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What's Wrong with Republicans?
National Review ^ | 05/07/08 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 05/07/2008 6:08:41 PM PDT by Sub-Driver

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

What's Wrong with Republicans? [Victor Davis Hanson]

On this great debate, I tend to agree with Mark Levin and others that conservatives should reach out with conservative principles better framed and presented, rather than change the message for the perceived advantage of the hour.

What the Republicans need is not an abandonment of conservative principles, but a smarter, more articulate defense of even more conservativism, not less.

E.g., Gas Prices? More nuclear power, hydro-, refineries, clean coal, drilling off coasts and in ANWR. And why? As a necessary bridge to next-generation cleaner and non-petroleum energy so that in the time lag, we don't empower our enemies, demand that others abroad who are less environmentally sound produce the oil we consume, and watch our hard-won way of life decline.

Taxes? Not hikes, since revenues went up, not down with past cuts, but more fiscal discipline to end the deficits. The problem was not tax-cutting, but wild-eyed spending that ran up debt and discredited tax cuts.

The border? Close it, not out nativism or racism, but out of respect for the rule of law, the tradition of national sovereignty, the need to promote integration and assimilation, the need to be more concerned with American entry-level low-paid workers, and a desire to help Mexico wean itself off remittances and make the tough-love decisions to modernize its archaic government and economy.

Judges? We need constitutionalists, because they alone follow the rules of the legislative branch and what is written in the Constitution, do not turn rarified, laboratory theory into the law that millions must suffer under, and bring respect to the judiciary sorely damaged by aristocratic elitists on the bench.

(Excerpt) Read more at corner.nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 110th; conservatism; gop; issues; mccain; obama; rinos; rnc; vdh; victordavishanson
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To: ryan71
“What the Republicans need is not an abandonment of conservative principles, but a smarter, more articulate defense of even more conservativism, not less.”

It's baffling. I very rarely see a Republican do this, but if he did, he would seize the day.

I have to disagree. I'm reminded of Merlin's statement to Uther in Excalibur:

You betrayed the Duke, you stole his wife, you took his castle, now no-one trusts you.

The Republicans ran on conservative principles in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. We elected them to majorities in both houses and gave them the Presidency. What we received was pork, pork, pork, special interests, and neglect of our borders.

We got the "Bridge to Nowhere." Here's what the Republicans sounded like when they had all three branches of government. This is Senator Stevens, when informed that a bill had been proposed to cancel the $250 million dollar bridge that would connect to an island of around 50 people:

Sen. Ted Stevens, the veteran Alaska Republican, was dramatic in his response. "I don't kid people," Stevens roared. "If the Senate decides to discriminate against our state . . . I will resign from this body."
Here's his Buddy, on the proposed canceling of another $250 million bridge in Alaska:
One of the Alaska bridges, dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics, would connect one small town to a tiny island. It received $223 million in the highway bill that Congress passed this summer. The second bridge, named "Don Young's Way" in honor of its patron, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), received about $230 million -- but that is just a down payment on a cost that could hit $1.5 billion....
Young, who made sure his state was one of the top recipients in the highway bill, was asked by an Alaska reporter what he made of the public support for redirecting the bridge money. "They can kiss my ear! That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he replied.
The Republicans took their advantage and played political patronage. Now, nobody trusts them. I trust the Democrats less, of course, but the Democrats never pretended to be fiscally responsible.
21 posted on 05/07/2008 6:48:51 PM PDT by Richard Kimball (We're all criminals. They just haven't figured out what some of us have done yet.)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

“What the Republicans need is”

LEADERSHIP THAT CAN GET THE JOBS DONE!

They couldn’t get their act together when they had a majority in congress. Why should we think they can accomplish anything when they are a pathetic minority in congress?


22 posted on 05/07/2008 6:52:20 PM PDT by o_zarkman44 (No Bull in 08!)
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To: Cobra64

LOL!


23 posted on 05/07/2008 6:55:11 PM PDT by o_zarkman44 (No Bull in 08!)
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To: Sub-Driver
To the degree McCain can articulate the above, he will win; to the degree that he either cannot or believes the latest gurus that he must abandon them, he will lose. Moving toward a lite version of the Obamian/European "bipartisan"and socialist view of government and calling it a new conservatism is a prescription for utter disaster.

No one can out-Obama Obama.

It's not about articulation. Mere rhetoric in the midst of an election year doesn't cut it. It's about action and it's way too late for McCain to reverse 25 years of liberal maverickism as a legislator. He's toast and flat out of time to turn his image around via action with conservative voters. But he makes a fantastic stalking horse for the dems and Obambi is gonna beat him like a rented mule.

24 posted on 05/07/2008 6:57:11 PM PDT by TADSLOS (The GOP death march to the gravesite is underway.)
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To: ken21
mcccain’s not going to close the border, period.

Exactly! He is going to be speaking at the La Raza "Open Borders Conference".

Yeah, he got the message all right -- secure the borders first. Who did he think he was kidding?

25 posted on 05/07/2008 7:04:06 PM PDT by LibertarianLiz
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To: Sub-Driver

Conservatives agree on all of these items.

Who can we vote for that will do this, not the Republicans or Democrats, so where do we go?


26 posted on 05/07/2008 7:24:54 PM PDT by RJL
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To: Sub-Driver
I don't even have to read the article.

What's wrong with Republicans is what's wrong with the majority of middle-class conservatives.

They just want to be comfortable.

They don't want controversy, so they keep their mouths shut and smile and nod. They don't want to risk failure, so they don't try to win converts and refute leftist arguments.

It's a lonely place, people, and it's awkward and uncomfortable. But it's nothing compared to the trenches our ancestors fought and died in to give us freedom.

Why the hell is it so hard for us to get up off our sofas and confront the enemy?

27 posted on 05/07/2008 7:26:34 PM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (If Hillary is elected, her legacy will be telling the American people: Better put some ice on that.)
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To: Sub-Driver

The Republicans need Clint Eastwood to say as he did in High Plains Drifter: the “only problem you’ve got is a short supply of guts.”

The Republicans need a backbone.


28 posted on 05/07/2008 7:32:45 PM PDT by CASchack
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To: Sub-Driver
What's Wrong with Republicans?

They got no 'nads.

29 posted on 05/07/2008 7:45:55 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (Could pacifists exist if there weren't people brave enough to go to war for their right to exist?)
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To: Sub-Driver

We need a fresh young face with a brilliant mind, articulate speech who speaks the conservative principles in an inspiring confident manner.


30 posted on 05/07/2008 8:04:05 PM PDT by Notasoccermom
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To: E. Cartman
How's this for starters?

Or we could look at the cabinet. A treasury secretary who is so busy bailing out wall street that he doesn't understand that the resulting inflation from creating lots of extra money is killing both the dollar and hurting a lot of people through massive inflation. The Bush $1200 per family stimulus is the biggest self-defeating joke on the face of the planet.

Chertoff - the guy who - with a panache worthy of The Great Egotistical BJ hisself - closed down a California highway so he could travel unhindered, the guy who thinks that ever more idiots on payrolls looking for bombs on 6year old blond girls is helping the US economy.

I forgot, who is Transportation? Education? Commerce? Energy? Do those guys exist? Do they have pictures. Do we even give a rat's?

We have what everyone who lives off of a paycheck knows as a crisis in the cost of imported oil, a quintuppling of the amount of moolah going into the pockets of sheikhs who party on the Riviera and then in fits of conscince spread some around to charitable organizations not definitely proven to have connections to islamic terrorism. Do these guys care? NOOOOOOO!

31 posted on 05/07/2008 8:09:26 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe
"Why the hell is it so hard for us to get up off our sofas and confront the enemy?"

"It's a lonely place, people, and it's awkward and uncomfortable." AND.. But it's harder than nothing compared to the trenches our ancestors fought and died in to give us freedom.....at least to many idiots today.

32 posted on 05/07/2008 9:25:59 PM PDT by goodnesswins (20 is the new 10)
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To: CapnJack

Senator Tom Coburn.

WE DONT CELEBRATE THE GOOD GUYS, WE JUST WHINE ABOUT THE BAD ONES.

WE NEED “POSITIVE DISCIPLINE” IN THE PARTY.


33 posted on 05/07/2008 10:14:38 PM PDT by WOSG (Gameplan: Obama beats Hillary, McCain beats Obama, conservatives beat RINOs)
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To: Sub-Driver

PING -

What is the solution?

How can we make conservative values win again?


34 posted on 05/07/2008 10:19:17 PM PDT by WOSG (Gameplan: Obama beats Hillary, McCain beats Obama, conservatives beat RINOs)
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To: Notasoccermom

“We need a fresh young face with a brilliant mind, articulate speech who speaks the conservative principles in an inspiring confident manner.”

If a conservative leader came forward would people follow?


35 posted on 05/07/2008 10:19:55 PM PDT by WOSG (Gameplan: Obama beats Hillary, McCain beats Obama, conservatives beat RINOs)
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To: Sub-Driver

E.g., Gas Prices? More nuclear power, hydro-, refineries, clean coal, drilling off coasts and in ANWR. And why? As a necessary bridge to next-generation cleaner and non-petroleum energy so that in the time lag, we don’t empower our enemies, demand that others abroad who are less environmentally sound produce the oil we consume, and watch our hard-won way of life decline.


I think the GOP is missing a huge opportunity in not talking about how we get to a post-petroleum economy. Absolutely drill and build more refineries. But ONLY doing that is like raising the credit card limit for someone on the verge of bankruptcy. It just extends the day of reckoning. We already know the Democrats don’t have an energy policy. Sadly, it appears that neither do the Republicans.


36 posted on 05/07/2008 10:34:27 PM PDT by kms61
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

” What’s wrong with Republicans is what’s wrong with the majority of middle-class conservatives.

They just want to be comfortable.

They don’t want controversy, so they keep their mouths shut and smile and nod. They don’t want to risk failure, so they don’t try to win converts and refute leftist arguments.”

GOOD QUESTION AND GOOD POINT!

Conservative activism is an oxymoron these days.
Look at this pathetic board. Instead of trying to get smart and articulate, I hear/see more backbiting ankle-biting complaining.

What do you want to see happen in the Govt?
Top 5 ideas/items/issue?
What should we preserve and what should we change?
What do you care about?

We need to get back to basics in our beliefs and get the campaigns straightened out to speak to the people.


37 posted on 05/07/2008 10:48:26 PM PDT by WOSG (Gameplan: Obama beats Hillary, McCain beats Obama, conservatives beat RINOs)
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To: WOSG
If a conservative leader came forward would people follow?

Would they know? The only time a conservative gets airtime from the MSM is when they are being flogged in the media for something.

Most people have never heard of one, and that is how the likes of McCain get to call themselves "conservative". Between the MSM and the schools it is a small wonder so many people are ignorant of conservative principles.

38 posted on 05/08/2008 12:22:33 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: Sub-Driver
Hanson is right when he says that Conservatives need to find a more articulate way to relate their principles. I try to do that every time I log on to FR. Certain imagery and word combinations are better than others to communicate to the public. And Republicans excel at miscommunication.
39 posted on 05/08/2008 12:41:38 AM PDT by TheThinker (Capitalism is the natural result of a democratic government.)
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To: Sub-Driver
E.g., Gas Prices? More nuclear power, hydro-, refineries, clean coal, drilling off coasts and in ANWR. And why? As a necessary bridge to next-generation cleaner and non-petroleum energy so that in the time lag, we don't empower our enemies, demand that others abroad who are less environmentally sound produce the oil we consume, and watch our hard-won way of life decline.

This reminds me of a joke. God announces to the world that it is going to be flooded with 1000 feet of water. The Christian, the Moslem, the Hindu, etc. ( to shorten the thing ) all commence lamentations at the end of the world. The Jew sits down on a bench and says, "Oy Vez! How difficult life is going to be under 1000 feet of water!"

Sorry if that doesn't make any sense.

40 posted on 05/08/2008 12:59:03 AM PDT by dr_lew
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