The Democrats have the senate. Tom Daschle would only Daschle Bushs approval if he tired for an agenda in the Senate. When Lott had the senate even Bill Clinton was not dumb enough to do what you suggest. If he had he would have been removed from office.
Mudboy Slim thinks about only in terms of what pleases him. The name of the game is to get enough support from the 2/3 of the population that does not and never will support your position.
If Bush were to fight Daschle guess what happens in the fall elections? Such a fight causes the middle to say the hell with both sides. When the middle see both the Democrats and Republicans as bickering fools, who wins? Even someone who is stuck in the Mudd sould know the Democrats always win that game. The first hundred times the Democrats won that way, there was doubt. But after the next hundred or so times, some of us figured it was always going to happen that way. And it always has. Mud Boy still has hopes. He is betting the instant replay turns out different from the actual play.
The only victories that the right enjoyes is when the public sees them as the party trying to get along and the Democrats as those wanting to make trouble. Even Tim Russert gets on Daschle when Repubicans play it the right way.
The Democrats always try to pick a fight. Usuall the fact that the right never ever wins such a fight does not deter them from doing it. For example when Reagan fought over the budget he said the Democrats refused to pass what Reagan wanted. The media said it was Reagans fault for failing to work with congress. When the Republican congress refused it pass a budget that Clinton wanted it was Congresses fault for failing to pass a budget that Clinton will sign.
When the Democrats attack the Reublicans and the Repubilcans fight back, the media helps the Democrats. When the Democrats atack and the Republicans don't fight back, the media first comes down on the side of the Democrats. Then they see the middle is rooting for the underdog. So they take on the Democrats. It seems that even very stupid people could figure out the game is stacked against them.
It is only when those nasty Democrats try to start a fight and the Republicans try to get along that the public says "OH those nasty Democrats... I will vote Republican." It is a very poor player to keep using tactics that never win. Perhaps that is a clue for the 3 percent that are the far right. But they are the far right. Constant failure never causes them to question what they are doing wrong.
The name of the game is not playing poker but in getting control of all the deals. The only time this nation has moved from the right to the left or vice versa is when one party controls 60 votes in the senate, a majority in the house and the presidency. When that is the situation the nation is moved one way or the other. The only game worth playing is trying to get to that position.
It happened only two times in the last century. FDR had such a situation in the 1930's. He took our nation a long way toward socialism. LBJ had the same situation from 1965 to 1967. He added the great society. All other presidents made nearly zero difference. Reagan and Bush Sr. rolled nothing back. Cllinton added nothing for the left. It is stalemate city. Nixon gave a little to the left hoping for approval. He never got it. Ike tried to take a little back.. nothing much changed.
If Bush fights on this ground before Novembers election he will make little difference in the long haul either. And he will have fallen into Daschles trap. Why does daschle keep attacking when it doesn't work. He is hopeful that sooner or later he can get a fight started. If we fight he wins and it will have mattered not who is president. To maintain the status quo the Republicans only need the house. Ask Bill Clinton?
What Bush has with his 76 percent approval rating is an outside chance to get the senate to the 60 working vote position, If he can hold the house, and keep the presidency as wellm then changes can be made. He has only a chance to do it. That is all he has. But the chance is well worth taking.
And the fools that think Bush Sr. squandered his 90 percent approal are wrong. Approval goes out the window when a president fails to address a problem. He does not need to solve it. He just has to look like he is solving it. The recession of 1991 did bush in becase he offered no plan to fix it. Had he pushed any plan to fix it he would have been unbeatable. At the time I argued that any plan would work. He could propose sacreficing virgins or burning Christians at the stake to fix the economy. It didn't matter he just needed a plan to fix the economy. He never offered one because he did not think one was needed. He confused need and truth with getting elected. ONe has nothing to do with the other. That is mud boys other falacy. Truth is a sure prescription for failure at the polls. Ask Bill Clinton.
Mud Boy demands that Bush squander this chance by fighting over small items in the near term. But the long scheme to win the senate by 60 working votes is all that really matters. Muddboy wants Bush to do what Reagan did which is just go for limiting government growth. Reagan makes Mudboy happy. A tax cut and double goverment spending over years in return for holding the presidency and losing the senate is considered as great success by Mud boy.
The name of the game is 60 working votes in the Senate. Everybody knows it. Every one with a D after his name is trying to prevent it. So are most of the far right. Nothing new there. When the Democrats ask for targets at their shooting range, it is the far right that makes up the line fighting for the job. To get sixty votes the Demorats have to be portrayed as the obstructionist fighters and the Republicans as those that just try to work things out. It takes 60 percent to get 60 voters. And as soon as a party is specifiv they lose most of what gets them from 50 to 60.
Sixty percent of the public is against what we want to do. Just as sixty percent of the population is against what the Democrats want to do. The wishy washy 20 percent in the middle wants to do nothing. They keep saying,"Can' we just get along?"
The object is to get the 60 percent opposed to the Democrats to vote against Democrats and for Republicans. To do that Republicans have to keep their heads down and make sure the Democrats a$$es are up. That is the current situation.
The game is for the middle. If you don't think like the middle you lose. The problem is never getting those that agree with you to agree with you. It is getting those that disagree with you to do what you want. That is the trick. And telling them what you want to do is zero help.
National Review is wrong. Bush/GOP ain't perfect, but they need a mandate and a majority to act.
Yes, but Reagan got re-elected in a landslide and Bush I, who caved to the Dems and passed a tax increase, lost his second attempt.
Reagan used to tell his cabinet that if they haven't made anyone mad that week then they weren't doing their job. Some people (conservatives and regular people, not Democrats)like and vote for leaders with principle.
I agree Bush II needs to fight with a smile on his face, but he needs to fight if he wants to get re-elected.
Well, it sure is working on me, so I guess he's on track.
I reckon I oughtta feel mighty honored that such an omniscient ol' veteran as yerself sees fit to spend so many paragraphs tutoring such an Ignoramus as myself, hunh? Still, I believe your impassioned argument for triangulation is a recipe for the continued deterioration of our individual rights and the future success of America as a whole.
"Mudboy Slim thinks about only in terms of what pleases him. The name of the game is to get enough support from the 2/3 of the population that does not and never will support your position."
Actually, I'm thinking about what is best for the Country, and that is not to continue our unceasing slide towards Socialism as we make excuses as to why a collectivist future is inevitable. You can claim that "2/3rds of the population does not and never will" support the devolution of Power from the Federal Bureaucracy back to the States, Localities, Neighborhoods, Families, and Individuals, and I will admit we've got a lot of educating to do. However, you seem to cynically discount the fact that Centralized Decision-making has been demonstrated to be a failure whenever and wherever it has been tried. Sure, the Left controls most of the Mass Medyuh, the Education System, Hollyweird, the lion's share of the non-profits and philanthropic foundations, and of course the huge Federal Leviathan, but we've got the Truth on OUR side and that still matters. Increasingly, we've seen the impact of alternative sources of media (talk radio, some periodicals, and the Internet) have in getting this Truth out to the masses. We need to build upon this, not throw in the towel and aggressively implement our adversaries' agenda until we somehow get 60 GOP Senators!!
"If Bush were to fight Daschle, guess what happens in the fall elections? Such a fight causes the middle to say the hell with both sides. When the middle see both the Democrats and Republicans as bickering fools, who wins?"
Who says we need to be "bickering fools"? What we need to do is pick issues that we can win on and differentiate ourselves from the RATS, then debate the issues shamelessly and tirelessly. Allowing a percentage of our Social Security to be invested--at our option--in Personal Retirement Accounts is one such issue. Medical Savings Accounts are another such issue. School Vouchers are another issue on which we can gain voter share. Each empowers the Individual over the Collectivist Bureaucracy. For those who favor the supposed security of the Federalized option, they should be insured that they can keep with the same system they now use. This is the way to advance the Right's Agenda AND gain Voter Share; instead of fighting over who can be the most "compassionate" in spreading around Government Largesse.
"The only victories that the right enjoys is when the public sees them as the party trying to get along and the Democrats as those wanting to make trouble."
Sir, with all due respect, this is absolute moolarkey!! Dubyuh's daddy attempted this strategy in '92 and we got Clinton. Then, in '94, the GOPers used the "Contract with America" to differentiate ourselves from the RATS and we won a huge victory. After we chickened out in the Government shutdown and buckled, we nominated the "Tax Collector for the Welfare State," Bobdole who is the quintessential go-along-to-get-along candidate and we got whupped by a demonstrably-corrupt Billzabubba who was ripe for the pickin'!! The GOP gets our heads handed to us when we try to be DemonRats II.
"When the Democrats attack the Republicans and the Republicans fight back, the media helps the Democrats."
So it has always been, but increasingly the Sheeple have come to understand this bias and account for it.
"When the Democrats attack and the Republicans don't fight back, the media first comes down on the side of the Democrats. Then they see the middle is rooting for the underdog. So they take on the Democrats. It seems that even very stupid people could figure out the game is stacked against them."
Since you've already pointed out my "ignorance", I must assume this "very stupid" comment is addressed to me as well...but I have always known the game is stacked against us. The National Media needs National Issues to be addressed by an ever-expanding National Government. State, Local, and Individual Solutions to problems do not Expanding Ratings Shares make!! But to claim that the Media and the Sheeple are "rooting for an underdog" when the Left is rolling over Right is ridiculous...when the Right shows no spine, the jackals smell blood and pour on the vitriol all the heavier.
"The only time this nation has moved from the right to the left or vice versa is when one party controls 60 votes in the senate, a majority in the house and the presidency. When that is the situation the nation is moved one way or the other. The only game worth playing is trying to get to that position."
So, the right should continue growing the Federal Government as desired by the RATS for as long as it takes to get 60 GOP Senators?! Sorry, sir, but that could take forever if the voters perceive the GOP to be weak step-sisters to the RATS. I do think we can gain a 60-seat majority because I believe the ever-expanding Federal Leviathan has become increasingly-indefensible, but we will only be successful if we show the voters how the right would accomplish scaling Collectivism back and how it will benefit--and empower--them!!
"Nixon gave a little to the left hoping for approval. He never got it."
Actually, Nixon gave quite a lot to the Left (wage/price controls, the EPA, etc.) and the Left sensed weakness and pounced. I fear Dubyuh could be walking into the same trap.
"Mudboy demands that Bush squander this chance by fighting over small items in the near term. But the long scheme to win the senate by 60 working votes is all that really matters. Mudboy wants Bush to do what Reagan did which is just go for limiting government growth. Reagan makes Mudboy happy."
Elsewhere, you've already pointed out that Reagan failed in limiting government growth, but I was happy with Reagan's ability to win the Cold War over the Evil Empire of Collectivists. Since that battle has been fought and won, I believe the next battle to undertake is against the Evil Left in our own Country, and we should be prepared to fight America's Collectivists with every bit as much passion and resolve as we fought the Soviets...yes, that would make Mudboy happy.
"Sixty percent of the public is against what we want to do. Just as sixty percent of the population is against what the Democrats want to do. The wishy washy 20 percent in the middle wants to do nothing. They keep saying,"Can't we just get along?" The object is to get the 60 percent opposed to the Democrats to vote against Democrats and for Republicans. To do that Republicans have to keep their heads down and make sure the Democrats a$$es are up. That is the current situation."
I guess this is the core of our disagreement, my learned yet somewhat mean-sprited FRiend. I don't think you can win a mandate voting for the other guys' Agenda and saying, "Hey, we're not as bad as the other guys." Only 40+% of eligible voters vote anyway, and it ought to be our goal to give folks something to vote FOR, while still accepting the votes of those who simply--and understandably--vote AGAINST the DemonRATS. There are a lot of voters who have become disillusioned by too many years of Republicrat/Demoblican Milquetoast Moderation...let's not take them for granted and we should see an impassioned turnout for the Right in both '02 and '04!!
FReegards...MUD