Ok, here is my laundry list of things that piss me off about the GOP right now. Most of it has to do with the primary season, but not all of it. 1. Republicans in the Congress, and in the Executive have done things that the Republican party traditionally has not stood for. They have basically adopted the 1984 Democratic Party Platform, which drives me (a classic conservative) up the wall. 2. In 2006, the GOP lost the Congress, because the nation was not happy with how the war was being conducted (or started, or whatever). To date, the Democrats have been as useless as tits on a bull, but they have won the PR battle of making the case that America can only stop the war with a Democrat Congress AND EXECUTIVE. 3. GOP turnout in the primaries has been terrible compared to the Dems. Lousy. This does not bode well for the General Election. Which brings me to the following. Right now, the GOP is running against Hillary. That's their whole platform. Not seriously addressing the war, health care, immigration or the economy. All of the remaining candidates, most of which John McCain, the supposed front runner, have paper thin platforms and initiatives. The one mainstream GOP candidate who actually had a rock solid platform, ultra specific and actionable, was Fred Thompson, and he had a lot of trouble getting support from within the party. The others of course were Duncan Hunter (war, immigration), Tom Tancredo (immigration) and Ron Paul (pretty much everything except the environment). The problem as I see it, is that America is already running away from the GOP. Traditional conservatives see themselves as being sold out, and the independents are flocking to the "change and hope" banners of the Democrats. This isn't just an indictment of the GOP for not running on principles, but the fact that they are running solely on the idea of "beat Hillary" They are running against their opponent, but not "for" anything. The reason why I bring this up, is that I recently got a fund raising call from the RNC (Republican National Committee). I told the nice lady, I would not be donating to the GOP as I am donating everything to Ron Paul and PACs that surround his campaign. She told me that "We have to stop Hillary", and I told her that unless the GOP was going to live up to it's platform, and stop pushing us a liberal candidate (McCain) who has gone against the Constitution numerous times, I could not in good conscience donate. I mean, you even see this on the GOP website, and the state GOP websites. "Democrat watch" banners, and anti-"Hillary Clinton" propaganda. The party leadership is so misguided and totally out of touch with anyone outside their narrowing base. This stems from a lot of frustration I have had with how the GOP is proceeding, based on how candidates like Paul have been treated. And not just Paul, but Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo etc. Howard Dean to a lot of people is a punchline. "Who yelled Yee-Haw in Iowa and collapsed in the 2004 primary?" is the question. But what a lot of people don't know, is that Dean's supporters, many of them young, have helped form a Democrat movement, and Dean himself is the party Chairman, directing their record breaking fund raising and profile in 2008. They've redefined the Democratic party as aggressive, slick, organized and incredibly well funded. The Paul campaign has the same potential for the GOP, but I'm really concerned that by intentionally making it hard for Paulites to join the party, vote and participate, as well as rallying their base (as a Washington State GOP leader did) against young, tech savvy, new recruits they are cutting off their noses to smite their face. Here is an example of a GOP PAC trying to raise money via a Paul-style money bomb. Wired did an article on it here, but people just don't get how and why the Dems and Paul are able to raise the money they have. You can't generate tangible enthusiasm and significant excitement using fear and dread as motivators, certainly not when the fear and paranoia appeals to such a small group. It takes more than a slick widget, an announcement and an email list to money bomb. You need that viral passion, the sense of victory, participation and anticipation. The GOP simply cannot summon that with it's current direction and front runners. I don't like the Democrats for their positions. Some are very principled people (Kucinich, Richardson, Biden), but the general party platform of social liberalism is something I cannot endorse. Ideologically, it's a big disconnect for me. I'd hate to see the GOP continuing to shrink, until we basically have a one party system, as if the two party only system was not bad enough for a country that likes to claim that it is the greatest democracy. I had to get this off my chest. It's maddening trying to talk to the RNC and being told that the party is against Hillary, but not "for anything".
you sound like Rush Limbaugh...lol. But I do have to agree on some of your points. The GOP is hurting right now. For the last two weeks I have heard countless conservatives say that if Mccain gets the nom, they will write in a vote...well, that sure helps the GOP out, doesn't it? <-sarcasm!
The best the GOP can hope for is a bad term for either Obama or Clinton, as in the economy tumbles, war gets out of hand or something to send people back to the GOP. GOP has absolutely no chance of winning after looking at the number of people came out to vote for the Dems vs. GOP.
And if the dems pull out of Iraq and save BILLIONS every MONTH the economy is not likely to suffer. When it all comes down to it let's be honest.... the average American cares more about whats going on in our own economy than the people in Iraq. And arguing that a america-less iraq would plunge into chaos and cause more terrorism against America than American troops on the ground right now killing people and causing animosity is just foolish fear mongering jibberish. I can't wait to watch the republicans fall back on fear mongering. (in fact it already started with Romney's defeat speech today ). That stuff actually turned the country against them last election with the repubs losing the house and senate.
You know, even though I would rather not see Hillary or Obama win this election, I do agree with you. McCain, the front runner for the Republicans, seems to me to be just more of the same. I think most Americans want a change, I think Huckabee offers that, we'll see how he does now that Romney is out of the picture.
Absolutely spot on post! @ guerilla, nice post buddy, the main thing is Can CNN keep Paul out of the f**king piecharts anymore lol!
While watching super Tuesday on CNN all night he was listed the entire time, not CNNs fault if his piece is so small it doesn't show
The democrats won in 2006 on republican incompetence not on democratic ideas or platforms and getting out of Iraq, they haven't been able to do either because we still have troops in Iraq and democrats in congress have a worse approval rating then George bush so it will be interesting to see how 2008 turns out.
If you are unhappy with the GOP, blame it on Bush and a complicent/ walking hand in hand Republican led congress over the bulk of his term. 1. War in Iraq. Not substantiated. Took way longer and far more expensive in lives and money than his administration boasted. 2. Never substantiated the real reasons for going into Iraq. Iraq=terrorism doesn't ring true for most Americans at this point. 3. New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. An administration let down of Americans in a particular part of the country--100%. A total breakdown of competency. 4. Wild rampant govt spending. 5. An economy that pales in comparison over the full term to that of the last president....and now running into a possible recession of serious levels. That is scary. Makes the Bush dogma about economics look like complete bs. 6. Pretty corrupt congress--more easily seen on the Repbublican side. 7. And govt spending again and again and again and again. The party went bankrupt on ideas and its leadership didn't function well while in power. I love the concept of tight govt spending. I love even more the practice. This govt didn't get close to getting it right.
The whining will stop as soon as a Democrat is selected. At that point the strategizing will restart as a VP is selected. McCain needs to decide who is more important; the few rabid conservatives that hate him or the moderates. If he selects a more conservative VP he could lose moderate votes but gain conservative votes. If he picks a more moderate VP he'll get more moderate support and the conservatives will probably vote for him anyway. Rush et al, are supporting Hillary so she gets the nom since they believe that McCain will easily beat her. This little WWF bickering is ridiculous. It's all fake. Obama is very liberal but hugely popular with young people. Since young people never voted before they're not included in polls which makes the Republicans nervous. It will probably end up being Hillary vs McCain and McCain will probably win. Democrats probably hate the Clintons more than Republicans hate McCain. The question is whether or not the Dems hate the Clintons enough to vote for the guy with little record who is very Liberal. I think the US is sick of both the left and right and wants a moderate.
Actually this isn't true, other then from 1998-2000 the bubble years the economy under Bush has been the same or better then under Clinton. Except the media this time doesn't go around saying Bush is a great president because the economy is doing well like they did with Clinton, also overshadowing the economy has been the war in Iraq.
40% of American despise Military Clinton, it will be very hard for her to win against McCain since he can pull in the moderates and some democrats.