Posted on 10/04/2013 5:12:51 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
There's an empty space in the Republican Party where compassionate conservatism used to be, and an opportunity for a presidential prospect to step into the breach.
The disappearance of that trademark George W. Bush brand from Washington has never been more apparent. The Republican House has gone from stalling immigration reform and cutting food stamps to precipitating a government shutdown by demanding the repeal of the health law that is the cornerstone of President Obama's legacy. The shutdown is threatening nutrition programs, cancer treatment, salaries, jobs, and much more.
It's one bad hand among several the GOP has dealt itself.
"We're not finished committing suicide here," said Republican strategist John Weaver, a veteran of the McCain and Huntsman campaigns. "We also have the opportunity to kill immigration reform, and the odds are that we will do that, just to make sure we're the angry-white-man party." He says the party may need a George McGovern-sized defeat with a candidate like Ted Cruz before it chooses another path.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
Our conservatism is our compassion.
“The shutdown is threatening nutrition programs, cancer treatment, salaries, jobs, and much more.”
What an obscenity that none of those existed before ObamaramaCare.
Leave compassion to individuals... let the government secure the greatest amount of freedom and you will see greater compassion...
yup
Nope, there are still a ton of RINOs who love stupid buzz terms.
Who cares?
I’ll vote DEMOCRAT and get it over with before I’ll vote RINO.
They’re just Dem moles anyway.
If ANY Republican HIRES THIS LOSER, DON:T VOTE FOR THEM!!!
Used to be (supposedly) they hated big government and wanted everyone to have freedom to do what they wanted as long as it didn't hurt anyone else. Now, they want a despotic government and to squash the rights of anyone who disagrees with them.
Thank you! :-)
Conservative = constitutionalist, limited government, maximum freedom. Examples Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, Ronald Reagan. There are few elected conservatives, the natural example of the "conservative" is homo Americanus, the ordinary hard-working Americano.
“Compassionate Conservative” is redundant.
You rang? You can see by my registration date that I adopted my screen name during George W. Bush’s campaign for the 2000 nomination.And you can see by the name that I adopted that I was not impressed with his slogan.
"Compassionate conservative" was a politician's marketing gimmick, a label introduced to get around other labels and get Bush elected. Labels like that don't have a long shelf-life. People get tired of the politican and his brand loses its luster and nobody uses the brand name until another marketing whiz revives it with the same or a different meaning.
While the label has fallen out of use -- or never was in use except for GWB and KCR -- I'm not sure the thing doesn't exist out there. At least some people who voted for Romney or McCain or Huckabee or Bush in the primaries might be Bush Republicans or something similar ("compassionate conservative" is too condescending a label).
The reason why people don't proclaim that loyalty is first of all, they're not usually the most ideologically focused people. Secondly, if you describe yourself as a conservative, you're going to try to prove that your beliefs are real conservatism. You're not going to try to carve out a position half-way between conservatism and something else.
I'd say it's not that the voters aren't out there. They do show up on election day -- though not in enough numbers to win the presidency -- but very few people are going to carve out a position up in the air half-way between conservatism and moderatism or liberalism.
But there are those who try -- "national greatness conservatism," "Sam's club conservatism," etc.
From what I remember of the phonies who called themselves Compassionate Conservatives, I can only hope they have disappeared forever.
There are no "compassionate conservative voters".
Liberals think they are compassionate, but their policies belie their supposed compassion for the downtrodden. They want, and need a permanent underclass.
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