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Will GOP Connect With Worried Workers?
US News & World Report/CapitalCommerce blog ^ | Jan. 29, 2007 | James Pethokoukis

Posted on 01/29/2007 11:47:35 AM PST by DredTennis

Laura Ingraham, the willowy, conservative radio talker, really nailed it. She was speaking last Friday night as part of a panel discussion at a "conservative summit" in Washington held by National Review magazine. Ingraham said she was impressed by Jim Webb's televised rebuttal to President Bush's State of the Union address, particularly the part that hit on economics. In his talk, the newbie U.S. senator from Virginia launched a populist attack on the Bush economic years, railing about growing income inequality, skyrocketing CEO pay, outsourcing, and the so-called middle-class squeeze. Although Webb's stern speaking manner and improbable hair are easy to mock, Ingraham urged her fellow conservatives to pay serious attention to his message. "The party that comes off as the party that represents the American worker best is the party that wins in 2008," she said, adding that the GOP will be relegated to the political wilderness if it goes back "to being the party of the elites."

(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
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To: chimera
...Sherrod Brown's campaign ads featured shuttered factories and people standing in unemployment lines...

Sounds a lot like Rick DeVos's ads (MI)... so why did Brown win and DeVos lose?

41 posted on 01/29/2007 12:30:38 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: CommieCutter; MNJohnnie
Then substantiate it. Why "wait", when you could've backed it up the first time.

Takes a few minutes to look up an old link, which I did (post #30).

The point is, you give the person a chance to substantiate before claiming they are lying.

But, then again, Johnnie can be rude that way.

42 posted on 01/29/2007 12:32:35 PM PST by dirtboy (Duncan Hunter 08 - rationalization not required, he IS a conservative already)
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To: dirtboy
All I want is for government to adequately enforce existing laws

That's the problem: taxes, regulation, litigation. Existing laws are running companies offshore like lemmings into the sea.

Illegal immigrants are a part of the problem. Domestic labor contracts and skyrocketing health care costs are a BIG part of the problem.

43 posted on 01/29/2007 12:32:37 PM PST by groanup (Limited government is the answer. Now, what's the question?)
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To: chimera

"Didn't matter. It was still enough to get him elected in a historic landslide against a "True Conservative"."

Ok, imagine if you will, you're a long time factory worker. Your skill set is minimal. Your ability to be creative and resourceful have diminished over time. You are a hard worker, who shows up every day, and tries to do the right thing. But you constantly hear how your job is going to... Mexico, India, China, Bongo Congo, wherever.

One party tells you you need to retrain, become marketable. You're late 40s, early 50s, training is not something you'll do easily. The other tells you they're going to do SOMETHING.

The vote is easy. Lots of people in that boat, or some variation. Have kids who are factory workers, etc. This is something that's been brewing for a while, and the free market types here have told us we're crazy.


44 posted on 01/29/2007 12:33:29 PM PST by brownsfan (It's not a war on terror... it's a war with islam.)
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To: brownsfan

Let me restate as in cyberspace things do not get the full meaning. These folks are not worried about ANYTHING except their outsourced jobs and their own future - "President who what's that, what do you mean there's a law against it!" That's what I meant to convey.


45 posted on 01/29/2007 12:33:47 PM PST by Domicile of Doom (Center amber dot on head and squeeze for best results)
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To: Beagle8U
"The American Meat Institute says hourly workers earn $12.03 an hour on average,

I did not recall the amount correctly - it was $9/hour.

However, I would also take such a claim from a trade association with a very large grain of salt - they are hardly a neutral party to the debate.

46 posted on 01/29/2007 12:34:18 PM PST by dirtboy (Duncan Hunter 08 - rationalization not required, he IS a conservative already)
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To: dfwgator

"Maybe that's because Ohio doesn't offer enough incentives, or has too high taxes to encourage business to want to set up shop there."

Yes, no doubt. And maybe Ohio has been run by the GOP for the last 16 years.


47 posted on 01/29/2007 12:34:27 PM PST by brownsfan (It's not a war on terror... it's a war with islam.)
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To: mr_hammer
How does one educate, house, insure and plan for retirement on 60K a year? Answer, you don't!

And cutting the US out of the global markets is going to raise your pay how when we diminish world demand for US products? Who is going to write your pay check when demand for whatever it is you produce is cut drastically because we've shut the door to trade?

As for how to make your ends meet, you mean to tell me there aren't any luxuries in your life whatsoever? I find most people who gripe about barely making it have a home filled with electronics, a driveway with 2 jet skiis, at least one expensive SUV and usually nice vacations at least a couple times a year not to mention an expensive dinner out on the weekends and plenty of money to blow at the mall. Maybe that's you, maybe that's not. I don't know.

And if it is you I'm not saying you don't deserve any of that, but we do tend to focus on what we don't have while ignoring all the toys we've adorned our lives with. Again, I'm not saying you need to give all that up. It's your choice how you use your money. But let's not claim that our financial squeezes are all because of George Bush, Mike Dewine or the entire nation of China. That's a cop out.

48 posted on 01/29/2007 12:35:22 PM PST by MikeA (Nancy Pelosi: The Speaker of the News Media)
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To: brownsfan

I know it. That's exactly how it went here in '06. If the GOP doesn't get the message, they are heading for an even bloodier slaughter in '08.


49 posted on 01/29/2007 12:36:29 PM PST by chimera
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To: cherry

"that means IF YOU WORK HARD,SAVE YOUR MONEY, BE A GOOD CITIZEN, AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR FAMILY THAT YOUR EFFORTS WILL BE REWARDED DOWN THE LINE WITH A LITTLE BIT IN THE BANK AND RECIEVING EVERYTHING THAT THE GOVT AND BUSINESS HAS PROMISED YOU OVER THE YEARS......"

I heard Hillary! say almost that exact thing. Almost word for word. Look out in '08, it's not going to be pretty.


50 posted on 01/29/2007 12:36:45 PM PST by brownsfan (It's not a war on terror... it's a war with islam.)
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To: chimera
Will GOP Connect With Worried Workers?

I guess, it will not.

51 posted on 01/29/2007 12:38:46 PM PST by A. Pole (George Orwell: "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.")
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To: brownsfan
Look out in '08, it's not going to be pretty.

If that's the case, it will be because of conservatives who abandon the GOP to vote for some third party wet dream or who blame all their problems on George W. Bush. The economy so long as it stays where it is will not be the issue in 08, but Iraq. If you want to help the party of "The US is a parriah nation" as John Kerry referred to the US win in 2008 all because you believe George W. Bush ruined Ohio, then be my guest. I trust you'll be silent on FR.com regarding bitching about the 8 years of Clinton part deux since you'll have helped bring it about.

52 posted on 01/29/2007 12:41:21 PM PST by MikeA (Nancy Pelosi: The Speaker of the News Media)
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To: pissant

I heard her raving about Webb on some talk show....bleck!!


53 posted on 01/29/2007 12:41:27 PM PST by tioga
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To: CommieCutter

Try reading the thread before posting... or use Google.


54 posted on 01/29/2007 12:41:54 PM PST by streetpreacher (What if you're wrong?)
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To: MikeA

60k a year would be a damn fine raise for me. With that I could house myself, insure myself and family, plan for retirement, and educate myself - oh wait a minute I'm doing all of that on 48k a year. 'Course I don't live in high priced part of the country. And I don''t have an Escalade with chrome spinny rims.


55 posted on 01/29/2007 12:41:55 PM PST by Domicile of Doom (Center amber dot on head and squeeze for best results)
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To: MikeA

"Ohio is far from destroyed. "

I suppose you have a better perspective in California than I do in Akron, Ohio? Oh, the evil union arguement. So, what is it that Honda is doing in Marysville, Ohio? Ohio has had GOP leadership for 16 years. If you can't move off center, or stem the tide in 16 years, maybe you have the wrong leadership?

I am not advocating democrats. I am advocating honest republicans with a backbone, and a sense of what the entire community needs, not just the few. Something we've not seen in Ohio.


56 posted on 01/29/2007 12:42:36 PM PST by brownsfan (It's not a war on terror... it's a war with islam.)
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To: tioga

She was all atwitter about John Edwards in 2004. That's when I stopped listening.


57 posted on 01/29/2007 12:42:41 PM PST by pissant
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To: DuncanWaring
I don't know. Is DeVos the Amway guy? Maybe the voters had a problem with the sincerity of a megabucks CEO touting a populist, I'm-for-the-little-guy message? The voters in WA State had a similar choice, sticking with Maria NeerDoWell against an big-bucks, job-cutting ex-CEO of an insurance company. The ex-CEO got slaughtered. My guess is the voters weren't too impressed running a megabucks CEO who might make some claims about being on their side.

To be fair, this kind of thing cuts across party lines. Maria Cantwell herself is an ex-CEO. You've got John Edwards moving into a $6M, 29,000 sq.ft. home and still mouthing off about their being "two Americas". Well, I know which "America" he is in.

58 posted on 01/29/2007 12:42:56 PM PST by chimera
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To: CommieCutter; dirtboy

"Then substantiate it. Why "wait", when you could've backed it up the first time."

So, if you can't argue with the message, attack how it was presented? How very Clinton-esque of you.


59 posted on 01/29/2007 12:43:58 PM PST by brownsfan (It's not a war on terror... it's a war with islam.)
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To: chimera

The same happened in your neighboring state. The RATS kept quiet about immigration, blamed Republicans for that ridiculous Senate immigration bill that went nowhere. They piled on with globalization fears, job losses etc. As a topper they used the toll road being "sold out" to foreign interests.

Their beliefs were that Republicans took away their jobs in favor of China, India and Mexico. The RATs made major hay out of all of this and it won for them. It won just by stirring up the fires of open borders, job losses and what they perceived to be foreign ownership of a toll road.

I listened to a local radio talk show. A conservative talk show. Some of the callers would really be angry when they called. At the time, I thought it was just a few, but the election outcome made my thoughts wrong. There are many people out there that believe the RATs, they just do not understand the facts they tell them are often incorrect. The RATs know how to stir resentment due to ignorance. Republicans sometimes do things without getting a public pulse and educating people. The RATs know how to turn that into gold.


60 posted on 01/29/2007 12:45:10 PM PST by dforest (Liberals love crisis, create crisis and then dwell on them.)
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