Posted on 01/17/2009 12:30:55 PM PST by dr_who
With everything we've been reading about this cruddy election, how things aren't likely to change in 2010, talk about a possible political realignment, Democrat dominance for an entire generation, etc.... where are the stories about Republican incumbents switching parties, particularly those endangered RINOS in the Northeast? We were getting reports of southern Democrats changing parties in droves back in 1994. What's so different about this if things are as bad as they are and pubbies are so afraid of their survival?
We’ve seen a lot of retirements, which I think indicates where we are right now. You are right, though, there are not party switches right now...of course the Dems do not need to entice any switchers because they already have the votes.
You do not need party switchers when Colin Powell, former GOP elected officials, a former Bush Spokesperson and some conservative commentators all endorsed Obama.
True. No such thing as party discipline in Republican land. Perhaps that should change.
According to the media the Republicans are always a dying party.
There aren’t a lot of Republicans from the North East left to switch. The Republicans we do have left tend to be from localities where such a switch would be political suicide.
This is more than just MSM as usual. The Washington GOP has become utterly worthless. They don't stand up and fight for ANYTHING. Their entire modus operandi appears to be, "Can't we all just get along? Please? Pretty please?"
One of two things needs to happen: We need to utterly flush the GOP, or we need to join a new party. The current GOP is dead as a viable alternative to liberalism, and that's reality.
MM (in TX)
You mean that they represent disticts cock full of staunch, socially liberal tax-and-spend deliver-the-pork Republicans (instead of Democrats)?
We are sick, not dying at this point. We have steadily lost support from suburbanites over the past 15 years, and the rural areas aren’t exactly booming. We have also hit a brick wall when it comes to attracting additional (white, rural/suburban) voters in places like Wisconsin, Minnesota, and (eastern) Iowa, to say nothing of white Catholics outside of the red states.
This is not really a focus, other than as indication that there is no Democratic groundswell.
The real question is where did the votes come from to switch North Carolina and Indiana. Colorado is known. Those other two states are a big switch from 2004, and likely not all blacks.
I would say they are dead, or close on life support.
I think the more interesting question is how many conservatives have left the Republican Party. Here in New York, I have just left the Republican Party and registered with the Conservative Party.
Where are the Conservative party office holders? Or does the CP mainly exist to pull the NY Republicans to the right?
If the more liberal factions lose out (the coastal moderates and about half of the libertarians), many of them may well leave the GOP. If the more conservative elements lose, they may well move to form a third party.
(* "Coastal moderates" is a term I have coined to describe older Establishment Republicans from wealthy and connected families who tend to be fiscally temperate but socially liberal.)
The margin of victory for Obama in NC was fairly narrow. Combine a much more motivated group of black voters, many first time, with a large influx of northeasterners and a possibly more successful GOTV effort on the several large state college campuses, and there you go. Not to mention apathy among conservative Evangelicals, who remember quite well John McCain’s disdainful attitude towards them in 2000.
I saw a picture of Lindsey Graham with Obama and Biden and it occurred to me that liberal republicans will have more power staying in the republican party under our new democrat overlords. Their votes will be highly valued because any legislation they help pass will be called bi-partisan.
In the Deep South everybody who got elected was a Democrat for a long time, so there were plenty of Democrats in Washington and in state houses who were long ripe for a party change. An established one-party system ensured that conservative Democrats could stay in office until they were ready to jump over to the Republicans.
In the Northeast, Republicans have been in a minority for quite a while, so there aren't that many potential party-switchers in office. Plus, it was more likely that Republicans would already have been defeated at some point. There wasn't that kind of dogged party loyalty that there was in the Old South.
The South going from solidly Democrat to strongly Republican was the sort of thing that only happens once in a very, very long time in politics. The change was so dramatic because of that party loyalty, which has long been less in the Northern states. The closest parallel to the Southern situation would be Vermont. It's a very small state with little representation in Washington. Jim Jeffords swapped parties in 2002 and that's it.
Looking at a map of House seats, it looks like the Democrats already control most of the area where they'd be expected find Republican turncoats. Because party loyalty is less in the North and West, some of the rural and suburban seats Republicans lost will come back to them in time.
The first thing is to get rid of rino's then fight the dems. The enemy within does much more damage than any democrat could ever dream of doing!
Elections have consequences!
Here in N.C., it’s a flood of Yankees and illegals, and a tremendous anti-Bush vote (freepers want to ignore that factor, but it helped make my state blue). Independents, many of whom are ex-Reagan Republicans like myself, split down the middle and so weren’t a factor in the election.
North Carolina has become South Maryland
North Carolina is New Jersey south. It’s turning into a sewer since all we’re getting now is unemployable working class losers. You see them every day around here pacing the sidewalks in their baseball caps and padded jackets, heads down and foreheads furrowed. There’s no place for them here.
I should point out that I lived in New Jersey for six years, and had a great time. It’s nothing personal. They just don’t belong here, any more than I belonged there.
I’m beginning to think that RINOs are the “spotted owls” of the Republican party. They’re just a way to stop conservatives from doing anything.
To be a Democrat you have to subscribe to the ideas of:
Killing your unborn children in the womb. The Democrat party has taken over the role of God when it comes to deciding which children deserve the right to Life and which can be “legally” killed.
Gay marriage. The Holy Covenant between one man, one woman, and God, that has served mankind well since the dawn of time is no longer good enough. Again the Democrat party subverts the will of God and takes it upon themselves to uproot the bedrock foundation of society.
Government is your nanny from cradle (if you make it that far) to grave (and they’ll assist you to it if you don’t die soon enough for them).
The “self-evident truth” that all men are created equal by their Creator and endowed with certain inalienable rights including the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness is no longer true. The Democrat party knows a better way.
The right to self-government (and responsibilities thereof) is null and void. The Democrat party establishes all rules for acceptable individual conduct and behavior.
Limited government is a quaint relic of past generations. The U.S. Constitution is just a Word document and in the modern world can be edited (or ignored) at will by the Democrat party (the ruling class).
The First amendment does not protect the God-given right to religious freedom. It means there can be no mention of God in any public place. It also means that preachers cannot speak out against the sins of homosexualism. That would be a hate crime. It means that parents who send their children to Sunday School or teach them about God in their own homes are committing child abuse. It means the Holy Bible is a hate book that should be banned.
The Second amendment no longer applies. It was written for a time when men had to hunt for food to provide for their families. The police are all the protection we need today. Just dial 911 if your home is invaded by burglars, drug addicts or rapists. By the way, be sure your burial insurance plan is paid-up so disposal of your body does not become a public burden.
The Militia? Oh yeah. Those right-wing nut cases that run around in the woods with guns. Dangerous people. Proof that guns should be outlawed.
Capitalism has failed. The robber barons need to be controlled. Profit is a dirty word. The government, led by the Democrat party of course, should decide which products and services deserve to be brought to market and they should control all aspects of production and distribution of said goods and services and how much profit can legally be made on the sales thereof. And it’s right there in the Constitution: “The Congress shall regulate commerce.”
State and local government? Again, quaint relics of the past. Why have 50 sets of conflicting laws? It would be far more efficient if the central government enacts one set of laws that apply to all states. Multiply that by hundreds for local governments. Let the central government set all standards. It’s already in the Constitution anyway. Federal law is superior to all local laws. Might as well remove the ambiguity and confusion.
National sovereignty, national security, nationalism, borders? This only creates division, strife, bigotry, inattention to universal human rights, unfair distribution of resources, economic stress, national jealousy, and eventually leads to war. For the sake of world peace, we need to establish strong world governance bodies that have the power to regulate governments of individual client states. Nations will no longer need to spend huge sums of money on maintaining national armies or navies. The money can be better used to serve the people globally through universal health care, education, food production and distribution, fighting global warming, etc. World peace in our time! End hunger and disease!
Imagine.
To be continued...
out of every 10 people, 5 voted for McCain. It was that 11 th person who got us.
It gives the media something to write about while offering the sugestion of what they want to see, nothing more. Me, I’m hoping that the Republican’s left somehow find their spines and stand up, make a lot of noise and run to the camera’s first like the Dems did when they were in the minority.
I think the Dems are just as happy to keep the RINOs in the Republican fold. This way when they propose some new socialist power grabbing program, they can point to the RINO and say “See, this is a moderate proposal, even Senator XYZ supports it!”
And as a RINO, the Republican receives media praise, invites to top Georgetown parties, etc. Once they switch, they become just another back bencher in the Democrat party.
There aren’t that many Republicans left to switch. Seems like the Republicans who remain are mainly bailing out of the conservative label rather than the GOP brand.
The question is whether the Dems can hold it together until November, 2010. It all hinges on the economy. If they run a deficit of $1.2 trillion a year, and still don’t fix the economy, then I don’t think they’ll be back in 2011.
Actually there are quite a few Conservatives appointed to political positions in local government here. But it doesn’t matter to me. I will not be party of a Republican Party that has no backbone.
That, sadly, is the apex of what we face. I used to feel my patience had no limit, and the adversary we face could be overcome with hard work and diligence. That frame of mind is quickly seeping away seeing what we face in the coming administration... God help us.
One can hope. But I don’t think the Republicans can wipe out the Democrat majority in just two years. They could very seriously weaken it if they had their eye on the ball.
I don’t see how switching parties would be required for a filibuster-proof senate. All it takes is a few RINOs to agree to vote for cloture. Being a Republican with an unreliable cloture vote is probably better than a rank and file Democrat with an unreliable cloture vote. OTOH, if a minor leadership post was dangled in front of a RINO, that might give him/her the excuse needed to switch. At the rate we’ve been losing seats however, it may not matter.
I am trying to decide whether to switch back to Independent or whether the protective coloration of registering as a democrat would work. I am even more conservative than previous, and the elections have radicalized me. I am fed up with the collapsing Republicans. The have no courage.
“..those endangered RINOS in the Northeast?”
.. don’t exist. from the northern edge of Pete King’s district to the tip of Maine there is not a single GOPer. They are no longer in danger. The danger has come a swept them under the bus.
The sky is falling!
The sky is falling!
The sky is falling!
North Carolina is great place!
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but also because of decreased Republican turnout. Not even Sarah could entice them to vote for McCain.
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Is there some numerical data linkable showing party affiliation of McCain’s total vs party affiliation of Bush’s total?
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If Obama does as expected and fails to inspire the Independent voters and the Republicans nominee is a true Conservative, NC will flip right back to red!
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There is, of course, no such thing as a conservative — only people more conservative than others, but it is certainly possible that a candidate more conservative than McCain can be found who can also attract women moderates. It is they who determine winners.
Right around the time of the election, I did read an article that showed that the percentage of Republican voters who voted in 2008 was slightly less than in previous elections, but I did not save a link to it. Even a one or two percentage point decline would have made a difference in such a close election. Although the African-American turnout was higher, they are only 12% of the population of NC.
Since when has “bipartisanship” really mattered to Democrats? Republicans aren’t in the majority anymore. “Bipartisanship” is a virtue when Republicans are in the majority and worthless when they’re not.
That's a keeper.
/bookmark
See post 24.
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