Posted on 02/28/2007 7:54:19 AM PST by Al Simmons
Wedge Issues Posted by: “Common Tator” in FreeRepublic.com April 16, 2002
The one thing that amazes me on this site is the belief by some that the conservative position is the majority position.
Mostly people tend to believe it could be the majority position if the right candidate ran, or if it weren't for the media or RINOs or etc, etc. They really don't have a clue.
Roughly 2/3 of the public has firm views. They have made up their minds and do not change them. This group is nearly equally split between the left and the right.
There are about a 1/3 of the population that is never sure. Sometimes it will go left and sometimes it will go right.
When a party restricts itself to its base it will be in a minority party. The "base only" party will be reduced to crying as the other side works its will. In some nations both the left and right restrict themselves to just their base. That nation then develops five or six parties. And all governments in that nation are coalitions of a major party and some of the minor parties. In that situation the minor party always has more influence than its numbers represent. For the Rino and Dino haters that is the worst of all worlds.
Many of Rino and Dino haters try to make ours a 3 or 4 party system. They never figure out that their splinter right or left party would never get much power in a government based on coalitions. They are too small. It is the centrist parties that have a 1/3 of the public as potential members that get the clout in the Multi Party system. As you can see in a 2 party or a 5 or 6 party system the center tends to prevail.
But in our two party system the center is an instrument the major parties use to enact their goals. In the multiparty system it is the center parties that use the right and left to enact their centrist goals. Such a system like those in Italy and France are RINO and DINO paradise.
This nation now and for all of the last 140 years has been roughly 1/3 left, 1/3 right and 1/3 in the middle. Those in the middle who run for office are what we call RINOs and DINOs.
When Republicans drive RINOs out they leave the party to become DINOs and take their political power with them. The Democrat party gets them by default.
Then the Democrats thanks to its Dino buddies have a veto proof house and senate. It was Barry Goldwater's greatest accomplishment. In my BRAIN I knew Barry would elect a lot of DINOs ... and he did.
If a party with most of the center wins the presidency too, they have a filibuster proof senate. That party then can do anything it wants to do. When the party leadership takes control they implement the parties’ core beliefs. It was what LBJ did after Goldwater drove all the RINOs into LBJ's camp. It let LBJ do the "Great Society." LBJ had to have Barry's help to do it. And Barry did what it took to give LBJ the support he needed... LBJ had all the left. Barry gave him all the center.
To win control a party must keep its base and get over half the middle. If the Republicans have more RINOs than the Democrats have DINOs the Republican agenda prevails. If the Democrats have more DINOs than the Republicans have RINOs the Democrat agenda prevails.
Those that demand the defeat of RINOs are doing all they can to enact the leftist agenda. They are the most valuable asset the left has. One of the most effective tactics in politics in the negative campaign.
Negative campaigns are not about getting votes for your candidate. They are about getting the other side's base to not vote for their candidate. Thus if you can get the right to vote against a Rino or not vote at all, you can elect a very liberal candidate.
If you can force the Republicans to nominate a right wing candidate so right wing he can't get the center voters, you elect the left candidate.
Enough with the conspiracies. The social conservatives simply don't have a candidate this round. They sort have had George Allen, and he fell on his face to Jim Webb in a red Confederate state. That's not any RINO's fault.
Those complaining about Rockefeller Republicans need to realize that if we nominate a 3rd-rate candidate like Tancredo or Hunter, we'll be on the path to becoming a regional, southern party if that. The Dems are already beating us on our own turf in places like Ohio, Montana, and Missouri.
Good job at changing the subject. So, how is it that Giuliani supports federal intrusion via NCLB at state and local levels but somehow his liberal views on gay marriage, partial birth abortion, second amendment, etc. arent actually liberal but are allegedly about preventing federal involvement at state and local levels?
Very well said. I am tired of the pandering to any group which is why I like Rudy -- he says it like it is and let's the chips fall which I think the electorate is looking for right now not some pandering politician.
But I sure don't want Hillary in there. Quite honestly, at this point I don't know what to do - hope a conservative emerges from the back of the pack, I suppose.
Of course they are. When bullies are allowed free reign - it's pretty clear what the message is.
Exactly.
From such a dissembling twit as thyself, I'll take your calumny as a badge of honor.
You post was both impressive and thought-provoking. No matter which side of the debate someone is on, it is respectful and reasoned posts like yours that have the best chance of swaying someone's position on the issue at hand.
Well done. BTTT
It needs to stop. Debate is healthy, but calling long time FReepers traitors is outrageous.
So, how is it that Giuliani supports federal intrusion via NCLB at state and local levels but somehow his liberal views on gay marriage, partial birth abortion, second amendment, etc. arent actually liberal but are allegedly about preventing federal involvement at state and local levels?
I have no idea how that relates to Guiliani's stance on education.
Right. So that gives the right to be a total jerk and work with those who would drive every conservative out of here if they could.
Exactly right. There's a place for preaching, and a place for politics. Confusing the two will bring us the same kind of electoral success that Alan Keyes realized.
It's great to have preachers out there, working the ground, trying to change public opinion, and subtly moving public perceptions. It's electoral suicide to put them before the voters if the voters aren't yet on board with the sermon.
He even made sure that those who wanted separate schools for boys and girls were able to start single sex charter schools, where the poorest children, who had been stuck in the worst of the worst public schools could go and excel; which they did.
The ticket in 1880 was James Garfield, a Half Breed, and Chester Arthur, a Stalwart. The Stalwarts could not get over the idea that someone who opposed them so blatantly was going to be President - Garfield was a brilliant man (he could simultaneously write in Ancient Greek and Latin - he was ambidextrous), a former General, and a distinguished Representative. However, an extreme Stalwart named Charles Guiteau, shot Garfield early into his Presidency in 1881, screaming, "I am a Stalwart and Arthur is President!".
Chester Arthur, however, was so horrified by the actions of Guiteau, that he adopted the entire Half Breed programme of reform, and the Stalwarts were swept into political oblivion.
The moral of the story is - the Republicans are a strong organisation that have survived a lot splits. However factions should be careful as to the limbs they climb out onto - those limbs can easily be cut off and discarded, as the Stalwarts found out.
Regards, Ivan
It's pretty bloody, but it gets downright gory around post 400.
Thanks, but it's just facts.
Do you think Keyes will run? I don't ever see him listed in any of the polling data but maybe I've missed something.
You've got a smug mean streak and you spew here like you're holier than Thou, when in fact, I believe you're here to disrupt. Thankfully, most posters see you for the joke you are.
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