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Bush has been a Moderate all Along (and He always campaigned as such )
RealClearPolitics.com ^ | 10/26/2005 | Ruben Navarrette Jr

Posted on 10/26/2005 10:17:22 AM PDT by SirLinksalot

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I think we should not be surprised here.

Bush might support a lot of conservative positions ( e.g., Tax Cuts, Social Security reform/privatization, Partial Birth abortion ban, Defense of Traditional Marriage, Strong Military, etc. )

But in other areas, he has been less than conservative ( and I think he never hid this in his campaign).

For example -- strengthening Federal control of education, steel tarrifs, never vetoing any spending bill, actually out-spending Clinton, Carter and LBJ, signing the McCain-Feingold bill, Diversity regardless of capability ( e.g. Harriet Miers ).

Lets face it folks -- We elected a moderate, not a conservative president.

Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.

1 posted on 10/26/2005 10:17:23 AM PDT by SirLinksalot
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To: SirLinksalot

Actually we elected a "compassionate conservative", remember?

Apparently "compassionate" means "false".


2 posted on 10/26/2005 10:19:40 AM PDT by thoughtomator
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To: SirLinksalot

I have pointed this out before on FR - that Bush campaigned as a moderate - and been nearly laughed out of the room. But it's true.

When he came to our hometown, I nearly didn't go because I don't particularly care for moderates. And our newspaper labeled his "compassionate conservative" style of govering as moderate.

And I think he's governed as a moderate during his presidency. Some liberal philosophies and some conservative philosophies.

That's why it cracks me up when I hear the media go ballistic because he's too conservative.


3 posted on 10/26/2005 10:21:24 AM PDT by Peach (I believe Congressman Weldon.)
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To: SirLinksalot

Hes a placeholder President. Better than most. The question is placeholding for what? Im afraid hes got the same clueless disengauged gene his father had. What is he working on? What conservative victories are coming down the pipe? Name one.

Conservative brethern..ask yourself..what has he done for conservatives in the last 3 years???


4 posted on 10/26/2005 10:21:30 AM PDT by samadams2000 (Nothing fills the void of a passing hurricane better than government)
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To: SirLinksalot

Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.
------
The choices are pathetic. Bad or worse. This country needs A REAL CONSERVATIVE in the Oval Office. Washington is clearly out of control. Only a Reagan conservative, with a Congressional majority can fix it. It is not being fixed now, because Bush is not a conservative and he is not a fighter.


5 posted on 10/26/2005 10:23:32 AM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: SirLinksalot

At this point, I rate him only a little above President Reagan.


6 posted on 10/26/2005 10:23:56 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
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To: SirLinksalot

Um, Bush campaigned as a "compassionate conservative". This article is very bad.


7 posted on 10/26/2005 10:23:58 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator (This space outsourced to India)
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To: SirLinksalot

"Lets face it folks -- We elected a moderate, not a conservative president."

Yup! If he'd been a real conservative, he would not have been elected. He's not, so he was.

My parents, who are now 81 years old actually split their vote in 2004. I cannot remember a time when they did not vote the GOP ticket, right down the line.

Were it not for moderate support for President Bush, we would have a different President in the White House.

I keep reading about Bush's "base." For those who are confused on this matter, Bush's "base" is not evangelical Christians or Constitutionalists. It is middle-of-the road America. That's Bush's base, and always has been.

You can see this in the suprise posted here each time President Bush has gone in a moderate direction. CFR. Immigration. Spending like there was no tomorrow.

President Bush is a moderate Republican. He is not now, nor has he ever been a true conservative. Neither is Miers.


8 posted on 10/26/2005 10:24:54 AM PDT by MineralMan (godless atheist)
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To: SirLinksalot

Lets face it folks -- We elected a moderate, not a conservative president.

Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.




In the Primary of 2000? Think again and then remember that when the real conservatives running in 2008 "cant win" talk begins. I want a conservative and I am willing to "take my chances on "winning". Winners who spend more than the oposition and nominate people like Miers are worse than losing, because we can always stand united against a Clintonite.


9 posted on 10/26/2005 10:26:26 AM PDT by Waywardson (Carry on! Nothing equals the splendor!)
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To: EagleUSA

"This country needs A REAL CONSERVATIVE in the Oval Office."

Perhaps so. Name one with a prayer of being elected in the USA of today.


10 posted on 10/26/2005 10:27:04 AM PDT by MineralMan (godless atheist)
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To: SirLinksalot

A national candidate who campaigns as an extremist ideologue is guaranteed to lose.


11 posted on 10/26/2005 10:27:47 AM PDT by tkathy (Do-nothings are not the ones who have saved oppressed people from tyranny.)
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To: samadams2000

That's right, dammit! Why should we care if he and half his administration is indicted? He's nothing but a stinkin' RINO so let them all twist in the wind. We conservatives should head for the tall grass, hide out from the assault from the left and return in 2008 to fight a new battle.


12 posted on 10/26/2005 10:29:44 AM PDT by Russ
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To: SirLinksalot
Let's face it . . . Any principled conservative would be run out of politics long before he got within a thousand miles of the White House.

Thankfully, the same thing usually applies to hard-core liberals, too. Mike Dukakis is one exception I can think of. That ACLU candy-@ss somehow slipped through the cracks -- and promptly got trounced in 1988 by a guy who will be remembered as one of the most limp-wristed, mediocre presidents this nation has ever had.

13 posted on 10/26/2005 10:30:42 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (I ain't got a dime, but what I got is mine. I ain't rich, but Lord I'm free.)
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To: EagleUSA
Nope. You will just keep voting for the 'electable', citizen subject. Whatever hack the RNC tosses up next will the only choice. Do you understand? To state otherwise will cause you to be ostracized from the 'group'.
14 posted on 10/26/2005 10:31:03 AM PDT by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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To: SirLinksalot

15 posted on 10/26/2005 10:31:56 AM PDT by Graymatter
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To: Chi-townChief
A little "above" Reagan?

Are you joking.

Above Reagan?? ??? ????

16 posted on 10/26/2005 10:32:21 AM PDT by CarlPerkins (Buy gold now before Bernanke fires up his printing press...)
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To: SirLinksalot
Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.

It's like going into a restaurant where there's nothing but pot roast and meat loaf on the menu, then complaining to the waitress that you want filet mignon.

17 posted on 10/26/2005 10:34:06 AM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: Alberta's Child

"Any principled conservative would be run out of politics..." - Alberta's Child

Really? Like Reagan?


18 posted on 10/26/2005 10:34:57 AM PDT by mdefranc
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To: Alberta's Child
Dukakis? How about Jean Francois Kerry? He's more liberal than Ted Kennedy, and yet came fairly close to replacing GWB.

We are BARELY majority Republican, and yet people here are upset that the White House and Congress aren't majority Conservative. The country is not majority conservative. I read somewhere recently about estimates that Liberals - Moderates - Conservatives are something like 20% - 50% - 30%. That sounds fairly accurate.

19 posted on 10/26/2005 10:36:46 AM PDT by You Dirty Rats (Lashed to the USS George W. Bush: "Damn the Torpedos, Full Miers Ahead!!")
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To: Waywardson

"Winners who spend more than the oposition and nominate people like Miers are worse than losing, because we can always stand united against a Clintonite."

Yeah. We sure did a great job standing against Clinton when he picked Ginsburg for SCOTUS!!

What everyone needs to understand is that except for the Conservatives, everyone in this country took a step to the left.

Everyone on the right was enamored with Bush because he was pro-life, pro-traditional marriage and pro-second amendment. And he comes from a state that has an express line to execute killers.

That didn't make him Conservative. That made him moral. And part of being moral is helping out those less fortunate than you, which explains his support for faith based charities and spending programs that help everyone.

Minus the "Abortion and Traditional Marriage" aspect of it, Rudy can be the 2008 nominee. And he probably is the only one besides Condi that can beat the one that shall be nameless.


20 posted on 10/26/2005 10:36:59 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Liberal Talking Point - Bush = Hitler ... Republican Talking Point - Let the Liberals Talk)
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