The GOP presidential primary is about more than Iraq and how many divorces and flip-flops are allowed per candidate. It’s also about whether the Republican Party can still be trusted, on national security or anything else. Kate O’Beirne, Washington editor of the National Review, expressed it well last Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “The Republicans have a real brand problem, brand name problem. It used to be people thought they might not much like big government, but they can run it. Now they seem to like it fine, but not be able to run it at all.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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47 Comments
Which is why debates become more important as the time of Election draws near.
It boils down to GOP foreign policy is nothing more than killing Arabs for Israel while Joe Lieberman and the Wall Street Journal cheer them on…
{ and little boy Bush decides what their next excuse will be }
All the lights are out and nobody is home.
When I was a republican, things like smaller government and fiscal restraint were important. What happened?
The Republicans have not stood for anything since Ike left office. The only thing they stand for is big business and the rich. They wrap themselves in the flag and the Bible and campaign as anti minority, anti immigrant and homophobic. They say they are against “big government” but they have grown it more than any Democrat ever did. They bash immigrants yet do nothing as employers entice millions of them to sneak in. They say they are for “family values” yet practice none themselves. People are now starting to figure out that the GOP are a bunch of scum liars. People are beginning to see them for the evil they are. Hopefully it is not too late to save America from the GOP.
xxx:
What happened is the Republicans /neo cons got greedy — it’s a natural consequence of Democracy and Capitlaism — ” A Freedom to be Greedy”,
The reaction I get when ever I make known my party affiliation said quite a bit. People automatically expect me to blame everyone that is poor for being poor. To blame every ill in this country solely on the illegal aliens. Or to make excuses for the unfetter flood of illegal aliens from Mexico because it allow for a larger profit of big businesses. To be blindly supportive not of the United States but the invasion and the war in Iraq. They expect me to mindless answer every question by quoting word for word what some one like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reily has to say on the matter. They expect me to throw on the robes of a Religious right, fundamental zealot and damn them all to hell for being pro-choice or willing to allow the use of embryonic stem cells in research. They seem shocked that I do not descend into name calling and do engage in thoughtful debate to the best of my ability rather then simply saying their opinion is wrong and continue with out saying why I think it is wrong.
They at time seem amazed that I may actually agree with them and take into account their point of view on the subject. Ironically the latest was a self proclaimed Conservative, whom I have quoted and some what paraphrased on this blog recently.
To my fellow Republicans, if we wish to be a viable influence in this country. If we wish to show that we are a party for change and betterment instead of the perceptions that others have of us listed above. It is clear we need to work harder on the message that we give, else it is the only message that other hear. A couple of weeks ago Bill O’Reily used an analogy where a space alien came to the U.S. and the perception they would have of us as a people. That we are devoid of reason and logic, that we are cowards in the face of danger and weak will when it comes to the important issues. His broadcast goes far into space as it is. Using his analogy, if a space alien were to only receive the broadcasts of the likes of Coulter, Limbaugh and O’Reily. Would they then have a fair assessment of the Republican party and Conservatism as a whole?
Writerdog
Good comments — you sound more a moderate – independent or compassionate – conservative.
I would suspect that you are actually in the silent moderate majority of the republican party, just now starting to get your voice heard again —
An interesting statistic on this subject is that, between the presidential election in 2004 and the congressional election last year in Sedg. County, the percentage of the electorate registering as Republicans dropped by 4.5%.
I am a republican who has been voting more and more for democrats. I am what was known as a moderate on social issues and conservative on financial issues. It seems that within the republican party, I am now a raving liberal.
I don’t think I have changed my views as much as the extreme social conservatives have high jacked the republican party. I had always thought of the GOP as the party of “mind your own business” on what happened in peoples own homes and run a tight ship financially. IT now seems to be the exact opposite.
Unless the GOP offers a true moderate as a Presidential canidate, I don’t see my self voting for a Republican in 08.
I don’t believe the Christian-right of the Republican party is as powerful as many would have people believe.The media in my opinion believe the Christian-right has swayed elections in the past. I don’t believe it.It’s the media focusing on a minority within the party and turning the majority against it.But not to fear Cheri, Rudy will be the candidate.
The Republicans are not the party of Lincoln. They are not the party of Eisenhower. Hell, they are not even the party of Reagan anymore (not that I was a big fan of him but at least he had principles). The Republicans are the party of big business, big spending, war, death and oppression. They are the party of Satan.
How would you define greed?
If Republicans are the Party of Satan, does that make the Democrats the Party of God?
At one time, Jeb Bush was considered a shoe-in for the 2008 GOP race. What happened and why is he silent?
Much of what many Bush supporters like to call BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome, what appears to the casual observer to be an irrational hatred of Bush; many posters here really believe BDS exists) can be laid to the O’Beirne’s comments.
Plus, and here’s the kicker. It’s not just that the GOP is incompetent, it’s that their ideas are awful, dreadful, half-baked attempts to find problems where their ideology provides a black/white solution. What I”m saying is this: not only are they incompetent in execution, but even the THINKING of the modern GOP is incompetent.
THAT’s what’s largely behind BDS: when it’s as obvious as rain that the emperor has no clothes to everyone but his supporters.
When Bush supporters think they see BDS reflected in something they see or read, what they’re really perceiving is THEIR OWN IRRATIONAL support of an obviously incompetent administration.
For example, here’s one more piece of evidence that the modern GOP led by GW Bush is bankrupt of good ideas:
************************************************
Conclusions Are Reported on Teaching of Abstinence
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: April 15, 2007
WASHINGTON, April 14 (AP) — Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress.
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex about the same age as other students — 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
The federal government spends about $176 million a year promoting abstinence until marriage. Critics have repeatedly said they did not believe the programs worked.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/washington/15sex.html
Pedant,
If you had reporters in the population size of Wichita reporting every move you made, quoting every word you spoke and pointing out every mistake you made…
You too would look like the worst human being on the planet.
The Far Left Liberal can be so gullible.
How dare you, Pedant, introduce fact-based research into Republican’s fantasy world of CON=good, LIB=bad!
This is not a time for thinking.
This is a time to rally-round the President, right or wrong.
Just like the Republicans did when Clinton was . . . okay, nevermind that.
This is the time to rally-round this president.
Another problem with the modern GOP is reflected in comments like Republican’s above: the GOP can’t lower its standards low enough fast enough to ensure Bush is still a member in good standing.
The GOP “brand” is rapidly acquiring the attribute of any standard is good enough.
I should have written:
The GOP “brand” is rapidly acquiring the attribute of “any standard is good enough.”
“At one time, Jeb Bush was considered a shoe-in for the 2008 GOP race. What happened and why is he silent?”
Jeb Bush is one of the original signers of the PNAC, along with Cheney, Quayle, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. He doesn’t have the slightest chance of being elected.
http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm
Bush will do for the Republican party what Nixon did for it, shine a light on just how self serving it is.
I think what Bush is currently doing to the GOP is robbing it of its principles.
And they love him for it, making transparent just how unprincipled the GOP has become.
The GOP is no longer a party about principles, it’s a social club where anything goes if it means gaining/retaining political power – hey, the other side does it all the time. Under the “leadership” of Bush, the only difference between the GOP and the Democratic Party is feelings. Do you “feel better” voting Republican than you’d feel if you voted Democratic?
In 2008, it’s highly likely that the GOP will stand for one thing and one thing only: say anything to win elections.
The GOP stands for everything that is wrong with corporate America: the cronyisms, the incompetence, lies, corruption…the list goes on. This administration has made Richard Nixon’s administration look good.Bill CLinton got in trouble for lying about a BJ, but he did not kill innocent people by attacking the wrong country, run up the budget deficit, and hand out no-bid contracts to his daddy’s (Cheney’s) company.I am sure there are good, honest people that are Republicans, but if the best they can come up with is the village idiot from Texas, then obviously there aren’t too many smart ones in that party.
The Republican Party is split between the traditional Republicans and the conservative radicals. The radicals have drowned out, and driven out, many of the people who made the Party worth belonging to. The entire ideology of smaller government, limited foreign military entanglements, and personal responsibility has been subverted by a radical agenda that seeks to impose a single religious and ethical standard on everyone.
Anyone who dares disagree with the conservative radicals is denounced as a RINO, a “liberal,” a traitor, or a “seditionist pig.” The room for honest debate inside the Republican Party has all but vanished. The “Big Tent” of the old party is now nothing more than space for the inflated egos of the self-righteous, self-proclaimed arbiters of a single world view that tolerates no dissent.
The problem, Rhonda, isn’t the “brand identity” of the party. The party has lost its way, lost its soul, and is steadily losing members and credibility.
It’s funny. If a party clearly defines their principles, they are accused of being exclusive. If they don’t, well then they have lost their way. I do think that the Republican party goofed up when they got away from Reagan conservative principles and started trying to be all things to all people. But there is nothing wrong with the party that bringing the war to a successful conclusion won’t cure.
So what does the Democrat party stand for?
Go to the Sedgwick County Democratic Party website if you would like to see the principles outlined there: sedgwickcountydemocrats.com.
“outlander” –
The Republic Party “got away from Reagan principle” during the Reagan presidency. It was all a scam.
Religious wingnuts provided the margin of victory for Republic Party candidates, largely based on the abortion rights issue. Reagan never spoke directly to abortion activists; he, literally, phoned it in when he spoke to them. Reagan preached fiscal restraint and ran up the largest deficit in the history of peacetime.
Karl Rove came across an observation 20 years ago: that, by definition, 50% of the American people are below average in intelligence, and that a coalition of the stupid and corrupt could create a working majority at the polls.
The corrupt — which pretty much describes corporate and old money greed — was in place for the Republics. So the Republics went after the ignorant: the Bible literalists, the twice-born, the angry white men who resented losing their power of penis and skin-color to merit.
But to address your question: “What does the Democrat (sic) Party stand for?”
Try this:
As a Democrat, I stand for the concept that we’re all in this together. The rich and the poor, the gifted and the challenged, the free and the brave. We’re all people and (as one of the original Republic Party spokesmen noted…and has been lost by most contemporary Republic Party advocates) this is not a government of, by, and for corporations and religions, it’s “a government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, and (this is important) FOR the people.
That, “outlander,” is what the Democratic Party stands for.
I answered your question, now answer mine:
What, exactly, would constitute what you consider “…bringing the war to a successful conclusion”?
Be specific. Show your work.
Long time poster, First time Lurker writes like one of the Fisters who said they would never return to WE Blog.
Be specific Long Time, show your work where you got all of your quotes and implication. Let’s see some proof instead of unnamed sources.
That’s what I thought…
“If Republicans are the Party of Satan, does that make the Democrats the Party of God?”
Answer- NO. It just makes them slightly better than the Republicans at this point. The Democrats are mostly a gutless spineless bunch and they won’t do anything for the working people either. But at least they won’t do any further damage to the country.
LTP–
Good post.
You got it–the Democratic party wants government to serve the will of the majority.
As Howard Dean said in a speech not too long ago, when the Republic party attacked the Social Security system, they didn’t do it because they want to “reform” Social Security. They did it because they wanted to attack the entire notion that I should be responsible for your parents and you should be responsible for mine.
What they call “personal responsiblity” is in fact an abrogation of the idea of public responsibility.
“I think what Bush is currently doing to the GOP is robbing it of its principles.
And they love him for it, making transparent just how unprincipled the GOP has become.”
That’s like saying you can rob the Dalton Gang of its principles. Problem is they never had any principles. The only principle Republicans have is money and how much they can steal, pilfer and rob the country of. Just like the Dalton Gang!
“I am sure there are good, honest people that are Republicans”
Oh?? Please name them! Bet you can’t find enough to fill a phone booth!
Kev–
I tend to agree that the Dems should have been a lot more forceful in fighting Worst. President. Ever.
But to say that the Dems do nothing like FelletWood is also not right–in March of 2007, the Dems re-instated a tuition tax credit that the Repukes had killed and saved me 400 bucks on my federal returns.
Is Republican accusing someone of nic switching? I thought that nic switching was acceptable to Republican. How things change.
Long Time Lurker said it better than I ever could. I might add too that, you know what’s funny is that all these neo cons and Republicans say “we are for smaller government”- until the “smaller government” says that we have to cut their favorite programs like farm subsidies, highway constaruction, military outlays and the Federal Flood Insurance program which sells cheap homeowner insurance to rich people with mansions in Boca Raton. Then the cons are not so much for “small government” anymore are they?
“As Howard Dean said in a speech not too long ago, when the Republic party attacked the Social Security system, they didn’t do it because they want to “reform” Social Security.”
Social Security is a wonderful and great program. It doesn’t need “reform”. Cons like to say how “bad” government is and how “good” the private sector is but did you know that Social Security spends about 3% on administrative cost? Contrast that with our wonderful private medical sector than spends over 25% shuffling paperwork around! Social Security needs to be left alone. If it needs more funding, then the tax ceiling should be abolished and the rich should pay their share. The working man who makes $60,000 a year has to pay 7% of his earnings to SS while the rich man who makes $6 million a year pays 007% of his loot to SS.
“Karl Rove came across an observation 20 years ago: that, by definition, 50% of the American people are below average in intelligence, and that a coalition of the stupid and corrupt could create a working majority at the polls.” – Long Time Poster, First Time Lurker
OK, but how could Rove get those Democrat voters to vote Republican?
Outlander makes no sense. He says the republicans try to be all things to all people.
NOT. What are you smoking exactly?
“… when the cocked guns began to go off on Thursday, it gave some satisfaction that there are reserves of decency in the land that sometimes assert themselves. ”
This quote is about Imus being fired…who said it…a Liberal or a Conservative???
In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for. As for me, I am thankful that I am not a Republican. – H.L. Mencken
“The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too.” – Oscar Levant
“Those who created our country — the Founding Fathers and Mothers — understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion. … The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.” – Ronald Reagan
“outlander” should do some more reading about Reagan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals
FACK ALL OF YOU CU*NT HORS
oooh! Looks like we have ourselves another Party of God troll. :)
“When the strongest nation in the world can be tied up for … years in a war … with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world can’t manage its own economy, when the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented lawlessness, … and when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration – then it’s time for new leadership for the United States of America.”
– Richard Nixon, 1968
GOP = Go Opposite the People
and I’m a conservative. Our politicians are a disgrace to the American public they “serve.”