Posted on 03/28/2007 5:37:45 AM PDT by shortstop
The way it stands now, we Republicans are on track to get the thumping of a lifetime. We are about to get spanked, and spanked hard.
I realized that the other day when I saw this bumper sticker: “Is it 2008 yet?”
The point was clear. Democrats are eager for 2008 to come; Republicans are living in fear of its arrival.
Because our party is on the rocks.
George W. Bush and several years of a GOP congressional majority have just about killed it.
And the horizon looks dark and foreboding.
Let’s look at the two parties’ presidential prospects. The Democrats have two excellent candidates. We Republicans have two relatively weak candidates.
Though I disagree with them both, Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton are both electric candidates. They excite people, especially Democrat people. They both would be superstars on the international scene.
And they both are liberals.
Though they are each trying to conceal that little fact at this stage of the campaign, the two leading Democrat candidates are dyed-in-the-wool liberals. That’s probably a good thing for a Democrat candidate to be. It certainly would be seen as a good trait by the party’s philosophical core – which is itself liberal.
So the Democrats have two head-turning candidates who believe in things that represent the party’s traditions and which jibe with the beliefs of the party’s most active and vocal members.
If you’re a Democrat, that’s a good thing.
We Republicans, on the other hand, face a different prospect.
Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, while each is a man of significant accomplishment, don’t have the marquee appeal of the Democrats. They are probably Grade B politicians. Senator McCain is clearly a brave patriot, but he was shot down more than 40 years ago and those who remember the significance of his service are few. Mayor Giuliani owes his national reputation as much to “Saturday Night Live” as to anything else.
And they both are liberals.
On the great issues of our day and our Republic, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have spent their careers closer to the Democrat position than the Republican position. And that’s not so fun for conservatives, who are the party’s base. They face the likely prospect of having a candidate whose philosophy they disagree with.
That’s not good.
Compound that with the fact that the mismanagement of the war has turned the country not only against it, but in large part against the notion of national self-defense. The true Republican position on the war would be to fight it ruthlessly to completion. After this experience, it is far more likely the country will have no stomach for any fight whatsoever. That’s why Iran is posing 10 times the threat Iraq posed and getting one-tenth the flak from the United States.
Responsibility for that can only be attributed to President Bush. He roused the nation’s spirits after September 11, and led us into war, but somehow has not been successful at maintaining our interest and commitment. In all likelihood, the Iraq war will be a defining issue in 2008 and it won’t break in the Republicans’ favor.
Another area where we suffer is, unlike the Democrats, we have no galvanizing issue or cause. Winning the Congress for the GOP is no longer a draw. We did that already and got nothing out of it. Winning the White House in order to control Supreme Court nominations died the day George W. Bush uttered the name, “Harriet Myers.”
There is no real reason, other than fear of Hillary, that even comes close to uniting Republicans.
Democrats, on the other hand, are so seething with hatred for George W. Bush and conservatives – though George W. Bush is not a conservative – that they are highly motivated for the election. They are on fire with zeal in anticipation of 2008.
You add it all up and the Democrats are holding most of the cards. We Republicans can’t even seem to get excited or frightened by the contest.
Which is a good way to lose.
As it stands now, 2008 will be a Democrat romp. Only an unexpected and monumental collapse by the Democrats, or an unexpected and monumental surge by the Republicans, stands any chance of shaking things up.
Which is pretty gloomy.
And it means that while the Democrats are looking forward to 2008, the next best chance for Republicans is 2010 or 2012.
And that’s an awful long time.
So long, in fact, you wonder what form the Republican Party will take as it suffers all those years locked out of power.
That ticket will be all style and no substance so the Republicans MUST have a nominee/ticket that not only has substance, but can hold their own against the onslaught of the DNC, and withstand the scrutiny of the MSM.
No, for one very simple reason...
No matter how awful the Repubs are, the Dems are worse. 2008 does not come soon enough for them. By that time they will have lost any hold they had on the "middleground" voters. Too many people will be sick of their see-rap by then. Heck, they've already lost any momentum they had.
2008 is right for bold, real conservative colors. Voters hunger for real leadership.
jw
---I'm not so sure Hillary is going to get the nomination. I think it will be Obama, and then a Obama/Clinton ticket.---
Hoo-hoo! Wouldn't that irk Hitlary! Being second banana again. Hahaha!
True.. George Bush pretty much got the slide started with AWOL immigration policies.. The Sandy Berger Affair didn't help.. And the Border Guard fiasco clenched it..
George got republicans THINKING.. Whats up with THIS?..
Oh! and raiseing the tax burden like Lyndon Johnston was a stab in the eye too..
George pretty much fractured the republican party like a car windshield..
Hillary's is hardly "electric" or "exciting"...
Is from the ultra and mostly liberals perspective, because she (and Obama) caters their causes, that electrifies them, but not for the majority of the folks of this country...
NOW is always a good time to GIVE UP.
...saves difficult decision making choices.
White Bread Politics and a chicken in every pot.
Go Weak or Go Democrat.....you choose......!!!
It's all about the MSM. They will prop up these corrupt Dems, and destroy the GOP, we've seen it time and again, and until the GOP fights back against lies and deceipt, it's going downhill fast.
Its way too early to make a prediction about 2008. We're only three months into Democratic leadership of Congress - Republicans haven't found their footing yet. If I had to make a prediction this early, I would say that a Hillary Clinton candidacy would unite Republicans more that at anytime in the history of the party.
Absoluitely no chance in hell. The Dems will widen the margin in both. The Dems are playing the game until the '08 election- NO major mis-steps, no huge controversial initiatives (like Hillary-care), nothing... With the MSM providing a tail-wind, there's absolutely no way I can see us re-taking either chamber, and the White House is looking really bleak as well.
BINGO! I've been saying this for years. IMHO, the failure to fight back has caused more damage the the GOP/Conservatives than the Iraq war... think about it
Thompson- sure. Hunter, not even a prayer of a chance, on the top or the bottom of the ticket. No way, no how, don't waste your breath
That's just it, they will govern as moderates for 2 years, until they widen their majorities and capture the White House, THEN they will lurch left. Believe me. With the MSM supporting them at every turn
Yet another delusional Duncan Hunter fan. He announced back in October - 6 months ago! He still gets no more than 1 or 2% in GOP polls. His candidacy is DOA
Hunter adds nothing to a Thompson ticket people. Jeez - do FReepers live in a cocoon? Outside the real world, devoid of any reality??? Hunter is a solid Rep, awesome guy, but as a Presidential or VP candidate, a total DUD.
I'm not delusional about it - I really don't think he'll make it either, although a lot of people still have not heard of him or from him.
My point was that there is still a great deal of time and there are many potential candidates out there. Money is undoubtedly important, but in a wide-open race like this one, dark horses can emerge quickly when people don't seem to like any of the choices. (see: Fred T.).
What people tend to forget is that it has been a long, long time (1952!!!) since we've had a Presidential race where one of the candidates was not a sitting President or Vice President. And that's why it's likely to be a wild and bumpy ride.
That's the only hope we will ever have.
"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."
If you are afraid, be afraid of God. If you are confident, be confident in God.
I think the only GOP nominee who could win is one who could win some dem states while holding on to the GOP states. Fred Thompson can't do that - only a more moderate/liberal can at this point, sad to say.
All else being equal, I'd expect the GOP to lose more ground in the House and Senate in 2008 no matter what happens in the presidential race.
I'm not married to any candidate yet. I lean towards Thompson or Hunter, I lean away, as far as I can get, from Gulianni or Mcain, and I don't know about Romney.
If Gulianni or Mcain get the nod, I don't know yet what I'll do.
---My thought was, who can carry California better than Hunter?--
That's my thought, too. Don't be so damned negative, NYCR. Sheesh. We're focusing on the candidate for president right now anyway. We can give thought to the VP later. I'm just suggesting right now, and there's nothing wrong with doing that. Chill, bro.
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