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Here's a question for Democrats. Are there things about the Republican Party that appeal to you? Are their certain candidates, ideas or wings of the GOP that you could see yourself supporting if it only weren't for the other aspects of the party that repel you?
I started this thread in part as a spin off to the thread about the GOP's stance on the gay marriage. Are there are other issues in the GOP that keep you from voting Republican even though you could see yourself doing so if these obstacles were removed?
I hope this leads to a serious discussion and doesn't devolve into an opportunity to score cheap points on the GOP (plenty of other threads for that.)
As a Centrist, I could easily go back to voting for Repubs if the Party shows they once again want to contribute to the betterment of our Society.
Well, for starters, how about stop pandering to the reactionaries who want to turn the social and economic clocks back to an idealized 18th century that never existed?
Many Republicans have already turned socialy liberal, but I think they lose more evangelical votes than they gain from socially liberal independents.
Some changes on social issues and they cannot be so rigid on regulations that they are against even sane regulations.
I do vote for a R congressman in my district even though we are polar opposites on some issues because he is a man of character. Prior to Booker I had not voted for a D Senate candidate in NJ for a long time.
Nationally I would lean to being a Bush Sr republican but the party left that station.
Many Republicans have already turned socialy liberal, but I think they lose more evangelical votes than they gain from socially liberal independents.
The Republicans walk a tightrope on this, because the party base is less ideologically cohesive than the Democrats. Both fascists and libertarians tend to vote for Republicans (about three quarters of libertarians do while the fascists usually choose parties on racial lines), and even though moving in a libertarian direction would help the Republicans win general elections it would risk alienating the fascist wing of the party, and that wing is larger than the libertarians in the primary; and I say all this as someone with libertarian views. Among the Democrats however the fascists are more outnumbered by the core liberals so they can be more easily contained without risk of them grabbing power in the primaries or defecting (at least in national elections for senators and presidents, lots of them win in local districts and local government posts).
As a Centrist, I could easily go back to voting for Repubs if the Party shows they once again want to contribute to the betterment of our Society.
The recent and current Reoublicans have done a lot of damage to the party image, and they have lost a lot of support. They come across self-centered, disrespectful and even childish (the letter to mullahs) and hoplessly partisan. That is ok with party loyalists, but it does not work when you try to attract independent voters let alone dems.
I hate to admit this but I agreed with the Republicans that one year is too long to receive unemployment benefits. Some people do tend to wait until their unemployment benefits run out before getting serious about job hunting.
As a Centrist, I could easily go back to voting for Repubs if the Party shows they once again want to contribute to the betterment of our Society.
Yes.
Remember moderate Republicans? There are still a few left, but only a few (either that, or they're in hiding from the nut jobs).
When we lived in VA, I supported our Republican Congressman, Tom Davis. He was, to my mind, a moderate Republican, and that was fine. He left Congress many years ago - it was getting too weird for him, I guess.
I didn't like all of his positions on issues, but there was enough there to make him a better choice, IMHO, than his Democratic competition.
Frankly, a Republican candidate has to prove to me that he or she is much better than Democratic or Independent candidates in any given election to get my vote. And it's been many, many years since I last voted for a Republican.
I've set the bar higher for Republican candidates, since to my mind they have sunk so low over the last 20 years or so.
What would need to change? In general - realizing that each individual Republican office-holder or candidate is different - I would say that Republicans need to:
2. Stop always choosing big business over individuals.
3. Stop always choosing wishful thinking over fact.
4. And along with everyone else, please, please turn off FOX "News" - I want you to be able to THINK, and not just parrot a severely warped view of the world.
5. Lastly, please, no more letters to the leader(s) of a foreign country. It makes you look foolish, and spiteful, and (specifically as regards the Constitution) ignorant.
Some changes on social issues and they cannot be so rigid on regulations that they are against even sane regulations.
I do vote for a R congressman in my district even though we are polar opposites on some issues because he is a man of character. Prior to Booker I had not voted for a D Senate candidate in NJ for a long time.
Nationally I would lean to being a Bush Sr republican but the party left that station.
Some changes on social issues and they cannot be so rigid on regulations that they are against even sane regulations.
I do vote for a R congressman in my district even though we are polar opposites on some issues because he is a man of character. Prior to Booker I had not voted for a D Senate candidate in NJ for a long time.
Nationally I would lean to being a Bush Sr republican but the party left that station.
If Bush Sr. ran for president in 2016, he'd have my vote. He was a pragmatic professional. It's been awhile since a man like him has been at the helm of the GOP.
As a Centrist, I could easily go back to voting for Repubs if the Party shows they once again want to contribute to the betterment of our Society.
This is pretty much where I'm at too. I have centrist tendencies, but I'm a hard leftist on economic issues. Even so, I'd vote Republican if GWH Bush's wing of the GOP was still dominant. How can a party that was so focused on rationality and pragmatism have devolved into this?
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