Senator Aiken? (Republic, Rea: law, nursing home, required)

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

I totally agree with this. Too bad all the GOP candidates are pandering to an undereducated, knee-jerk reactionary, teabagging base.

Yes, the tea party is leading the republican party to electoral doom, except of course for the 60 seat landslide in November 2010, which was the biggest single shift in seats from one party to another since 1948, fueled largely by the tea party.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

Yes, the tea party is leading the republican party to electoral doom, except of course for the 60 seat landslide in November 2010, which was the biggest single shift in seats from one party to another since 1948, fueled largely by the tea party.

If the GOP would find more people like Huntsman, as another individual mentioned, the GOP might actually become more mainstream and respectable- sort of like what the party used to be like under Teddy Roosevelt or even Dwight Eisenhower.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

Yes, the tea party is leading the republican party to electoral doom, except of course for the 60 seat landslide in November 2010, which was the biggest single shift in seats from one party to another since 1948, fueled largely by the tea party.

The GOP would probably get an even bigger chunk of the electoral pie if they adopted a more centrist POV.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

If the GOP would find more people like Huntsman, as another individual mentioned, the GOP might actually become more mainstream and respectable- sort of like what the party used to be like under Teddy Roosevelt or even Dwight Eisenhower.

There is nothing mainstream or respectable about the modern democrat party led by Obama, Pelosi and Reid. There is a reason November 2010 was a landslide of historic proportions.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

There is nothing mainstream or respectable about the modern democrat party led by Obama, Pelosi and Reid. There is a reason November 2010 was a landslide of historic proportions.

You didn't address my previous point. The Republican party has been hijacked by big business and social conservatives compared to 50-100 years ago. As an Independent voter I don't find either political party appealing in their present format at the moment. This is one of the many reasons why the country is in a mess today. No viable third party and a Congress with a basement dwelling approval rating.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

You didn't address my previous point. The Republican party has been hijacked by big business and social conservatives compared to 50-100 years ago. As an Independent voter I don't find either political party appealing in their present format at the moment. This is one of the many reasons why the country is in a mess today. No viable third party and a Congress with a basement dwelling approval rating.

One of those "independents" who only criticize republicans.

Sure, the Republicans are hijacked by big business, yet Obama far outraised McCain in 2008 on Wall Street and his strong ties with multi-national powerhouses like outsourcing Jeffrey Immelt at GE, who headed up the President's no jobs council. You say the republican party is also hijacked by social conservatives; I say the democratic party is hijacked by unions and special interest groups.

I don't need to go back 50-100 years. Another Ronald Reagan would suit me just fine.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

One of those "independents" who only criticize republicans.

Sure, the Republicans are hijacked by big business, yet Obama far outraised McCain in 2008 on Wall Street and his strong ties with multi-national powerhouses like outsourcing Jeffrey Immelt at GE, who headed up the President's no jobs council. You say the republican party is also hijacked by social conservatives; I say the democratic party is hijacked by unions and special interest groups.

I don't need to go back 50-100 years. Another Ronald Reagan would suit me just fine.

The politicians of the past don't exist today. Also, I would say that economic growth or lack thereof is highly varied in the US today. You have many places that are doing fairly well and many that aren't. Venture capital and new job growth collect in various clusters across the country and the more diverse the economy is in a "metro" area the more resilient it is during times of recession. I think more effort needs to be made to figure out what states have the right mixture of policies, tax rates, education systems, infrastructure, capital, etc because those are the keys. It doesn't matter if it is a red state or blue state. I have plenty of examples of both that are doing well or poorly.

[GunnerTHB]

Originally Posted by MUTGR

There is nothing mainstream or respectable about the modern democrat party led by Obama, Pelosi and Reid. There is a reason November 2010 was a landslide of historic proportions.

This. I'm becoming more and more frustrated with the modern Republican Party every day. With that being said, in most cases they are the superior choice to the main alternative. I can tell you one thing, there will be several filled in bubbles on my ballot next to 3rd party candidates in November.

[fightforlove]

Originally Posted by GunnerTHB

This. I'm becoming more and more frustrated with the modern Republican Party every day. With that being said, in most cases they are the superior choice to the main alternative. I can tell you one thing, there will be several filled in bubbles on my ballot next to 3rd party candidates in November.

I don't think I can vote for Romney. I actually think he's a decent politician and I like Ryan, but the Republican Party as a whole is still critically flawed and a Romney administration will be deeply under the influence of this corrupted party. Their exclusion of Ron Paul from the RNC was kind of the last straw for me.

[aragx6]

I imagine a lot of the regulars on this thread are part of the 47% of Americans who do not pay federal income taxes. The disdain Romney showed for such a large (and almost entirely working or retired) group of people was very telling.