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red states rule
10-23-2009, 06:42 AM
Why is the Republican party afraid of conservatives? McCain showed what happens when a liberal light runs against a mega liberal

It is time for the Republican party to go back to what brought it success. Reagan conservatism

Obama, Reid, and Pelosi have opened the door so wide with ppwer grabs, and failed economic policies, you could drive a semi thru it with room to spare





Conservatives roar; GOP trembles

Many top Republicans are growing worried that the party’s chances for reversing its electoral routs of 2006 and 2008 are being wounded by the flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone of conservative activists and media personalities, according to interviews with GOP officials and operatives.

Congressional leaders talk in private of being boxed in by commentators such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh — figures who are wildly popular with the conservative base but wildly controversial among other parts of the electorate, and who have proven records of making life miserable for senators and House members critical of their views or influence.

Some of the leading 2012 candidates are described by operatives as grappling with the same tension. The challenge is to tap into the richest source of energy in the party — the disgust of grass-roots conservative activists with President Barack Obama and their hunger for a full-throated attack on his agenda — without coming off to the broader public as cranky and extreme.

Mitt Romney has purposely kept a lower profile and stuck to speeches on specific policy issues, in part to avoid the early trade-off between placating party activists and appearing presidential. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, one of the most active potential opponents for Obama in 2012, said that media portrayals of a narrow-minded party could make it harder to attract the middle-of-the-road voters needed to make the GOP a majority party again.

“The commentators are part of the coalition, not the whole coalition,” Pawlenty said in a phone interview. “The party needs to be about addition, not subtraction — but not at the expense of watering down its principles.”

“We need more voices,” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, one of the party’s up-and-coming leaders. “Our party’s challenge has been that we need to be more inclusive — we need to attract the middle again. ... When one party controls all the levers of power in Washington, they’re going to try and villainize whoever they can on our side. It gives us an opportunity now to try and harness the energy and point it in a positive direction, so that we can attract the middle of the country to the common-sense conservative views that we have been about as a party.”

Political operatives of all stripes like to fancy themselves as coolly controlling practitioners — who can shape public images and direct the activities of party regulars from their perches in Washington.

But the reality of the GOP during the Obama presidency is that the party’s image and priorities are in many ways being imposed on Washington — driven by grass-roots energies that lawmakers and strategists can scarcely control.

At the same time, there are powerful incentives for Washington politicians to play to the crowd and bow to the influence of commentators like Beck, who at the moment is far more famous than any of the GOP’s congressional leaders.

When Republicans such as Rep. Phil Gingrey have complained about these figures in public, most have quickly apologized in the face of outraged phone calls and e-mails from conservative activists.

House and Senate Republicans both seized on the issue of federal funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now after Obama critic Andrew Breitbart launched the controversy on his site BigGovernment.com with video of two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute in the group’s offices.

As vividly illustrated by Rep. Joe Wilson, elected Republicans are seeing the benefits — national media attention and fundraising — from embracing the trash-talking style of talk show hosts. Wilson went from being a little-known member of the House minority who had repeatedly failed to get on the A-list committees to a cause célèbre for the right wing because he shouted “You lie” at Obama during a joint session of Congress.

Though he apologized to the president through chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Wilson moved quickly to exploit his brush with fame, posting Web videos to raise money, appearing on Sean Hannity’s show, getting a coveted invite on “Fox News Sunday” — and even being asked to raise money for some of his conservative colleagues. Most rank-and-file Republicans have to spend hours on the phone pleading for money and relish the chance to be taken seriously by a major Sunday show.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091022/pl_politico/28589

cat slave
10-23-2009, 11:17 PM
They better wake up and smell the coffee before we go too far down the tubes!

I could not have voted for McAmnesty if it werent for Palin. I figured my
vote was a down payment on Sarah in the near future. I almost couldnt
hold my nose tight enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! McAmnesty is a RINO to say the
least.

red states rule
10-26-2009, 05:48 AM
What the Republican Party needs to do is actually act fiscally responsible instead of just bashing Dems for their fiscal irresponsibility - and admit they did the same thing when they are in power.

Conservatives need to stick to their principles and not buy the crap McCain, Grahm, Snow, and Collins sprew

The libs in the Republican party just lost the last 2 elections and yet we are told it's the conservatives fault

Why vote lib 'lite' when I can have the real thing and just vote Dem?

crin63
10-26-2009, 09:36 AM
This is what scares me, Republicans are too stupid to realize why they keep losing ground or they are just complicit in electing Liberals because thats their real political leanings.

McCain lost because he is a RINO and could not attract all the conservative base even with Palin. That and people refused to believe that Obama was as bad as he is.

red states rule
10-26-2009, 09:39 AM
This is what scares me, Republicans are too stupid to realize why they keep losing ground or they are just complicit in electing Liberals because thats their real political leanings.

McCain lost because he is a RINO and could not attract all the conservative base even with Palin. That and people refused to believe that Obama was as bad as he is.

Things are looking up for next Tues election

VA is going with conservative McDonald despite Obama's help

In NJ, Corzine is trailing

In Fla, Charlie Crist leads the Democrat candidate by 14 points, but Marco Rubio, the conservative, leads by 16. Yet we're told by Republicans we must back Crist because he can win statewide.

I hope people have had enough of the hope and change BS, the spending, defcots, and childlike attacks of Fox News - and will see those few Republicans standing for Reagan conservatism is the answer to the nations problems

red states rule
10-26-2009, 09:44 AM
Now conservatism is on the rise





Conservatives Maintain Edge as Top Ideological GroupCompared with 2008, more Americans “conservative” in general, and on issues

by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ -- Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

The 2009 data are based on 16 separate Gallup surveys conducted from January through September, encompassing more than 5,000 national adults per quarter. Conservatives have been the dominant ideological group each quarter, with between 39% and 41% of Americans identifying themselves as either "very conservative" or "conservative." Between 35% and 37% of Americans call themselves "moderate," while the percentage calling themselves "very liberal" or "liberal" has consistently registered between 20% and 21% -- making liberals the smallest of the three groups

http://www.gallup.com/poll/123854/Conservatives-Maintain-Edge-Top-Ideological-Group.aspx