Comments on: From the Mail Bag: Is this the new counter-spin?

By: Chief1942

Chief1942 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:18:47 +0000

It is a sad commentary that there are still people aligned with the GOP who think they can sustain a viable party while at the same time they turn their backs on conservative core values, simply to “beat the other guy”. I have noted recently that politics in America has replaced professional sports in many people’s lives. They have the players on their team and their “sports braodcasters” aka Fox News and conservative talk radio, and the other teams have their players and their sports broadcast networks ie CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NPR. I’ve heard all the admonitions about “doing whatever it takes” to defeat the Democrats in the next election, but if that means selling my soul, sorry I kindly thank you not! Although it has taken on an air of “sports”, fighting for one’s principles and simply what is right, is trivialized when it simply becomes a game..

By: shadowtax

shadowtax — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:45:46 +0000

And I did not intend to start a scripture discussion. But it is ironic to quote a passage about the dangers of temporal power, in a discussion about an election (the American pursuit of temporal power) in which a critic requests to have his email address removed and instead finds it published.

By: itrytobenice

itrytobenice — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:17:40 +0000

This idea that Perot’s campaign or supporters were bipartisan is a media fiction to help them cover up the fact that a majority of Americans support Republican ideals.

Perot’s entire campaign was based on fiscal conservatism. Completely. He was for reducing gov’t spending, waste, deficits and taxes. That didn’t draw Obama/Pelosi/Reid supporters. That drew conservatives who were chagrined that Republican control had not yet accomplished any fiscally conservative goals.

By: Warrior

Warrior — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:13:53 +0000

will lead us into oblivion. the electorate has already proven that if the choice is between watered-down Lib and true Lib, the will pick the latter every time.

And if the choice is between any kind of Lib and a true Conservative, the will go with the conservative every time.

By: Achance

Achance — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:56:36 +0000

Most of us here understood both electoral and legislative processes before you came along to enlighten us about compromise.

Of course, the majority will have a range of interests and there will be intramajority compromise and concessions, at least on substantive issues. I would brook no compromise on procedure or budget. When it comes to procedure and the budget, you will vote with the caucus or you will not be in the caucus.

The issue here is the Republican tendency to first develop even a majority position based on what it believes the minority might accept and second compromise with the minority even from that position.

Again, once you have developed a majority position, there is no reason to compromise with the minority.

By: hickorystick

hickorystick — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:27:43 +0000

is reasonable when the party is supporting gay “marriage” and abortion through a candidate. The Republicans are supporting un-Godly positions to achieve more power. If I recall correctly Jesus said this while being tempted by Satan by offering power. Jesus already knew who he was and the real power and it’s source that was already in him..
I do agree with your reminder to watch the rhetoric and check the attitude. I believe strong conservative values can be expressed in a “moderate” tone.

By: janis

janis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:21:51 +0000

conservative principles and beliefs?

By: janis

janis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:20:04 +0000

we have allowed the R brand to be so tarnished that we are TRULY in danger of “being some communist dictatorship where you can get everyone to march in lockstep…”.

There has to be a major difference between the two parties to attract voters who are yearning for leaders who have principles that will not shift with the prevailing current. We have not had that in a long time on our side. George Bush was adamant about one thing, and for that I am grateful, but he compromised on fiscal policies to get what he wanted in terms of natsec and Iraq.

By: libertymt

libertymt — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:16:50 +0000

I’m very much into history, and I can’t think of a single thing that’s ever been an immutable aspect of this party, or of Conservativism. You think your conservatism looks like an 1860′s Republican? Or a 1920′s Democrat? Or like Nixon’s Conservatism? Or like Goldwater’s? Or Reagan’s?

All of those people were conservatives or republicans in their time, and not a single one of them is the same as another. I guarantee you your conservatism doesn’t look exactly the same as any of them.

Mine certainly doesn’t. It’s my own, different from everyone here, sometimes in small ways, sometimes in large ways.

By: ceili_dancer

ceili_dancer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:16:06 +0000

It’s more like in the 30-40%. How’s that for consistency?

By: Streiff

Streiff — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:14:01 +0000

anyone who was alive during that election has read those stories, I have yet for anyone to describe how a Perot’s campaign attracted Democrats. His whole campaign was directed at the Republican base.

That is just as logical as saying Ralph Nader drew equally from Bush and Gore. It is nonsense on its face.

By: ceili_dancer

ceili_dancer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:13:15 +0000

n/t

By: Richard Mullins

Richard Mullins — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:12:07 +0000

it might help your appearance. Other than that, be gone troll.

By: hickorystick

hickorystick — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:09:33 +0000

for it’s third parties. The Bucktail party is one. This should not be hard to figure out when you consider New York city wouldn’t represent its rural values. This district has elected a Republican since 1871. Loyalty issues don’t lie with the electorate, but with the organization.
The Republican Party organizational structure is designed to gather support and ideology from the bottom up. It has instead chosen to ignore the voice of the people at the lower levels of the party. Each caucus has time set aside for surveying the ideas that it’s electorate say is important to them.. Every four years it reaches the National level and the party crumples up the survey and chooses a platform from a marketing survey that is based on majority (think democratic) principles. This process is anti-republican and dismissive of the base who does all the work and contributes most of the money. It should be no surprise a large sector seeks another mechanism to represent it’s views when the top levels dismiss them..

By: shadowtax

shadowtax — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:09:28 +0000

It really is wonderful news that increasingly Americans are identifying themselves as conservatives rather than liberals. However, even with the current conservative insurgency polls topping out with 40% of the electorate self-identifying as conserrvatives. The bad news is that we will need moderates as part of the governing coalition. So why are you picking on Joe here?

I think he has a valid point. For starters, I agree with Mark Levin and others who see national health care as end game. Once enacted The form of health care that Nancy Pelosi chooses to impose on us may very well come down to just one vote. Denying the Speaker one more vote in her caucus may be the difference. The 2009 special elections may be our last chance to stop it. It may very well come down to R vs D.

I do not agree with the point. I want Hoffman to win. At the same time, I want to avoid conservative schism. I think that Erick and most of the commentors on RedState have gone overboard on NY-23. For example, I read almost nothing about the California race where we have a GOP candidate running to the right of his district. I thought that this was something to be encouraged. Instead, the focus is Anti-GOP and NY-23, a veritable Whack-A-RINO tourney. I post on this subject while I am normally silent because I want to lance the boil.

You posted Joe’s email along with his email address knowing that he would be ridiculed. I know that the terms of use allow it. I have seen you do this in the past with nasty emails. Joe was not nasty. He only disagrees with your strategy, not the goal. Nevertheless, you quote the Gospel in act devoid of charity. That bothers me. It is not Christ-like. Next time quote the Founders when you do that. Keep perspective.

By: ceili_dancer

ceili_dancer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:08:43 +0000

We need to make sure that we discourage the squishes and leftists that claim the R next to their name don’t run. The reason we lost both houses of Congress is because we behaved like Democrats when we should have stuck to our principles. Trust goes a long way in politics, and when you are just as bad, or worse than the other side why not vote for the people who stand for that. We need commited people to run and govern from a conservative perspective.

By: penguin2

penguin2 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:06:34 +0000

on this race. But you should give more credit to this site and us to be smart enough and have common sense about the bigger picture. Look at Rubio in Florida, Toomey in Pa. and Devore in Ca. We Are going to try and support the more conservative candidate in the primary. Good everyone is watching this election, watch the Virginia one too. I doubt if a candidate is a good conservative GOP choice, that we are going to be trying to “sink them next year.” If you are seeking mods/squishes in the general election, then you will have a lot of these type of discussions. It is really your choice, we have made ours.

By: libertymt

libertymt — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:06:31 +0000

Back stabbing is just part of politics. The possibility is always there, you guard against it, twist arms to avoid it, and retaliate if (more like when) it happens. But you can’t just toss aside and exclude anyone who might one day do it.

Reagan said something like ‘The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend, not a traitor.’

By: janis

janis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:02:26 +0000

GOP candidate”? That would be interesting to know.

By: Warrior

Warrior — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:02:19 +0000

replaces the Republican party, or if the two become a loose coalition, or they combine and form a brand new party. But we simply cannot continue down the road with Dede Scoffazza, Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chaffee, and all the rest of the Arlen Specter dopplegangers…

Conservatives must re-enter this equation. Remember Ronald Reagan won by being a ‘sho ’nuff conservative on most issues and McCain lost by being Dem Lite…