Posted on 04/02/2007 12:28:27 AM PDT by RWR8189
Although the presidential election is 19 months away, the Republican Party has a real and growing problem in Ohio that could cost it the White House in 2008.
Simply put, the GOP brand is in trouble in Ohio, more so than it is nationally. That matters because in 2004 Ohio was the key to an Electoral College majority, and could well be the same in 2008.
Since the 2004 election in which President Bush narrowly defeated John Kerry, the undercurrent in Democratic thinking for 2008 has been to hold the states Kerry won and to turn Ohio from red to blue.
If Ohio's 20 electoral votes were to go to the Democrats, assuming that no other states switch allegiance, that would give them the White House.
And as simplistic as that strategy sounds, it could turn out to be successful because of the woes that are besetting the Republicans in the Buckeye State, more than in any other key battleground.
In fact, polls of Ohio voters are finding them less inclined to support GOP candidates, less likely to consider themselves Republican than in the recent past, and giving higher ratings to potential Democratic candidates with a consistency that should set off alarm bells at the Republican National Committee.
Ohio has historically has been slightly more Republican than one of the other big Electoral College battlegrounds, Pennsylvania. In recent presidential elections it has been roughly as GOP as Florida, the other major swing state.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
He has pledged to nominate strict constructionists. That should allay your fears about his private views.
No. With his private view of the US Constitution, nominating strict constructionists means nothing. Maybe he should list the views his strict constructionists would hold.
The people who believe that the 2006 elections is a tsunami that changed the landscape for many years to come are extremely stupid.
They're not stupid, they're disingenuous. It's the failed Rockefeller wing rearing it's ugly head again. They want to use their loses as an excuse to return to the GOP of the '70s.
"I have no idea what you mean by "downtown tourist areas." Downtown is Wall Street etc. Have you ever been to NYC?"
I was born in NYC. I have lived and worked in Manhattan, though my residence now is in PA.
As for your claim about Bratton, etc.--I never said Rudy micromanaged each and every improvement in the city. But he was chief archictect and his subordinates carried out his policies. The result was unprecedented.
Rudy is the only Republican who can win most of the battleground states in 2008. He could potentially win a huge landslide victory, but with a mandate to do what?
I think he would be a very Nixonian President, contending with a Democratic House and Senate and withe very littel opportunity to advance a conservative agenda even if he wanted to - but on the plus side, just having him in office greatly lessens the chance we will lose a city to nuclear terrorism during his term. So it's a toss-up.
"Weren't these porn shops legitimate businesses? I am no fan, but that seems pretty dictatorial, and anti-constitutional to me. Similar to how legal handgun owners were treated."
All cities have zoning laws. Nothing dictatorial about it.
And IMO it’s very risky to for those hoping that a “moderate” Republican Presidential candidate will maintain and expand Republican membership in congress to pin their hopes on Giuliani, and his personal values are one reason.
You're right. Bush, who is considerately right of Rudy was a disappointment to conservatives. How could anyone think that they can count on Giuliani to advance anything but liberal policies.
Us Ohians have pretty much had our fill of Rinos... after Taft and Voinevich, we don't need any more any more phoney Repubs...
All cities have zoning laws. Nothing dictatorial about it.
Maybe Marxist would be a better term for zoning laws.
"Rudy is the only Republican who can win most of the battleground states in 2008. He could potentially win a huge landslide victory, but with a mandate to do what?"
To fight the War on Terrror; to reorganize the intelligence agencies, eliminating moles and leakers; to put a check on the liberal media's compromise of national security; to impose constraints on government spending; to put fear in the opposition--for starters.
"Maybe Marxist would be a better term for zoning laws."
You really are clueless if you think this. His economic philosophy is directly opposed to socialism.
Houston has no zoning laws, only deed restrictions.
It doesn't matter if Rick Santorum is elected President with Jerry Falwell as Vice President. They still wouldn't be able to outlaw abortion.
Strickland still has no plan for school funding, though he said he did during the campaign. He is using the tobacco settlement money to fund the schools for the next two years, but cutting funding for many local districts, for two year colleges, for buses for students at charter schools, and he is actively trying to close down the charter schools.
He is already responsible for gasoline price increases by cutting out tax breaks for wholesalers and retailers.
The new Sec. of State, Brunner, is (illegally) promoting here reelection on her state website and now is trying to further Tubbs-Jones' agenda by replacing the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
Marc Dann, the new AG is busily rewarding campaign contributors and continuing the "pay to play" tradition.
Given a year of this kind of corruption and incompetence, there is no reason to expect things to not turn around.
"Could it be because the spineless twits that lead the Republican party are afraid to fight with the morons on the left? Could it be that the Repubs have become the "tax and spend" party? Could it be due to the continuation of excessive government intrusion into private decisions despite holding the house, senate, and presidency? Could it be due to Ohio's previous governor being a RINO?"
And the same could apply to the national GOP as well. don't forget as well, "Could it be that Hillary still 600-900 FBI records on politcos as well."
I'm damn sick and tired of a party that cannot stand up for itself. I'm damn sick and tired of a party that opposes the corruption of the opposition party but can't keep itself clean. I'm damned sick and tired of a party that is gutless to the core. The GOP are as worthless as the democrats at this point and it sickens and disgusts me.
I'm also damn sick and tired of a President that is so myopic that he cannot see what is happening around him in the rest of the world.
Do you hear that Guliani? McCain? Thompson? Hunter? Gingrich?
Until GOP politicians grow some balls the demonrats are going to eat there lunch every damn day.
Just in Ohio?
You give way too much credit to the DUmmies.
The Republicans earned their loss, fair and square.
Sounds like you are provoking a fight with the Buckeye State.
Meaning, what, exactly, that Ohioans actually prefer liberal Republicans over conservative ones?
Only they call it; "Liberal Lite".
"Fewer Convictions!"
"Tastes Flat!"
"Fewer Convictions!"
"Tastes Flat!"
I disagree.
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