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To: cotton1706
[Art.] The GOP’s civil war began in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt made progressivism the governing philosophy of the Republican establishment.

No, he didn't, Viguerie. You're a world-class fundraiser but a lousy historian.

TR ran on a Progressive Party platform in 1912 -- Progressive as distinct from the "Progs" nowadays who are really concealed neo-Stalinists.

The ruling meme in the GOP then as now is crony-capitalist yacht-club Republicanism. They called themselves "stalwarts" back then and supported infamously corrupt candidates like James G. Blaine (mockingly called "the Tattoed Man of Maine" and portrayed with tattoos all over him in Puck magazine as "Phryne Before the Areopagus", a famously tattooed woman of Greek lore) and the even more infamous Sen. Roscoe Conkling of New York.

Blaine was so bad that New England Republicans and Main Street Republicans everywhere threw up on his presidential bid in 1884 and bolted the party to vote in droves for Democrat Grover Cleveland. The bolters were called "Mugwumps", and there were enough of them to hand New York, and the White House, to Cleveland.

Teddy Roosevelt was smart enough to sidestep the Mugwump impulse, hold his nose and support the malodorous Blaine ("Rum, Ruin, and Romanism!!") .... thus keeping alive TR's own political hopes within the GOP, and delaying for 15 years his own eventual clash with the clubby, greasy stalwarts.

22 posted on 05/19/2014 2:25:38 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: lentulusgracchus

Teddy Roosevelt’s greatest contribution was playing Ross Perot to elect Woodrow Wilson.


23 posted on 05/19/2014 3:10:58 PM PDT by Luke21
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