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GOP Suicide Squad Continues
A mind blowing post from a conservative perspective on how the GOP should deal with Election 2010.
Perhaps the most amazing quote comes from Senator DeMint who says:
“I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”
The Republicans would do well by nominating someone like Ridge, indeed he would probably be a slight favorite over Specter. But the hard liners seem determined to push for the nomination of Toomey, who most realistic Republicans say has no chance of winning.
I have no idea if Ridge is going to run but based on this post it seems the rumor mills are flying. I would guess that we will probably get some sort of announcement by the end of summer to clear the field for Ridge.
22 Responses to “GOP Suicide Squad Continues”
I know this is the moderate voice but I don't find it absurd that some ideological “purists” would argue for having strict ideologues in their league. i think his argument makes sense, at least as a starting point for their conservative values. You could start with those 30 or so and then generations later finally grow up and embrace moderate views. my pointing being, it makes sense for them to (re)start off that way.
They will more likely die out that way.
As the GOP found out when they were in the majority, it is easier to speak of ideological purity than to govern with it. Staying in power requires satisfying many special interests with funding. Republicans found out that they enjoyed staying in power, and so became intimately connected with many lobbying firms on K Street during the 90's and in the Bush years.
Now that they are no longer in power and can't be held responsible for anything it is convenient for them to return to their purified “principles.”
DeMint, “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”
Since when have the Republicans actually been for “free people”? For the Republicans such as DeMint “free people” means people who agree with him and his crew. You can't have “free people” who believe in ideas different from your own only to impose a litmus test of limited government, free markets and free people. Because once you're in office you have to negotiate with people who have differing beliefs. And if you're not willing to give an inch because you're so ideologically pure…. then nothing gets done.
Say what, Stockboy? It sounds like your arguing that people can't be free if they're not free to vote for government policies that empower government to do broad sweeping things.
When's the last time you read the Federalist papers?
If conservaties were smart, the Repubican Party would disband and all of the conservatives would start running and campaigining inside the Democratic primaries. Toomey would have a better chance of winning the Democratic primary against a range of candidates than running against as a Republican when 50% of the voters will automatically vote for whoever has a (D) next to their name.
Demint is being a bit specious, since when the GOP actually had power there weren't 30 Republicans acting like that anyway. Maybe he is saying to just start over but I agree it's more likely to just marginalize the party out of existence. I prefer the Reagan quote “the person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.”
Liberals never have understood the difference between the parties.
Conservatives are people who maintain a core set of principles based on small government, low taxes, strong national defense, individual freedom and responsibility and free market capitalism. Conservatives have always done well in elections when we ran candidates that adhere to these principles.
Conservatives build winning majorities by drawing people to this principled position.
Liberals, on the other hand, are an amalgamated group of aggrieved interest groups who revel in victimhood. No principles, no central core, just a desire for power in order to address the wants and desires of the varied groups. Of course, it is not in the interest of the ruling class of the democrat party to ever solve the problems of the victim groups, because they would then loose the cause and intensity of the voters.
Liberals build winning majorities by convincing people that whatever their problems, government can fix it.
Conservatives win on principles and ideas.
Liberals win on personality and promises.
When conservatives say they don’t mind that certain people are leaving the party, they mean it in the sense that it will be easier to communicate the core principles and in turn bring people into agreement with our positions.
In 2010, a large number of congressmen and senators will need to explain why they voted on a trillion dollar stimulus bill that they never read. If the economy has recovered by November of ’10 and unemployment is down to less than 5% nationally, the democrats should do just fine. If not, the personalities and promises might not work.
“Liberals build winning majorities by convincing people that whatever their problems, government can fix it.
Conservatives win on principles and ideas.
Liberals win on personality and promises.”
Your bubble theory I'm afraid has been popped long ago. Keep telling yourself that based on weak anecdotal evidence, wear a blond wig and call yourself Ann and you'll sell tons of books.
Conservatives win on THEIR principles and ideas, just as liberals do. Just as moderates do etc. Please try to peek out of your blind ideological hole now and again, and try to focus on actual facts and not your opinion. Don't confuse the two as you have so been wont to do.
What are the liberal and moderate principles?
If you think, like I do, of the GOP as organized crime…the stalwart ones hanging on… then yeah, it makes perfect sense what they're saying..
Moderate republicans are a threat to the fold. They might “squeal” or change sides at a critical moment when leverage is needed. The Godfather would have the same mentality. If you think of it that a clustered nucleus of really bad men want to continue their badness unfettered with things like common sense, morality and the good of the nation in mind [as they most nauseatingly wave those same flags as their uniting banner *retch*] then shoving out moderates makes perfect “sense”.
So don't be so mystified. BigOil, BigPharmaceuticals, and BigInsurance had a great racket going for decades. Now that racket is jeopardized and their fighting back from their core. Voters take note..
Conservatives are people who maintain a core set of principles based on small government, low taxes, strong national defense, individual freedom and responsibility and free market capitalism.
And of that list Republicans have only held strong on low taxes. Although that has to give eventually because we can't keep increasing the debt forever.
Chris,
You are correct, sir. That is why the party is in the state it is.
As the people who have strayed from the core principles are purged, the party can rebuild by attracting people who are in agreement with those values.
jwest,
But that would require purging just about all of them. Right?
Depends on what you consider “all of them”.
As far as elected officials, any and all of them who don’t believe in small government over large bureaucracy, low taxes as opposed to confiscatory taxes that punish success, strong national defense as opposed to unilateral disarmament, individual freedom/responsibility over collectivism and capitalism over socialism need to be shown the door.
From what is left, we will stand and explain why these values are best for the individuals and the country. Those who agree will be asked to join with us. Those that don’t can be democrats.
jwest, nice vision, though myopic in terms of anyone outside your belief system. I can just as easily say that the GOP runs on “promises” and when in power abandons principle (they do). It shows in the way they govern, which is seen as favoring the rich at the expense of everyone else. I especially like the right trying to demonize the term “populism” like they did “liberal” (not directed at you jwest).
Democrats believe “everyone does better when everyone does better.” GOP tends to favor the idea that everyone will do better when the upper class, the investor class, does better. Democrats are measurably better on the issues of education, health and environment, and a stronger hand in regulating corporate excesses (and this is a VERY tough time to argue that corporations don't need regulation).
The other amusing GOP talking point, repeated here often, is that the Democrats are “pandering” or “buying votes” by offering government help to the middle class and lower. That would be “the majority”. As reprehensible as it may seem to you that a party would “pander” to the majority, that is exactly what majority rule is about. It's our money, and if we want to spend it to better educate our kids, protect our environment, our communities and our wages, or even slap punitive restrictions on foreign slave-labor competitors, that is our right as the majority.
GD,
You are absolutely correct that a number of Republicans in recent years abandoned their principles once they were in power. Most who did that have paid the price by being voted out of their jobs.
I abhor the version of populism that demonizes the successful people as being the reason the poor are in the situation they are in. The thought that life is a zero-sum game and that if someone is rich it must mean that he stole his wealth by cheating the poor. This type of populism hurts everyone, but it seems to be a favorite among the democrats.
You say that democrats “do better” on subjects like education and healthcare. From my point of view, democrats who have protected the teacher’s union over last 4 decades should be arrested and tried as the criminals that most certainly are. It’s unbelievably offensive to watch the energy liberal put into complaining about terrorist being waterboarded while every year tens of thousands of inner city children are herded through an uncaring school system to a life of ignorance and poverty.
What is the greater crime?
Democrats are the masters of pandering. It works at times, but only temporarily. Common sense eventually kicks in, people see that they can’t get something for nothing and the political wind shifts.
I didn't say anything about demonizing the 'successful'. Indeed, I'm among them. Nor did I suggest causality between the successful being successful and the plight of the poor.
As for teachers' unions, a favorite whipping boy for the right, Obama has said pay raises should be merit based and we need to be able to fire people for poor performance. That isn't at all the way you're characterizing Democrats, and I haven't seen anyone here on the right saying “Way to go, Obama” for taking that stand.
And I have said many times, we need public education, and the way to make it better is to, well, make it better.
There is no correlation between denying the concept that private schools should get my tax dollars and saying that American soldiers should sexually humiliate and beat Arab teens.
And again, “pandering” to the majority is majority rule. I'm glad to see it. “People see they can't get something for nothing.” Really funny. What people see is that the GOP favors people who do no productive work, in the financial sector and those who live exclusively on pushing money and stock around. They have been coddled and tax-cut and frankly, pandered to, at the expense of people who work their butts off.
I’ll give Obama an “attaboy” when he provides something other than lip service.
Every liberal who ever walked the face of the earth has made noises about improving the system, but as is evident by the results, every one of them has lied.
The telling action so far has been Obama denying access to Sidwell Friends to two poor kids who received a scholarship in previous years. Watch what he does, not what he says.
Every conservative who ever walked the face of the earth has made noises about improving the system, but as is evident by the results, every one of them has lied.
As for Sidwell Friends, excellent school. It's Quaker, which I have no problem with. But if my tax dollars can pay for a private Quaker school, they could be used to pay for an Islamic Maddrassas school. I don't object to religious schools, but I do object to tax moneys paying for them. I don't favor my tax dollars going to any for-profit private school. What kind of so-called conservative are you, anyway? You think if a for-profit company can't make it on their own, they are entitled to a government handout?
You're full of it.
You understand conservative principles, as do I, but clearly know nothing about the opposing ideology. That's basically the RNC right now and exactly why they're stuck in the mud. Keep it up.
What part of the public schools in Newark, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Chicago, LA, St Louis, etc represent the part where everyone should do better. When given the choice between the Teachers unions doing better and the students doing better, the Democrats always choose the teachers unions. When choosing between blue collar whites and illegal immigrants, the Democrats always choose the illegal immigrants. When choosing between the healthcare industry and the trial laywers, the Democrats will always choose the trial lawyers. When choosing between the public sector unions or the private sector, the Democrats will always choose the public sector employers.
The party that has run the public schools in Baltimore for over 40 years cannot claim to be better at education. The party that ran the criminal justice system for decades and produce high crime rates in Baltimore cannot really claim that they are better.
And yes, the Democrats do pander. Look at the Ricci case in front of the Supreme Court in April. The Democrats are blatantly pandering to blacks and Hispanics at the expense of middle class whites.
Anyone who believes that the Democrats really care about people has never driven through west Baltimore, East St Louis, south-central LA, Newark, Detroit, etc.
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