Posted on 11/15/2008 12:15:19 PM PST by St. Louis Conservative
BY now you've probably heard: The GOP is becoming too regional, too white, too old to compete nationally. Democrats look like the cast of "Rent," while Republicans look like diehard fans of "Matlock" and "Murder, She Wrote."
Fine. The GOP needs to win over more Hispanics, young people, suburban women. That sounds plausible. But what does "win over" mean?
To listen to many pundits, it means Republicans must become Democrats. The GOP has become too socially conservative, and if it wants to win the support of mainstream voters, it will need to become more socially liberal.
If only the party could be more like former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, these voices have been saying for years, the GOP would truly become the majority party. Remember the Alan Alda character on NBC's blessedly defunct "West Wing"? We were told that his pro-choice stance on abortion would make the Republican Party vastly more competitive in places like California and New York.
The problem is that Alda's TV character is only marginally more fictional than Christine Todd Whitman. Economically conservative social liberals are the "jackalopes of American politics," in the words of National Review's Kate O'Beirne. The press keeps telling us they exist out there in huge numbers, but when you go looking for them, they refuse to emerge from the bushes.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Hopefully the soul of the G.O.P. has changed from a tired old white guy to Saracuda.
hahah, “Colin Powell endorsed bho for largely ethereal reasons.” hahah. I love Jonah Goldberg.
What does the US Military look like? I would venture to say that they are largely conservative in voting patterns...
So it can lose the support of grassroots conservatives like....... this last election!
Just damn!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
We can reach out to other groups by explaining why our beliefs in small gov’t, low taxes, free enterprise,stong defense,personal responibility... is better. The main issues people have are the financial and phyical security families. Once we show them that they will be more prosperous and safer under our plan, they will come. We should not abandon our pro-life principles.
Before the diversity question— the GOP has to account for the competency question.
If you look at the leadership situation...we have Boner, who has led us into historic defeat after historic defeat...
And the other guy, Lungren, who is the scariest looking politician I’ve ever seen. If the whole politics thing doesn’t work out, he could play the villian on 24.
I’m sorry but those cannot be the two best guys we can come up with. Historic defeat guy or scary villian guy. I would rather have Nancy Pelosi’s forehead as leader than either of those two.
How about if instead of adopting all of the stupid liberal views in order to appeal to the libs that that we choose to say that most (not all, of course) of the divisive issues are for the states to decide?
We need a smaller federal gov’t and the best way to make that happen is to push the authority back to the states. That way the libs in Kalifornia can enjoy their liberal lifestyle and the rest of us don’t have it forced upon us.
The Soul of the GOP is fine. Even the Heart is.
The Flesh, though, is weak.
Screw all this ideological theory and rhetoric. If we don’t make inroads in exposing ACORN and the Lame Stream Press Coverup Machine to the general voting public, we are doomed! Period!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Much of the GOP is old people. Sen Stevens is 84, and apparently retiring now. Rep Young is 74. There are younger up and coming personalities, but the young people seem to be much less interested in being any particular Party. Lots are registering Independent, which is perhaps not such a bad thing anymore.
exactly. I know more people who voted for Obama DESPITE the fact he’s pro-abortion then because of it. They voted for him because “he’s better on the economy” which is complete BS but that’s their thinking. McCain did a Horrible job explaining his economic plan. The last Republican who could explain financial matters was Reagan.
Bingo.
These economically fiscal-social liberal “moderates” sooner or later show their true colors. They wind up spending too much, or not seriously cutting taxes. Christine Whitman, Ah-nold Schwartzenegger, etc. They are liberals, period, and any Republican who is not a strong Social conservative should not be supported.
I have been a registered Republican since I was 18, but the party doesn’t want people like me around any more.
How stupid. Our social conservatism is the only thing with which minorities ever agree. We lose them because of our (former) opposition to big government and the welfare state. All we need to do to “win” them, apparently, is try to out-pander the ‘rats. We’d never win that race, and we shouldn’t try, or we’re not even conservative anymore.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
It’s to the point that I’m wondering if certain individuals in the Republican leadership have made deals with the left, for personal gain, because nothing else explains this blind stubbornness and refusal to see that they are rapidly losing the support of the conservative base, and they don’t have a realistic chance in hell of gaining ‘rat voters by trying to be the “rat-lite” party.
Ha. We tried that in the mid 1800s, and look where it got us. I’ll never understand why when the liberals despise the conservative south and even consider us as useless in contribution to the economy, they want to keep us here. Maybe we make a convenient scapegoat,
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“Ha. We tried that in the mid 1800s, and look where it got us.”
Not sure what you mean by that.
State’s Rights would be a lot better than a bloated federal gov’t like we have now.
I don’t think exposing ACORN and the MSM will get us much. Issues like that are only important to political junkies like you and me.
Most folks are occupied with trying to make sure their children are fed, clothed, and housed. We need to show them where our way of doing things makes it easier for them to get food, clothes, and shelter.
We also have an uphill battle showing them how the democRAT way makes their lives harder, thanks to the MSM misinformation machine.
Keep in mind that most of the general public still goes into the voting booth, and pulls the lever next to the name they’ve heard most often.
Jonah is right, but his piece is a little dry, IMO.
Our leaders in both parties are wrong. Most young people want sexually confused richer folks to stop using social programs to hurt working class families and using brainwashed American mothers and third-world hordes to cheat working class families in business.
The rhetoric about majorities wanting more feminist policies and other libertine policies is contrived by those of both parties who cheat their own neighbors to keep the potential domestic competition from rising.
The manipulative garbage on television and in public schools doesn’t form from thin air, and it isn’t sponsored by the government. It is sponsored by people in business—people who are also behind social policies in universities to the extent of having briefs filed to enforce such policies.
No, we don’t anymore. As much as I wish they hadn’t, for pragmatic reasons, I almost can’t blame the conservative voters who stayed home. Almost. It really was a question of how fast we expand government and curtail liberty, not whether we do.
I’ve often wondered that too. But a friend of mine used to say, “Never attribute to malice that which is more easily explained by stupidity”
What I mean is that I agree, I whole-heartedly support States’ Rights, but when we made the ultimate move to try to retain them, we were suppressed by war into relinquishing them. It would never even come to that these days, people won’t lay their lives on the line for freedom(excluding our wonderful military), you can barely get them to vote for it.
I would say you’re crazy, but sometimes, their decisions are so illogical, so detrimental to the cause that I can’t dismiss your theory out of hand.
“It would never even come to that these days, people won’t lay their lives on the line for freedom(excluding our wonderful military), you can barely get them to vote for it.”
I agree, it won’t come to armed conflict (thank God) but we need to find a way to make it happen some other way.
What in the world could this journalist mean by this? Doesn't he know that the bulk of the Democrat Party is a loose alliance of Godless communists/socialists, hate America first liberals, perverts, abortionists, feminists, criminals, environmentalists, welfare parasites, and racial minorities who will vote for the politician who promises to support them and their single issue. Any self-serving politician who promises these single-issue voters that he will put their issues ahead of what's best for the country will win their vote.
There is no way the Republican party can promise any of these special interest groups that the GOP will give them preferential treatment and still retain its soul.
John McCain tried it and look where it got him.
And while they don't participate in the organization of either party, they decide the election.
Yeah, that's the ticket to success. Just drive out the 20 + million evangelicals and the millions more devout pro-life Catholics who together make up the party's largest and most consistently loyal segment, and the liberals who tell pollsters they're moderate independents but always vote for Democrats will flock to the GOP in droves.
That said, there are also many who are flaming liberals and don't have a lick of sense. They are just as likely as the average civilian to become disgruntled and want someone to give them their own piece of the pie. I work with a TSgt who is afraid of guns and doesn't see anything wrong with limiting them. Another guy (retired AF) was involved in the DoD civilian unions and thinks unions are the greatest. I bet both of them that in less than 18 months they will have to do some soul searching because Obama (their choice) is at the controls.
Thank you for your service.
I have heard tell of a discussion among a small group of junior officers who wondered if you could be a conscientious objector and refuse to come home from a war zone.....and which oath was more binding: the one to preserve, protect and defend or to obey the Commander in Chief.
The day is coming when we will all have to choose between that which is easy and that which is right.
It turns out that people who buy into the logic of social liberalism usually find themselves ill-equipped ideologically to say no to spending on causes they care about.
True. But that's the nature of our representatives. Even some who are very socially conservative find it hard to turn down spending, especially when they don't have to raise taxes to spend the money.
Well in the schools it is, but you are absolutely right. I don't know of a single show, that does not interject some snide remark, about republican. I am not positive, since they sneak them in very easily, but maybe "The Unit" has remained pretty neutral, tho of course Haysbert certainly hasn't.
Law & Order is probably the worst of the bunch.
One funny line was when Munch asked Iced Tea, if he had any other hidden secrets, he replied,"Yeah, I am a Republican. May be true since I think he performed at the Bush daughters wedding, and the pig tail disappeared after that.
The GOP isn’t going to win over many new voters right now, but with solutions in hand for the coming nightmare, we can win over a lot of voters, people who will know they’ve been suckered by the Obamarama circus. We won’t have to play like Democrats, but we better be smart enough to have real answers and some candidates who can communicate them. If the Republican Party wants to waste more time on the moderate, intellectual suicide train, pushing social conservatives off the track, we are screwed. This is the wrong time for that debate. The second Civil War has begun in earnest. Choose sides.
I think the trick is to start running against the Democrats as “The Establishment”...this makes R’s more cool, more hip and it is TRUE. The Democrats ARE the establishment, in favor of big power, status quo things and NO NEW IDEAS. Good, new, creative ideas are needed to be contrasted with the (yawn) same old same old Democratic slogans and ideas. This would make them suddenly the party of the OLD, party of the past, party that doesn’t “get it” etc.
I taught a few years in California, the homosexual agenda is very active. That said, most of the founders of Education felt that parents were too stupid to raise their children, Webster being one of the worst. Parents lost all control over their children, when school consolidation started, right after WW II, all under the guise of providing a better education.
Schools used to be in neighborhoods where students were known by all, now they are able to hide among as many as 5000 students.
Ronald Reagan ran with two major objective, at least they were the most touted; 55 mph speed limit,( Double Nickels was very unpopular) and abolish the Federal Department of Education. He accomplished one.
Excuse the rambling, I am tired.
You mean they all have AIDS ?
Your comments were well written, and I agree.
If it is still like it was during my 23 years, the military is largely apolitical.
Well, I for one am glad he abolished the Department of Education 'cause he didn't do the other.
No, they have ebola. /sarc
They are AIDS.
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