on the balance Rush is right by and large Republicans lost because they stopped caring about their base.
I would, too, but I can't swim.
Three of the Republican seven of the Gang of 14 were up. One won re-election handily (Snowe). Two went down to defeat (DeWine and Chafee). Both basically sent the message that they were just as good as a democrat... their electorate decided to call them on that.
Weak and vain, even by New England standards, Chafee in particular won't be missed. DeWine was as much a victim of Taft's corruption in Ohio, as he was of his own feeble attempts to play both sides of the court, but corruption cost the republicans lots of seats last night.
I keep coming back to Dennis Hastert's indignant attempts to protect William "Freezer Queen" Jefferson, and Trent Lott's rude savaging of the "so-called porkbusters." Then there was the whole idea of naming "Mr K Street," Boehner, to the leadership (cha-chingg!) and telling us it was reform. (Stop while I check my birth certificate for wet ink). Many Republicans, including these and the pocket-stuffing "Bridge to Nowhere" impresario, Ted Stevens, truly resented any citizen interruption of their all-you-can-swill porkfest.
Now they get to see if the Democrats are as gracious about sharing the graft as they were to the Dems. I suspect not.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Well, just from my experience and talking with folks, I'm inclined to think that most Americans really have a conservative leaning.
If you look at all the initiatives, gay marriage, parental notification on abortions, immigration, you see that they generally get voted on the conservative side. Not ultra conservative, maybe, but further to the right than anything in the current Dem center.
The ultimate failure was having a time projection on Iraq. People need to know. They want to at least know what is a measurable, quantifiable reason that we can think we are succeeding there. Something.
But IMHO all we keep getting is we will "stay the course". We will "stay as long as necessary"... to do what, exactly? Stop sectarian violence? Unless we partition the country, that ain't gonna happen.
I don't see the Dems as being traitors. I think it does a disservice to America to equate them with Al Queda. Dems are perhaps more idealistic than pubbies with their heads in the clounds, and alot of foolish ideas and methods, but ultimately we want the same things. Peace, security, a growing economy, stable families and educational opportunities.
So now a new day is coming about. Odd, but in a certain sense, I think the system worked. I have enough faith and give enough credit to the American people to believe that they WILL NOT LET THE DEMS GET AWAY WITH ANY STUPID SHENANIGANS.
DeWine lost by 13 points, Santorum lost by 18 points, Steele by 10, Keane by 8, and Chaffee by 6. What do you consider WIDE margins?
The GOP needs to get behind Mike Pense.
PA is the second-oldest state by population age. Basically, a bunch of old Democrats voted him out.
Santorum lost because he's in a liberal state. Allen lost because he ran a terrible campaign. Other Republicans lost because they went up against conservative Democrats in swing districts.
2nd midterm elections are historically bad for the President's party. I don't think the election was a rejection of conservatism.
Our side doesn't hunger for ideological leadership. We hunger for leaders who follow our ideology!
As usual, Rush is right on!
Nancee
Sorry but I fear you are very wrong, see the Main Stream Media has been declaring all day long that the Dems have a supreme mandate from the people.
If I had to put blame on anyone for the election loss it is Frist. He let the RINO's get the upper hand and the GOP had no unity after they did. I thought he was a disaster the minute the Senate announced his leadership.
They blew it.
Seems to me the base was out and voted yesterday while some folks went weak at the knees or sat things out pouting over their own issues.
A drugged(crack) whore for the past six years?...
Well at least he's honest..
BUT NOW hes seen the light?..
(clipping toenails) REALLY?... maybe not..
And stuck up our @$$#$.
A local newspaper suggested that it was because his opponent was viewed as also conservative.
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