Posted on 03/21/2006 6:31:53 AM PST by Frank T
Members of Congress retire all the time, but some retirements are leading indicators of the direction of our politics. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert's announcement last week to call it quits matters, and in a depressing way.
The affable 69-year-old New York Republican is one of the last of a breed: a liberal Republican, though he calls himself a "moderate" and has the record to prove it. Boehlert's departure does not leave the House bereft of liberal Republicans -- Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa is more liberal than Boehlert. But Leach, alas, is an outlier. The spotted owl is in good shape compared with liberal Republicans.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
He chooses not to identify Goldwater as a libertarian.
"The spotted owl is in good shape compared with liberal Republicans."
This is bad news? Not.
E.J. Dionne, that's pretty much all you need to read.
How about all those conservative democRATs E.J.? Since Zell Miller retired, they're pretty much extinct.
The Republican party is much, much, MUCH more tolerant and diverse in political thought than the Democrat Party. When you find a low-tax, pro-life, anti-welfare state Democrat it is an anomaly. The Republicans--sometimes to the detriment of the majority of their membership--work to elect "progressives", pro-choice and even liberal members of their caucus.
There is NO "Lincoln Chafee" of the Democrats---one who constantly goes against the majority of his party. There is no "John McCain" or "Olympia Snow" among the 'rats.
The closest MIGHT be Ben Nelson of Nebraska...but like I said, they are the EXCEPTION not the rule. The Republican party is rife with "non-conformists".
I await a story titled The Democrats Shrinking Middle.
Now if only we could do something about the liberal Republicans in the Senate. Unfortunately I think that would require about 45 to 50 retirements.
Any time you see a left-wing shill like Ed Dionne commenting on the state of the GOP, you can bet that it's a partisan screed designed to drive a wedge into the party as deeply as possible. EJ Dionne knows as much about Republicans as Bill Clinton knows about chastity.
The editorialized title of this thread contradicts you.
Most far-righters would prefer that democrats replace the moderate republicans.
it's time for the gop to close the book on the so called rockefeller republicans and send them packing to the other side of the aisle.
Goldwater suffered from dementia, and that is what caused his politics to shift in later life.
LLS
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