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... has taken a sharp turn away from rational discourse in the past decade. I've voted Republican my entire adult life until recently. This turn towards lunacy will cost the GOP and the nation dearly if it continues for any length of time.
... has taken a sharp turn away from rational discourse in the past decade. I've voted Republican my entire adult life until recently. This turn towards lunacy will cost the GOP and the nation dearly if it continues for any length of time.
Do any of you see signs of reason returning?
I haven't.
Absolutely, the political pendulum swings back and forth, sometimes it takes decades, sometimes a matter of a few years.
People have a greater tendency to be motivated to vote against something they dislike rather than something they prefer or even like. Same holds true for discussion threads around here for instance. Note that you rarely have people adjoining with a thread saying, "yay I support this 100%" compared to those saying, "this is a disaster and the country will burn if".
Far far more effort in put into oppositional positions than supportive ones and while this has always existed, I think its prevalence is reaching critical levels.
I can point to many of the Tea Party candidates who were elected on the basis of repealing government health care, cutting the deficit spending and getting our budget in order. However, when it comes to actually legislating on behalf of these things, they find that many of their constituents also rely upon them. Cut Social Security and every over 60 person in your district is crying foul, and they are the largest voting bloc. Say you will cut defense spending and every person will point out the jobs in their district that would be lost if they did. We end up then cutting some tiny microscopic peripheral thing like earmarks. Suddenly, those who were voted in for change look just like those they voted out, regardless of party.
Democrats pulled the same bait and switch back in 2006 when they ran on a mandate to leave Iraq and held strong anti-war positions. However once elected they didn't do a damn thing but vote for everything the President asked for.
So while people get angry and vote people out, those they vote in find themselves in the exact same situation, so what does this tell us about the greater symptoms of the disease that infects this country?
Old Gringo I've been a Independent voter since I first registered in 1990 willing to vote for either party who makes sense on issues. I have voted for the GOP in the past but they have gone on a myopic free for all and what people are witnessing is a party who is so narrowly focused in their agenda that even the middle class are scared of them.
... has taken a sharp turn away from rational discourse in the past decade. I've voted Republican my entire adult life until recently. This turn towards lunacy will cost the GOP and the nation dearly if it continues for any length of time.
Do any of you see signs of reason returning?
I haven't.
I'm not a Republican. I can be conservative on economic issues but I do have liberal views as well. I tend to try and vote the candidate I feel is the best man or woman for the job regardless of party affiliation. I will say that I have not voted for many Republicans of late. The GOP is choking out it's moderate wing and letting the religious far right dictate their national platform.
... has taken a sharp turn away from rational discourse in the past decade. I've voted Republican my entire adult life until recently. This turn towards lunacy will cost the GOP and the nation dearly if it continues for any length of time.
Do any of you see signs of reason returning?
I haven't.
I understand that with your views why you would not vote republican. the loss of your vote does not seem to have destroyed the party.
So if you enjoy spending our way into bankruptcy, vote democratic.
If you believe the federal government can better take care of your health care than your doctor vote democratic.
If you enjoy high unemployment larger deficits more national debt vote Democratic,
Gallup just released a poll showing that Republicans have surged ahead in every State and that Republicans lead in total states.
And of course the 2010 Mid Term elections really showed how badly they are doing???
You're assuming the Republican Party will do as well in 2012 as they did in 2010. That is just that an assumption. Don't count your political chickens before they hatched. You'd think you'd learn that from the 2008 elections.
... has taken a sharp turn away from rational discourse in the past decade. I've voted Republican my entire adult life until recently. This turn towards lunacy will cost the GOP and the nation dearly if it continues for any length of time.
Do any of you see signs of reason returning?
I haven't.
I agree with you, I've been following politics for many years and todays republicans, especially the tea party are so radically off the wall right it's shocking. I think many people in your shoes who are moderate or "real" conservatives are feeling and being ousted by the republicans. While this I think has given them a temporary gain, in the long run it will crush them.
You can see the massive backlash there has been towards Palin and most recently now with Walker trying to destroy the middle class and do the Koch's bidding. The tea party experiment is blowing up in their face and if the republicans are smart, will pivot back to the middle and distance themselves as far away from the tea party as they can.
Gallup just released a poll showing that Republicans have surged ahead in every State and that Republicans lead in total states.
And of course the 2010 Mid Term elections really showed how badly they are doing???
Sure, and I can take a picture of a rock falling in mid air and then look at the picture and say, "I have suspended gravity", look how my rock just floats.
Narrow the time frame of any snap shot, be it a falling rock or the political sentiments of the nation and I can make it appear as almost anything.
I could look back and say, what reasons were there for the nation voting out so many republicans in 2006? Why did America repudiate their views and positions then? Have we already forgotten?
Democrats got slaughtered in Congress in 2010, but do you feel things will be the same when the people enter the booth on 2012 based upon the snap shot of this very moment?
I find the most telling thing being that the American people are always looking over the horizon at the next guy to take care of the nations ills, the fact that they never do is of no consequence to our memories, as the next cycle we will once again look to the next fixer of things. (of course this may also have something to do with media picking who we get to choose from)
I understand that with your views why you would not vote republican. the loss of your vote does not seem to have destroyed the party.
So if you enjoy spending our way into bankruptcy, vote democratic.
If you believe the federal government can better take care of your health care than your doctor vote democratic.
If you enjoy high unemployment larger deficits more national debt vote Democratic,
and Dubya started that with the $1.3 trillion dollar deficit he handed Obama with one of the worst recessions in our lifetimes as well. As for healthcare stay tuned to FAUX if you believe the Feds will now become your "doctor"! Talk about paranoia & if you read my previous post Gringo this is the "myopic" free for all I was talking about!
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