NYP: GOP ACHILLES HEEL--HOW REPUBLICANS LOST WEST

New York Post ^ | March 28, 2008 | Ryan Sager

[mtnjimmi]

Trying to correct a wrong in a party that has abandoned its roots is small beans in the face of this pandemic. the problem with the republican party has always been that the Reagen republicans are a minority, the McCain's seem to control the party, thats where the losses are coming from.

[DesScorp]

“Wouldn’t have anything to do with socialists fleeing California, would it?”

Yup. Tens of millions of Californians... many Liberal... having fled that state in the last decade, for surrounding states.... and bringing their leftist poison with them. They weren’t content with screwing up California. They’re determined to do it Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, etc too.

[Liberty Valance]

This will continue until the 9th circuit is disbanded and reformed to represent real America and not just San Francisco. This and a heavy veto pen should be job 1 for any conservative Presidential candidate. If John McCain added this to his WOT policies he could gain a great deal of support. JMHO.

[Cicero]

McCain has already said that he never would have appointed Alito to SCOTUS. And he has demonstrated that his idea of passing bills and confirmations through congress is “bipartisanship.”

I.e., he will work with Ted Kennedy and his other friends to choose his judges, so as to have an easier time confirming them.

So we won’t get more Ruth Bader Ginsbergs if McCain becomes president, just more David Souters.

[ncalburt]

I think his comments on Alito were twisted there and taken out of contents but it spread like wild fire on the net . He voted for Alito !

[Red Boots]

CO was invaded by the eco crazies from Calif and all over the country. It had NOTHING to do with repub policies. I used to do consulting there and locals were screaming about the invasion.

I live here and while it is quite true that we've been invaded, imo, it wasn't only that. The Dem's somehow captured a lot of our voters. Our county has a lot of new people, but we still outnumbered registered Democrats 3 to 1, and they still won.

I knew people who are staunch conservatives who I know voted for Salazar, even knowing he was a Dem. Some based on race, some because the conservatives were labeled extreme.

And, our party really has collapsed since that election. Even when the first thing the new Democratic legislature did was work on circumnavigating TABOR (our taxpayers bill of rights, requiring all new tax increase to be set before the people), there was nary a peep from the Republican party. The only guy who cared was Joe what'shisname from the Independence Institute.

I went to the caucus and signed my name on a volunteer sheet, but have heard nothing.

[bilhosty]

“I think his comments on Alito were twisted there and taken out of contents but it spread like wild fire on the net . He voted for Alito !”

I agree. I think he was just saying that Alito was to obvious and it might be better to appoint someone with the same principles who had a little more camouflage.

[Norman Bates]

McCain said he would never appoint a justice like Souter. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

[Cicero]

Yes, he voted for Alito. The spotlight was on him. But I read his remarks, and basically he said that if he had been Bush, rather than a senator, he would not have chosen Alito for confirmation—because he was too controversial.

Well, let’s face it. If McCain is elected president, and the Democrats control congress, the only way to confirm decent SCOTUS appointees will be to fight it, tooth and nail. The majority of the voters oppose unlimited abortion, which is how Bush finally got Roberts and Alito confirmed—by backing the Dems against the wall.

I just don’t see McCain doing that sort of thing. The only people he enjoys screwing are conservatives.

[Old North State]

Conservatives in general may be in for a rough time, not just in Colorado. I saw a study last year that reported that 53% of Americans now say they get a significant portion of their income from the government, it's also true that the top 20% of Americans pay most of the income taxes collected each year. The people who vote for Democrats are voting to give themselves other people's money, hard to see it stopping until the money runs out.

[Cicero]

Easy to say after the fact. Souter was appointed as a “stealth” candidate, under the assumption that a recognized conservative would be borked. His patron from New Hampshire vouched for him as a covert conservative—and either was fooled, or lied about it, nobody knows for sure.

Souter’s true colors only emerged after he got on the court.

There was one rule for the Democrats—appoint anyone you like and we’ll confirm her—and another for the Republicans—be bipartisan, or we’ll stonewall you. I just don’t think McCain is going to fight that. I’d love to be proven wrong, but his political history, especially in the last decade, is not encouraging.

[marsh2]

I think the statistics you quote indicates more that the distribution of wealth is such that there is no longer a middle class. Many people who previously could pay for health care, food, gas, utilities and housing have reached a point that inflation has outstripped their pay and the credit card buffer is all used up. There is no longer an incentive to support the status quo when people can no longer succeed in playing the game.

The top 20% may be paying the taxes, but they also have all the wealth. Your statistics show that a tipping point has been reached where the majority of Americans aren’t able to make it in the current economy and system. This means the election may see the ice burg roll over as people are enticed by the Democrat promise of greener pastures.

[Defiant]

It's simple--the libs are spreading far and wide, like a cancer. They are not simply staying put in one area. They moved from MA to NH and made it a lib state, slowly. Californians did the same to Oregon. Florida is getting ever more liberal, especially as the libs from NY that move there live longer.

They imported Mexicans into SoCal to turn it from a conservative base into a leftist province. They are moving to Montana, Colorado, Idaho.

Public education accellerates the process. Children of conservatives can be turned with 12 years of state propaganda and a healthy dose of TV. It takes an extraordinary amount of parenting to raise a child who understands the world from a conservative, pro-family, religious, traditional American point of view when they are 20, and to keep them that way after they finish college.

Conservatives need to understand that their ability to influence this nation is in danger of disappearing. Just a few more states go into lib control, and we will be a permanent minority. The civil war was fought because the south was going to lose ability to control of the federal government, once the territories came in as free states. We are about to be in the same position, but in a better cause.

It is important to have a strategy for reversing this trend while we can. That means gaining control of the federal government with Conservatives in charge within the next few years, before amnesty passes and before another 10 years worth of kids raised at government schools reaches voting age. It means having conservative leaders who are teachers, who explain what they are doing and why, and who convince people of the correctness of their policies. Reagan made people conservative, he didn't get elected because they were conservative to begin with. With a conservative government, we can reform the judiciary, reduce spending, begin a long, multi-generational process of regaining control of the institutions, which are wholly the province of the left. Perhaps, with a little luck, we can take the country back from marxism. But right now, we are not looking like the horse to bet on.

[goldfinch]

A few rich Democrats...some local, some out of state...poured a good deal of money into the Colorado to take over the state legislature. It was a great use of money because state congressional races are low budget in comparison to what it takes to elect a US Senator and/or Representative. The Democrats were able to flood their district with mailings and phone calls and the Republican candidates did not have the money or the organization to do so.

It is a lesson Republicans should learn from. And freepers, too. Give some money to your local candidates...and volunteer for them too. A little time and money can make a lot of difference...especially in suburban districts that are too big for people to personally know either candidate...and where races are are not terribly well covered. A cheerful volunteer walking the neighborhood and handing out literature on behalf of a candidate for the state legislature could be the only personal touch a citizen gets...and he just might remember the candidates name when he steps into the voting booth.

Too often, we get caught up in the national races because they run the ads and get our blood boiling. This year, with conservatives unhappy with McCain, is a good time to concentrate on the local races.

[neverdem]

BTTT!

[LWalk18]

I agree- if we are going to have good consevative candidates in the future we must nurture them in local, then statewide races. A talented conservative state legislator is a future talented governor and then hopefully a great conservative president. The alternative is the mess we have in this election.

[Old North State]

I disagree, Wealth income is not a major factor in current income for the vast majority of Americans, it is not a major factor in the amount of income extracted from the American people. The ability of people to meet current expenses is not related in any significant way to wealth distribution. Most Americans are in the middle class and the overwhelming amount of money collected in taxes is from the middle class. Middle class Americans have never earned more income than they do right now.
What has changed is the number of people receiving entitlements and who employed directly or indirectly by government, it has never been greater than 50% until now. People who feed from the government trough are unlikely to vote to contain it, the tipping point is reached when there are more people(voters) taking from the trough then there are filling it. Recall the often quoted phrase, ‘democracy will fail when the people realize that they can vote themselves money from the public purse’, I think they have figured it out.

[bilhosty]

WE have lost the west many times before. some of this is just by holding the Presidency for 6 years. After 1974 we lost every Governorship out there including Wyoming Idaho and Utah. We had lost more Senate seats to. We need to watch it and keep out ears to the ground and feel what is going on. But, we do not need to panic and be defeatist either.

[fieldmarshaldj]

CO was a prime example of BAD RINO leadership. You’d be amazed what one lousy RINO Governor can do to a party in short order. Owens took a Republican state and turned it rodent. Lost the legislature on his watch, the Governorship, and the majority of Congressional seats.