Posted on 07/15/2002 10:28:18 AM PDT by gordgekko
Maybe I am totally off base, and probably I should keep my views to myself, but I sense a Democratic victory in Congress in the making. It is true that President George W. Bush still has sky high ratings among the electorate. They see him as someone who thinks like they do. No matter what issues the Democrats throw at the President, nothing sticks to him. They used to call Ronald Reagan the Teflon President, but if Bush continues these ratings into 2004, he will do Reagan one better.
The Bush ratings do not apply to his party, however. In fact, several recent polls find that while the average voter believes that Bush is on the side of the average voter, Republicans in general are seen as being more interested in the welfare of corporate bigwigs. If Democrat strategists are able to take advantage of this voter perception they will hold on to the Senate, but will win control of the House as well. Republican strategists already concede gains in the gubernatorial realm. They are defending many more state houses than the Democrats.
One of the problems for Republicans in Congress is that grass roots conservatives don't feel that the party is willing to raise issues they care about. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision removing God from the pledge of allegiance and a New York federal judge's decision to release a terrorist are good arguments for confirming President Bush judicial nominees. It is unclear if the party is willing to make this a burning issue because the judge who wrote the pledge opinion was a Republican appointee. If the judiciary becomes a really credible issue, it does have the opportunity to arouse some voters.
One issue that would really stir the grass roots is immigration. Look at what has happened in Western Europe. Eleven of 14 Members of the European Economic Community now have right of center governments. And it is possible that total will be 12 this fall if German voters go the way the polls are now suggesting. Immigration was one of the key issues that brought those right of center governments to power. Even the Dutch government intends to curb the liberal lifestyle in that country. The problem is that President Bush has a fundamental disagreement with Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) whose views on immigration resonate well with the grass roots. So immigration will not be made an issue by the Republican Party or if it is it will be in the form of President Bush's outreach to the Hispanic community.
Another issue that stirs the grass roots is the Boy Scout issue. The Boy Scouts have lost millions and have also lost the right to use many public facilities because they refuse to permit homosexual scout masters. The grass roots are all with the Scouts. The party could win seats in the South, Midwest and even Southwest if the party made this an issue. But it is unlikely the party will raise this issue because the Bush Administration has made an outreach to the homosexual community. Just recently, the president signed a bill providing some benefits to same sex partners who were victims of the New York disaster on September 11th.
The Supreme Court's decision on vouchers thrilled most conservatives. This decision is very popular in minority communities where school children are trapped in failing education institutions. However vouchers are not popular in suburban communities. The issue has been defeated in Congress by suburban Republicans. Voters from the suburbs have defeated vouchers when they were on state ballots. So while the party might make this an issue and grass roots conservatives would like it, the suburban Republicans who are part of the Bush coalition might well revolt.
The voters and even some in the grass roots have turned on to the privacy issues. A year ago, in the wake of 9/11, they were willing to support intrusions into their privacy in the interest of safety. Attorney General John Ashcroft was once the darling of grass roots conservatives. He is now seen as the enemy of the Fourth Amendment and impatience with Big Brother security measures grows, especially among grass roots activists. But privacy will not be an issue with the voters at-large this fall.
That is why it is possible that the Democrats will make gains. The Republicans may not raise any issues that will get grass roots conservatives to the polls. In 1994 these conservatives constituted 37 percent of the vote. In 2000, they constituted only 31 percent of the vote. If they drop another percentage or two, Republicans will lose, and could lose big.
We shall see if Democrats are smart enough to turn voter perception about the Republican-Big Business connection into an issue that resonates with the average voter. Thus far they have proved remarkably inept in their efforts to develop issues against President Bush. It could be they will miss what for them is a golden opportunity. However, if they get their act together, President Bush will be dealing with a Democrat Congress for the two years before he has to face the voters. If what has happened in the Senate this past year is any guide, the president will get nothing conservative through the Congress. He will only win if he compromises with the liberals. Then the Democrats will say he is a do nothing president.
Paul M. Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation.
Of course, this Bigt Tent concept has never been tried before now, and it is an absolutely huge risk for the GOP. Our party leaders are banking on capturing the hearts and minds of democrats to the degree that they will change parties and vote for the Republicans.
Oh, Conservatives....you have no other place to go....That is what the GOP thinks of us. Thye know we won't vote for a stinking demorat, so its okay to ignore the serious conservatives.
Right on target. However, this big tent concept has been tried and has failed. 1996 was a try at this. Dole wasn't a liberal, but he didn't excite the conservative base either. Combine that with a pathetic campaign (probably based on the feeling that conservatives have nowhere else to go) and you got 4 more years of the worst administration in our history.
Now fast-forward to today, again I see the GOP taking the base for granted. Again, the base won't vote for a democrat, they'll just stay home. When are these "moderate" republicans ever going to learn. You can't run like a "democrat-lite" and expect to win.
LOL. You are incredibly naive. You think two things that are simply not true:
#1, That the media will, following this "purge" of yours, then be able to find no one to demonize in the GOP
#2, That placating the media, rather than uphoding conservative principles, is a worthwhile endeavour.
SD
Yadadad,yadada..you have no idea what my view consists of because you don't read my responses to you. If you did you would know what I said and that I'm not a republican and never have been.
Why would a party want members who support those who...
...and blah de blahblah...you don't want us as members, you only want our votes. I'm having these exchanges with you and the other GOP fanatics to convicne Southern conservatives that you boys are worthless as allies and shouldn't be supported. Thanks to your help, it's working fine.
Thus, the exodus of the Un-believers in Republicanism strengthens the party in several ways: 1- Fewer potential backstabbers; 2- Removal of retrograd bloc which is anti-constitutional in essence and philosophy; 3- Takes one of the favorite weapons the lyin' mthrfckng media uses against the party, the unreconstructed defender of slavery, out of its hands....
.... and blablaBS piled upon more BS. See, you thnk it's all about "republicanism". It's about our Republic and its constitution. The only "ism" this should be about is conservatism. You're not a conservative, though. You're just a republican.
Thanks for helping me show my fellow Southern conservatives what a bunch of treacherous backstabbers you GOPers are. Enjoy your election results, boy. You're doing your all to put the dems back in charge so that your party can pretend to oppose them a little more convincingly.
Oh, and before I forget, just shut up and take it. When you get what you want, you will have a party of liberals who will have to merge with the democrats to keep from disappearing altogether.
I don't think these boys have much of a grip, myself. They got issues. ;-)
That's true. Just remember that there are "good old boys" all over the place, and all us Yankees aren't bad.
SD
Silly litle liberal girls is what all of you sound like.
The differences between the two kinds of statist politician you listed are miniscule, mostly consisting of semantics, mostly.
The original articles of the Constitution including the BoR did not grant the ferderal government the sweeping jurisdiciton involving the rights of citizens later added by the 14th amendment. It's very likely that the 14th amendment was enacted after failing ratification, too.
I won't vote for GW Bush for president in '04 unless he converts to conservatism. ;-) To answer your second post in this response, no party has ever left me. I'm not a joiner and don't really buy into the concept of political parties anyhow.
I know. In fact all of y'all northerners ain't yankees for that matter. ;-)
Maybe he has a better pulse on how far this Country is in deep clinton, and is just trying to stop the leak in the dam of freedoem.
He probably knows we will eventually IMO develop into a New World Order of a Workers Socialist Workers Republic.
I would love to see him step up to the plate and veto, veto, while the rats go into a jugular mode backed by their communist professors and leftist media, and, course, the pssy rinos who value their pontification more than what was supposed to be their principles.
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