Courting the Base Could Lose Election

The Hill ^ | May 31, 2006 | David Hill

[Tokra]

Bush won without the "monkeys in the middle" in 2000, 2002, and 2004. "Middle of the road, independents" are less likely to vote than the base of either party.

That is simply not true.

There are only 44 million registered Republicans - but Bush won with 62 million votes (to Gore's 59 million)

Bush would not have won without the 18 million "monkeys in the middle".

[Savage Beast]

Failure to nullify the Supreme Court's Eminent Domain decision

No, President Bush is not to blame for this. However President Bush AND the Republican Congress should have taken measures to nullify this nefarious decision with all deliberate speed. It ranks with Dred Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson.

The Democrats, of course, can be expected to support this decision (as they did Scott and Plessy. It was Leftist Supreme Court "Jusitices" who made the decision.

This is yet another reason why Democrats must not be allowed to seize power under any circumstances but why the Republican base support is very angry.

[Tokra]

Gore's 59 million = Kerry's 59 million.

I either slipped back in time or had a psychic flash of the future.

[Clemenza]

1. Many states (Ohio and Washington come to mind) do not have party registration.

2. There are many who refuse to register with a party, but still continually vote one way or the other. New Jersey has the largest percentage of its voters as "independents" yet these independents consistently vote Democratic or Republican depending on what county they live in.

[Moonman62]

Forget about the base and politics. Do what's right and the election will take care of itself.

[winner3000]

The author actually thinks that the positions of the far left are as despised as those of the far right! What a moron! People who run as conservatives win for a good reason: conservatism makes sense based on history. Extreme leftist measures have all failed. That's why a liberal cannot run as a liberal all things being equal. He has to fool people into thinking that he is really middle of the road, or even conservative.

The best way for the GOP to lose Congress is to try to woo the 20% middle of the roaders who won't even show up at the polls.

[Michamilton]

Spending restraint and immigration are issues that the base can be stoked while mostly appealing to independents as well.

It's getting harder to convince people that Republicans are the party of spending restraint, though..

[Soul Seeker]

The Middle is said to be anywhere from 5-15%.

No, they are not larger.