Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
All the money in the conservative movement is inextricably linked with neoconservative foreign policy, Christian radicalism and "Israel is more important than America" point of view.
You take those things away and you have something like Ron Paul. Republicans got a good look of that guy and they HATE him. He was booed at every debate with a Republican audience at least once. Outright booed.
The Republican Party hasn't lost it's way. The guy running for President literally dismissed half the country- disabled war vets, Medicare recipients, the elderly on social security- as weak beggars, and the right defended him!
They know exactly who they are they like it that way. Thankfully, their minions are dying out. That's all.
The GOP really does need a reboot and needs to ditch the Religious Right and Teabaggers.
Indeed.
Teabaggers cost the country $1 billion dollars because Treasury had to take extraordinary measures to keep the government running while they had their temper tantrum.
So much for fiscal responsibility.
From yesterday - first 10-15 minutes tells you all you need to know:
I don't want to say it but I just don't think Mitt is going to win. I will go vote and do my part but I just have a bad feeling about it.
So...do we reboot or hold onto the religious right stuff?
I am not a republican, but I could have been if the party was a little bit more sane.
The republican party is going to have trouble in 2016 too, even if a good candidate is nominated. Why? Because of hispanic immigration, New Mexico, and probably Nevada and Colorado is lost to the GOP. That is a loss of 20 electoral votes that will be hard to regain.
Democrats can win Florida or North Carolina or Ohio and they will win. Republicans however need to win nearly all tossup states. Another problem is the lack of support among youth and the old people are dying off.
I think the GOP will do badly for a long time. There is no assurance that both parties will win, because there is no assurance that the GOP will change. The nomination prevents Republicans from shifting to the left, and even if it does they still have to deal with the corruption.
The GOP really does need a reboot and needs to ditch the Religious Right and Teabaggers. I have no idea how they'd do that, as they outnumber the relatively sane Republicans. Look at how insane righties get nominated in otherwise winnable races like Todd Akin and Sharon Angle. Democrats never do that, you don't see an Elizabeth Warren-style candidate in a conservative/swing state. I guess wait for the Grim Reaper to take them since the Teabaggers are mostly senior citizens or near it.
You don't ditch voters. That is a losing strategy. And there are plenty of people in the group 40-60, who you would call tea baggers. In fact Romney was much more popular among senior citizens than the tea party candidates was.
What needs to be done is to appeal to larger segments of the population, not ditch voters.
You don't ditch voters. That is a losing strategy. And there are plenty of people in the group 40-60, who you would call tea baggers. In fact Romney was much more popular among senior citizens than the tea party candidates was.
What needs to be done is to appeal to larger segments of the population, not ditch voters.
But that is the problem with a GOP big tent strategy, there are conflicts. You aren't going to attract younger voters with the culture war crap. On the other hand some of their current voters love that stuff. By the same token if you reach out to Latinos via immigration policy you are going to alienate segments of the current GOP as well.
Essentially the GOP problem is getting people to join the fold and the Democrats problem is trying to get their people to vote.
But that is the problem with a GOP big tent strategy, there are conflicts. You aren't going to attract younger voters with the culture war crap. On the other hand some of their current voters love that stuff. By the same token if you reach out to Latinos via immigration policy you are going to alienate segments of the current GOP as well.
Essentially the GOP problem is getting people to join the fold and the Democrats problem is trying to get their people to vote.
The current problem is that the base want a "real conservative". What they really mean is that they want someone who have the exact same opinions as they do. It is actually quite suprising how they can overlook major character flaws in Romney or Gingrich, but still get pissed off if any candidate is somewhat moderate on immigration (Perry).
The base needs to learn they can't always get what they want. The best way of teaching that lesson would be to nominate a tea party candidate this year. Of course, contrary to popular belief. The GOP establishment are not very good at election strategy. Just look at Bush presidency, McCains suspension of the campaign, the nomination of Sarah Palin without vetting or educating her and now Mitt Romney.
What the GOP needs to do is 1. Drop the no tax increases at any cost and replace it with something like. We expect 2 dollars cut in spending for every dollar increased in taxes. 2. Change the official stance on gay marriage to saying it is an state issue, and support civil unions. 3. Moderate the stance on global warming, but keep the energy policy. In this way republican environment policy will be more tolerable for intellectuals. Also, talk about how much Democrats focus on CO2, when there are other pollutants who are worse 4. Try to lie less, and say less dumb comments. It scares off intellectuals. The right way of doing it is to simplify your message when you want to talk to the working class. The reason I want to attract more intellectuals is because they have a large influence on journalists and youth. 5. Never nominate people like Mitt Romney. Romneys opinions are not the problem for the base. The problem with Mitt Romney is that he is rich lying jerk who can't connect. The reason Bush, Clinton and Obama won was because they could connect to voters. 6. Keep the stance on unions, keep the stance on gun control, and keep being against abortion, but not against contraceptives. Talk more about family and the high divorce rate. 7. Keep a moderate stance on immigration, but keep being against illegal immigration. Give people who arrived in the country before 18 a path to citizenship. My recommendation is a relevant job and a college education, or 3 year military service. 8. Distance themselves from Bush foreign policy, but keep talking about how US will not take orders from anyone. People like that.
If Republicans did these changes, then I think the republican party can reverse their decline. The base may choose to nominate a tea party candidate instead. Let them do that, and let them lose. History has shown us that such a loss is exactly what the GOP needs if they are going to moderate themselves.
We conservatives can say that we're not conservative enough, but the important thing is that we must rally around each other now. We have to rally behind the candidate we have. I think Romney has picked a great running mate that is going to be a rising star in the GOP. We must rally around our fellow conservatives today. ... Now. ... If we don't, then we will be letting Darth Barry and his band of demons destroy our country by taking away all of our rights, including, quite possibly, our rights to vote. Forget about social issues now; too many people are out of work, and too many have given up. We can't blow this. We must beat Obama in November or we're toast. I can't stress enough how big-time crucial this election is.
You can stress it all you want, but your boy Romney has screwed the pooch on this election. Gaffe after gaffe, mistake after mistake, dumb statement after dumb statement is all Romney is providing for his party. The fact that you *still* want to vote for this tool is rather embarrassing for you.
I will admit Obama is NOT the best leader for this country, but no one said taking over for that joke of a president that was Bush would be. Could Obama have done a better job? Absolutely, but that's not the point there.
From this independent/moderate to the entire GOP - your best bet is to take the loss in this election (which at this point is a given), regroup and restructure your party and cut off the cancer that's killing it, then fire back with more strength than ever in the 2016 primaries.
Go through random threads and read my posts. Look at the What will mitt do for unemployment one.
I was the vp of the UVA college republicans.
Trying for a job at MSNBC? Take your faux negativity elsewhere. You're no more Republican than Joe Scarborough.
There hasn't been one debate, Romney is tied in most national polls, and you're here doing the dirty work of the Oblama camapaign. Yeah, you're a real conservative.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
