Posted on 10/31/2008 5:36:29 AM PDT by St. Louis Conservative
All eyes are on Tuesday. For the GOP, the real question is Wednesday.
That's the day the party will survey the damage of the 2008 election, and have to decide what it wants to be. Even if John McCain pulls out a win, the Grand Old Party will be in trouble. Contrary to recent liberal pronouncements, the conservative movement is not dead. But the GOP response to Tuesday will determine how long it remains on life support.
The GOP's problems are a result of a failure of action, not of philosophy. Everything, including this election, shows we remain a center-right country. If Barack Obama wins, it will be because he has doggedly (if not always believably) run to the right on everything from national security (wiretapping) to "tax cuts," guns and social issues.
Democrats may also achieve big gains in the House and Senate. But their wins in 2006 were the result of the party's decision to run "conservative" candidates -- pro-life, pro-gun and populist on economics. Democratic gains this year will come via similar candidates. The nation hasn't moved left; the Democratic Party has leaned right.
Because Nancy Pelosi and her old liberal bulls will likely overreach, the GOP will have an opportunity. But the risk is that Tuesday's results will cause panic, and exacerbate the reactionary, backward-looking behavior that has already done so much damage to the party.
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
I have a question. I was planning to visit my grandfather’s Italian village to do some genealogy research. If Obama wins, would it be unpatriotic of me to extend my stay for 4 years?
Obama is indeed playing on conservative's home turf. Who would have thought the primary issue the last week of the election would be which candidate's tax cuts benefit you the most?
Obama can get away with it because he is an empty suit with no record, so he can portray himself any way he think will benefit him.
If there is a large block of Hillary voters thinking their party has left them and willing to vote for McCain, then by all means the GOP should be willing to accommodate them - not acquiesce to them - just keep them on board.
No, but it IS unpatriotic to pay higher taxes.
Correction: It is unpatriotic NOT to pay higher taxes.
Your “read more” link goes to a FR thread, not the WSJ article.
WARNING:
This is a “Tee-It-Up” or “Divide & Conquer” posted by a newbie.
She's right. To a point. The conservative movement isn't dead.
It's stuck.
It's smaller than it once was.
It, in its purest sense, appeals to fewer and fewer people.
And for the most part it shouldn't be that way. But it's arguments are stuck in a time warp. It's rhetoric is mired in the talk of the 50's and 60's rather than using it's core principals and modernizing the message around those principals to the new century.
Ask your grandfather if he wouldn't mind renting out to a boat load of folks following you over...
The first two "it's" are correct; the second two are not. "It" does not take an apostrophe when forming a possessive.
I suppose in exile we wouldn’t have to worry about the Obama Feds knocking on our doors because we posted an anti-Barack article in some politcal forum.
In the new Republican “big tent” all will be welcome except Palin-conservatives. If we are welcomed it will be on the condition we sit back and shut up and donate money. We better recognize this and prepare to move on.
Very perspicacious. Conservatism has never been about the past. It is about a better future.
LOL!
I’m glad you pointed that out. It’s no secret that conservatism wins everytime it’s tried. Those “big tenters” are trying to get the “moderate” votes. Palin’s doing a great job winning back the conservative votes but McCain seems to be having trouble getting the moderate voters. I suppose the big tenters still have plenty of time to win over the big tent votes before the election but an Obama victory would be a MAJOR DEFEAT for those country-club republicans. I suppose November 5th 2008 will be the start of that discussion. Until then I will work and hope that the defeated one will be Barack Obama.
No! Get involved on the local level. Drive conservative values from the ground up.
“Correction: It is unpatriotic NOT to pay higher taxes.”
I think your first statement was the correct one. Giving these idiots more money in their attempts to buy votes is what has gotten us into this situation. Cut them off at the knees. Always remember that a dead RINO is a good RINO, politically...I wouldn’t want people to get the wrong impression.
I believe you are saying the core message has to be changed. Far from it. It's the articulation of the message. Reagan was able to articulate the Goldwater message and that is part of why he prevailed. He made it palatable to the Reagan democrats where Goldwater couldn't close the deal. Same core message. Different way of presenting it.
We sadly lack that articulation now. It doesn't resonate with the generation it need to appeal to next. The articulation of the message is stuck in the era of yesterday.
It's not articulated that way.
It sounds like it still is advocating only having AM radio when in fact that need was generations ago. It sounds so yesterday when in fact it really isn't.
The core value isn't broken. The articulation of the message is.
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