And from my perspective, yeah, Reagan probably should’ve/could’ve done more to control spending but 1) he was dealing with Dems in both houses for most of his presidency so I’ll cut him a little slack there; 2) a good chunk of his deficits were spent running the Soviet Union into bankruptcy because of our defense buildup; and, 3) Ronald Reagan was a piker compared to GWB when it came to spending. Seriously, can you ever even begin to imagine RR shoving the TARP crap down the throats of the GOP?

What Reagan was, however, was a clear, articulate spokesman for the greatness of America and the concept of liberty. If his ‘apostasies’ make him a RINO, I’ll take a party full of ‘em. Snow, Collins, Specter, Hagle, Graham, McCain, et al couldn’t carry Reagan’s ….well, probably shoudn’t use that one here this being a family site and all.

Anyway, I agree with the ME sisters and I don’t particularly care about kicking McCain and Graham out of the party one way or the other; I just don’t want them being our spokesmen and leaders.

Also, I think you are right on with the ladies from Maine. They are the only GOPers left in the Senate that I think should be sent packing.

Yeah…I remember that Reagan signed the amnesty bill and yeah, I remember being very disappointed that he signed that bill Having said that – I fail to see its relevance to this topic.

This is nothing more than the usual strawman moderates fall back on anytime conservatives say we need to have a strong, consistent, conservative message. They find some issue where a conservative ‘strayed’ and then say ‘see, according to your standards, not even (fill in the blank) could be a Republican under your standards.

To repeat, Rarely* do those who promulgate the concept of ‘purging RINOs’ say that everyone who does not march lockstep on *every* single issue must be booted from the party but that is the reflexive fallback position of those who attack us for wanting ‘bold colors’. I guess it’s easier than talking about the damage to the brand moderate do by muddling our message for Joe & Jane Sixpack.

So, let’s try this again – the overarching message of the *Party* and its ‘leaders’ needs to be Liberty for everyone, not carving the populace into ‘groups’ and then being afraid that we’re going to ‘offend’ someone if we don’t ‘tailor’ our message. I did not agree with everything Reagan did but his major theme was always American greatness and liberty. (heck, I don’t even agree with everything my *wife* thinks and does but that doesn’t mean I want to divorce her).

*That* is the problem we have with the Specters, the ME girls, and too much of the GOP leadership, not that they’re not in lockstep on *every* issue.

What’s more, he wasn’t bitter or snarling. He never is. He is both optimistic and unapologetic. That is why I like him and was proud to vote for him. It is unusual to see in a Senator. They are usually very pompous and arrogant. Perhaps he is different because he hasn’t been there that long.

On his major point, he couldn’t be more right. A perfect example of what he is talking about can be seen in American churches. Look at which denominations are growing and which are withering and dying. Those who are abondoning core Christian doctrine (ie: the Epicsopals) are dwindling while those who are unashamed of the Gospel (ie: Souther Baptists) are flourishing. That is because no-one wants to be part of a phony, unprincipled organization. The same could be said for political parties. If the GOP gave freedom-loving Americans reason to get excited, we would turn out in droves like black folks did for Obama last year, and no-one could beat us.

Can you name the last US President to actually SIGN a large-scale blanket amnesty bill for illegal immigrants?

Thats right, it was Reagan. And don’t go making excuses for him like ‘oh, well he didn’t mean it’ or ‘he was tricked into it’. No, he knew exactly what he was doing and he was right for doing it. Those people he was giving amnesty to were some of the hardest-working, most patriotic, most God-fearing people in America. He knew that they could contribute to our society and that they are “natural” Republicans.

I am not a troll saying this either. Jim Demint is my senator and I was proud to vote for him. I also think Ronald Reagan was the greatest Presient of the 20th century, but we Republicans need to wake up. If we ever hope to regain the Presidency and enough of a majority in the US Senate to appoint enough justices to the SCOTUS to restore the US Constitution and save capitalism, we have to stop driving a wedge between us and the largest & fastest growing ethnic minority in the country.

Now a big part of the solution lies in destroying the media propoganda machine that depicts us as racists every time we even mention border security, but another part of it lies in us not acting as though sealing the border & kicking out illegals is the most important part of our agenda.

There are certain of those “groups” you mention, which we could attract with just a tweaking of our message, whereas others have demonstrated no propensity for independence and would not support us unless we abondoned our core beliefs.

I am willing to open a big tent to those who believe in liberty, personal responsibility, and American Exceptionalism. I am open to a party of liberty even when others might not agree with me on certain subjects. What I am not open to, is a party that abandons all principles in order to please the lazy, greedy masses.

If our society is so warped, that a policy of liberty and small government can not win, then I don’t want to win. I will not change the beliefs of the Founders to please lesser men. We want to win, we want to be in the majority, but if we do not win by convincing others we are right, any win would be of little consequence.

(1) Should African Americans be allowed to sue a business for not hiring African-Americans if they can prove to a judge or jury that they are the most qualified applicant for the job?

(2) Should cigarette smoking be prohibited in restaurants?

(3) Should a social program such as Social Security exist?

Chances are that the average American voter you put these question to will say “Yes” to all three, even though all of the represent excessive government intervention into the private sector.

Ever wonder why our K through 12 education system looks like it was drafted by the now defunct Soviet Union? It’s because the American people believe that we can’t trust the free enterprise system to educate people but we must trust government instead, despite the fact that government run education delivers horrible results to everyone except the Teachers’ Unions.

We can blame wimpy Republican politicians all we want. And we should try to defeat them in Republican primaries.

But until we replace the current wimpy-socialistic American voters with genuinely conservative voters we aren’t going to see anything change.

In a representative democracy, the people tend to get the government that they deserve.