The lesson for Republicans: They didn’t learn the lesson of 2006
posted at 7:30 am on May 14, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Special election races for Congress have arguable value as bellwethers for upcoming general elections. Mostly these races get decided on local issues rather than national themes, as in Louisiana, where the Republicans ran a lousy candidate, considered the only person who could have lost the seat. They do demonstrate the strength of national party efforts, though, and when one party loses three special elections in districts previously thought safe, that sends a message — and rightly has Republicans worried about their chances in November:
A Democrat won the race for a GOP-held congressional seat in northern Mississippi yesterday, leaving the once-dominant House Republicans reeling from their third special-election defeat of the spring.
Travis Childers, a conservative Democrat who serves as Prentiss County chancery clerk, defeated Southaven Mayor Greg Davis by 54 percent to 46 percent in the race to represent Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District, which both parties considered a potential bellwether for the fall elections.
Democrats said the results prove that they are poised for another round of big gains in the November general elections, and they attacked the Republican strategy of tying Democrats to Sen. Barack Obama, the front-runner for the party’s presidential nomination, saying it had failed for a second time in 10 days in the Deep South. Democrat Don Cazayoux won the special election for a GOP-held House seat in Louisiana on May 3. …
The Childers victory was the latest setback suffered by Republicans, who began the string of defeats in special elections when Democrat Bill Foster claimed the seat of former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in March.
President Bush won Mississippi’s 1st District by 25 percentage points four years ago, and Roger Wicker (R) won reelection with 66 percent of the vote in 2006. Wicker was appointed earlier this year to the Senate seat vacated by Trent Lott, who quit just one year into his six-year term to become a corporate lobbyist.
Why the panic? Even heavily Republican districts have given the GOP a slap in the face. Not even attempts to tie Democratic candidates to Barack Obama — unconvincing attempts at that — brought Republicans to the polls for the special elections. Democrats out-motivated, out-organized, and out-performed Republicans. And with a huge gap in fundraising between the DCCC and the NRCC, that appears to presage the general election in many more districts.
The lack of motivation comes from a disgust with a Republican Party that still hasn’t learned why it lost the majority in 2006. They lost those mid-term elections not because voters stopped supporting conservative principles, but because the House GOP stopped supporting conservative principles. Look at who won these special elections; they’re all Blue Dog Democrats, running in support of conservative themes such as gun rights. Now look at the Republicans who last held those seats, such as Hastert and Wicker — Republicans who spent other people’s money on waste and personal ambition.
Did the House GOP caucus take a hard line on pork-barrel spending or adopt policies to cut federal spending? No. Republican voters and conservative pundits begged the House and Senate caucuses to make dramatic breaks with the previous six years and adopt real conservative policies of fiscal responsibility and federalism. What did they do? They offered to stop earmarking only if Democrats followed suit, a deal everyone knew would never take place. Instead of appointing one single anti-pork activist to the House Appropriations Committee in Jeff Flake, they appointed Joe Bonner, a good Congressman but a well-known earmarker, and mostly because Flake’s anti-pork crusade irritates his colleagues.
John Boehner, the House Minority Leader, issued this warning:
The results in MS-01 should serve as a wake-up call to Republican candidates nationwide. As I’ve said before, this is a change election, and if we want Americans to vote for us we have to convince them that we can fix Washington. Our presidential nominee, Senator McCain, is an agent of change; candidates who hope to succeed must show that they’re willing and able to join McCain in a leading movement for reform. We need to stop wasteful Washington spending, fight and win the war on terror, and stop the largest tax increase in history. That is truly the change the American people deserve — and that is a message on which we can succeed.
Unfortunately, the Republicans have to take action to build credibility as reformers. Every step of the way between 2006 and now, they have chosen as a group to go in the opposite direction. The failure to appoint one single reformer to the lion’s den of wasteful spending shows that the GOP never learned its lesson from 2006, and now will suffer even greater consequences in 2008.
Get ready for the deluge. The next Republican leadership group had better learn the lesson of 2008 a lot more quickly than two years after the fact.
Update: It was Joe Bonner who got appointed to Appropriations and is an earmarker. Jack Kingston was pushing Flake for the job. My apologies to Rep. Kingston.
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Redhead Infidel
You address every Republican when you say ‘The GOP’ so get some level of reality to your imagery, as it does not apply to the readership at HotAir as you would infer. Every party consists of its members, not merely a corporate representative abstract as you perceive.
Be as you will. But better circumscribe your conclusions.
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Hmm…that is a toughie…
Oh, I’ve got it!
Your health insurance!
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Awfully convenient of you to suddenly get semantical. This isn’t about you. Your comment is argumentative but irrelevant.
Everybody but you (apparently) realizes that he meant the two hundred fifty-odd officials in Congress and the party leadership.
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 12:38 PM
unseen 12:29
Troll
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Very true. I left the Party in 2005 over the border issue (remember that was the year the Party leaders – including Bush – were calling the Minutemen racist “vigilantes”), obscene over-spending, bloated government, and the fact that the Republicans forgot what principles they stood for. I’ve never looked back.
I consider myself an American first and a Conservative second. I campaigned for a Republican candidate last year (Hunter), and was one of many conservative Independents that were lured back to Party politics by Hunter’s platform. It was a shame how he was treated by the Establishment Republicans. But I met fantastic people who were still trying to change the Republican Party from the inside. I’ve wondered how that was working out for them – and recently discovered that
manymost have since left the Party over McCain’s presumptive nomination. I’m talkin’ old folks that have worked inside the Party for decades. Gone.Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 12:41 PM
fossten
To surmise that our ability to defeat the immigration reform overhaul through our elected GOP officials proves them to be thoroughly worthless is foolish.
So we all learned how difficult it is to get through BY GETTING THROUGH. Now we hear from cry babies that it wasn’t worth the effort, that we can’t do it again because it’s so awfully inconvenient, and it would be easier if we just burn everything and start from scratch.
Extermination notices warrant “beware of sender”.
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Alright. Let me be more specific. By Grand Old Party, I mean the Establishment Republicans who have run the Party into the ground – their so-called “leadership”.
The GOP is no longer so grand – and that’s exactly what this discussion is about.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Time for a new generation to take over.
newton on May 14, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Maverick Muse:
The message was delivered by ‘getting through’, but it was’nt received. McCain’s demonstrated that by his cozying up to La Raza, and his return to immigration reform. You can not teach an old cancer new tricks. You excise it, and grow healthy new tissue in it’s place.
DngrMse on May 14, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Yes, thank you. I absolutely did. I think muse is being deliberately obtuse.
Oh, and I fixed it for ya. ;)
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 12:49 PM
In case you haven’t noticed, nobody “got through” to McCain. He’s saying the same things he said before. Only now he’s in charge.
I would argue that voting for him is awfully convenient because it absolves GOP voters of any responsibility. Whatever happened to “throw the bums out?”
I guess our perceptions are different.
Exit question: At what point do you admit that things have gotten so far out of hand that it’s time to start over?
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Oops, lol thanks for the heads up. Will try to remember.
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Hey, quit that pessimistic talk. If McCain’s strategy is right, and all those “hard-core moderates” come through for him he’s got the election in the bag. And even if that “sure-fire” strategy somehow craps out, he can always hope for the unicorn vote!
Seriously though, this is not just about one Presidential election. The contributions McCain is personally getting are still in the single-digits. But the GNC gave him the key to the treasury.
…So the Republican Party can pretty much write off all the battleground Congressional elections from this point forward.
logis on May 14, 2008 at 12:53 PM
The problems, in order of importance:
Gas Prices
The MSM’s ability to pound the right and cover for the left
War going on too long
Pork
Immigration
Lower gas prices would change the entire equation. That isn’t likely to happen soon. Immigration is lower on the list because the MSM wants it. They can’t use it as a club vs the right.
Patrick H on May 14, 2008 at 12:56 PM
The candidate describes himself as pro-life, pro-business and pro-guns. His big issue is the economy, and he pledges to do everything possible in Congress to provide incentives for small-business people.
Except for his stance on pulling out of Iraq, he’s the kind of Democrat I can (and have) voted for in the past.
Yakko77 on May 14, 2008 at 12:57 PM
THe problem with the republican party is that it has gone elitist and doesnt listen to the people any more.
And they still dont get it. They believe the only reason dems are winning is because they tout the “Change” mantra.
The dems hold Congress yet the republicans are still getting the blame ? Some one tell me why that is ?
I know but Im sure the party management is clueless.
One more reason why I want to back into politics and shake the establishment
William Amos on May 14, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Small fish are eaten by big Progressive sharks.
If a new party requires the death of the old, excusing cloak and dagger manipulations with all good intentions, there’s treachery from the new that leaves its beginning crooked and its course doomed to repetition. Every party is corrupt because all people are corrupt. The “new” party is nothing more than another corrupt party in the wings. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
At the moment, we have a vehicle and national network from which conservatives do indeed have a voice. Removing the conservative voice rather than using it within the vehicle leaves the driver without our compass, and the conservative without a vehicle.
McCain is as likely to listen to conservatives at the last moment as to curse us before the vote. We stopped already the Bush/McCain open border overhaul, proof that we know how to do it, and that we have the will to do it, and Washington knows that we have the strength to do it.
Fracturing before the vote is not wise. Making our rights be heard before and after the vote is what I agree that we are all attempting to achieve.
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Let’s not kid ourselves that the Iraq war has destroyed any appeal the Republican Party has to independent voters. The Bush administration did a lousy job at the outset and has only recently found good general officers to lead. As a result we have helped establish an incredibly selfish government there, backed by an “army” that still doesn’t stand up for itself on a consistent basis.
As a result of this stupid obsession with one issue, we are going to see weaker US armed forces, less border enforcement, and more socialist doctrine imposed at the federal level.
Iraq was important, and I feel for the Iraqi people, but we have sacrificed the US to President Obama for at least the next four years for them. It wasn’t worth it. Don’t kid yourselves that people will forget Republican stupidity with regard to Iraq any time soon.
doufree on May 14, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Maverick Muse:
….and proof that even after our wishes are made known, we’ll still vote for them when they go back on their word. But only because they have an ‘R’ after their name.
DngrMse on May 14, 2008 at 1:12 PM
Tell that to Thomas Jefferson and the other signers of the DOI.
What we did took maximum effort and even then the margin was razor thin. It’s unreasonable for you to expect conservatives to willingly and repeatedly staple their d**ks to the floor and then say, “If the water gets too deep, just pull really hard.”
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 1:12 PM
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 12:50 PM
As per conversions, I am experienced.
The opportunity to begin anew occurs every morning.
As you perpetuate the obtuse offensive standard,
you leave no reason to converse further.
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 1:12 PM
That’s the way the politicians want it, and they have ensured that it is so. McCain moreso than most others.
Read a lot of the comments on HA here – conservatives are the new undesirable “fringe” to many McCain supporters here. We’re called lunatics, treasonous, idiots, and worse. There is a certain level of scorn reserved for conservatives who won’t buckle that matches the worst you could say about KosKids. It’s meant as an egregious insult – albeit lame and unoriginal – and is wielded often by McCain supporters here at HA.
I think the latter is likely, and the former is impossible.
We stopped it twice while the Repubs held a majority, and once – just barely – in 2007 when McCain et al thought he could sneak it through with a Dem majority. Sneaky and corrupt.
Now Bush is trying to sneak through funds for Mexico by attaching it to a war spending bill. It’s all very under-the-table, and that’s the level Republicans have sunk to force things on us we don’t want. Don’t think McCain hasn’t mastered that nasty little trick. He proved it by trying to sneak his third version of immigration reform through the Senate without debate.
Too late. Far, far too late.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 1:17 PM
DngrMse “we’ll still vote”
Study well. Cultivate your relationship with those who represent you; lobby for you. Stay on target. And support the candidate who best represents you in each election. Do as you will for yourself in a legitimate process.
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 1:17 PM
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Toll my a**. Just because you can’t handle the turth doesn’t mean it isn’t there. that is exactly what the America people are thinking. If we have no other option but socialism to vote for come 2008 why not go ahead and vote for the biggest socialists. The rep party is basically socialists for the corparations. the Us citizens know they are getting the shaft and have decided to give the shaft to the corparations. Bush and company picked the wrong horse to give socialism too during their reign. too many good jobs lost, too many corruptions on wall street, too many high paying CEO’s getting multiple millions while the avg American gets a pink slip or lower wages, lower benefits, high gas prices, lower home vaules. The entire system is broken. The AMerican people want their slice now. Get use to it.
unseen on May 14, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Ow.
I don’t have one, but I’m fairly certain that’s a “DO NOT WANT.”
That metaphor is probably the most evocative and precise I’ve read in a very long time!
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 1:24 PM
Rosie O’Donnell is better at haiku than you are.
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Everybody but you (apparently) realizes that he meant the two hundred fifty-odd officials in Congress and the party leadership.
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 12:38 PM
I think all 535 can be described that way
unseen on May 14, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Drop your presumption with me.
Enjoy yourself at your own cheap expense.
maverick muse on May 14, 2008 at 1:26 PM
What the hell are you whining about now? You pick out two of my least controversial statements and choose to get bitchy about those? C’mon! I’ve given you better red meat than that! Besides, what’s “presumptive” about anything I said? Exactly nothing.
You know exactly what it is I’m talking about, don’t you? So nevermind.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Commenting glitch. Anyone else having trouble?
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 1:40 PM
I’ve had a missed comment or two, yes.
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 1:41 PM
What the heck are you whining about now? You pick out two of my least controversial statements and choose to get b!tchy about those? C’mon! I’ve given you better red meat than that! Besides, what’s “presumptive” about anything I said? Exactly nothing.
You know exactly what it is I’m talking about, don’t you? So nevermind.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 1:42 PM
Pfft – now there’s a duplicate.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Exactly the tone that some conservatives are talking about.
The REPUBLICAN Congress, with John McCain, and Bush, increased the size of government MORE than at any other time in history… they did NOT reign in spending… they did NOT fix a dang thing.
What they did was get us into a war that we fought halfheartedly… didn’t even increase the size of the military WHEN they held the power in Congress.
The majority of Americans think this country is on the wrong path… and the MSM spins this as wanting to go more Liberal and follow the dems, when the people I talk to want a REAL choise… they want a Conservative choice… but folks like you are more interested in Party Power, than in principal.
Sorry, we’re gonna vote for principal… not the lesser of two evils.
And the dismissive attitude of folks like YOU is one of the reasons the Republican party is in such trouble.
Romeo13 on May 14, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Here in Utah’s Republican Rep. Chris Cannon nearly lost his seat at the state party convention on Saturday, and must now face a primary challenge in a couple of months, and a newly determined Democratic candidate in the fall. And this is one of the most conservative districts in the country.
WasatchMan on May 14, 2008 at 1:46 PM
To send Boehner a clue:
http://republicanleader.house.gov/Contact/
It won’t make any difference, but you might feel a little better.
sloopy on May 14, 2008 at 2:07 PM
Sorry to be off-topic but can someone in Arizona tell me what’s going on with Arpaio and Napolitano?
Here, I’ll make it somewhat on-topic: Arpaio doesn’t think McCain’s such a great agent of positive change either.
sloopy on May 14, 2008 at 2:10 PM
Yes, and what really points out how nobody has learned anything is that Red State invited Tom DeLay to blog there, and best of all, to lecture everybody on why they lost. Look in the mirror, Tom. That’s why. It wasn’t just the elected Republicans who didn’t learn; neither did the bloggers and pundits, no matter what they say.
rightwingprof on May 14, 2008 at 2:18 PM
With congressional approval ratings in the high teens this could be the time to vote out ALL incumbants and vote in people who do the countries work rather than the parties.
As for the war the fact that somday we will have allies in the heart of the Mid-East and Iran surrounded is Brilliant strategy unless your an American hating Liberal.
Term limits.. 8 years is enough for a president its’ enough for a congress critter, 4 for senators.
dhunter on May 14, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Hmmmm…
I’m listening to Sean Hannity right now (2:22 CST). I don’t usually like to listen to him because I thought he carried too much water for Republicans.
But just now, I could hardly believe my ears: he is RIPPING into the Republicans in DC – ALL of them. I sure hope someone can find this audio somewhere, but I’ll type in a few of his highlights. He said:
*Republicans have abandoned their conservative base and treated them with derision and scorn.
*Conservatives have watched as Republicans have over-spent, over-regulated and generally acted like marginalized Democrats.
*They’ve practiced the politics of compromise. They easily and frequently capitulate to those on the Left.
*They have failed to uphold conservative principles.
*Emergency action is needed to preserve the Republican Party, and if they don’t take this seriously, if they avoid the hard truths of what they’ve become, they will face a CATASTROPHIC defeat in November.
I have rarely heard Hannity this coldly pissed. I’m pleasantly surprised because up to this point, I rather thought he was part of the problem. I’m going to keep listening as he outlines his “Emergency Action Plan” for the Republicans.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 3:26 PM
fossten,thatlooks more like Germanic alliterative verse than haiku, although without the alliteration…
ClydeS on May 14, 2008 at 3:29 PM
This is the same Hannity that was in the tank for Giuliani the entire primary season?
fossten on May 14, 2008 at 3:31 PM
Wasn’t it in 2004 and earlier that “everyone” was saying the Democrat Party and Liberalism in general were obsolete?
hadsil on May 14, 2008 at 3:32 PM
More from Nannity:
“Republicans are heading for disaster. They need to stand out and break away from the pack. You need to come up with an inspiring, comprehensive, unified agenda. You need to reassure conservatives that you mean what you say. You can’t win just because Obama is WEAK. It’s time to sign a promise – a pledge.
Eliminate all earmarks. You are the party of fiscal responsibility.
You must promise to balance the budget.
You simply must secure the border.
You must commit – in writing – to advancing energy independence within five years. (more details on that but I couldn’t type that fast)
Never allow socialized medicine to take over.
You are the party of free markets.
You are the party of victory.
You MUST distinguish yourself from the Democrat party. No more moderation, no more accommodation, no more capitulation.
You must reject this “new kind of conservatism” – which is just a misnomer for old, corrupt politics. It will be a FAILURE. Not just for you politically, but for the American people!”
Where have I heard all of this before? Why..it’s all right here at HA and Ace’s. It’s only what some of us have been saying for ages. I’m glad that someone with Hannity’s reach has finally gotten pissed off enough to speak out.
It’s about principles…and the very continuation of the conservative agenda. It always has been. Obama is not the disaster – he is a deeply flawed and weak candidate. In any other circumstances, he would be easily beaten. But the Republicans have failed to offer the people a clear-cut choice.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Yep, the same one – I can hardly believe it myself. I stopped listening to him when he was shilling for Giuliani, but just happened across his show today and his voice was actually hard and serious. That’s what made me listen.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 3:38 PM
He’s also mentioning the speech McCain just gave on global warming. There’s been a sharp backlash against it.
More:
“What is wrong with the GOP is NOT anything that’s wrong with Conservatism. They are no longer one and the same.
They better start signing pledges about things that matter to your base. We’re losing because there’s no energy, there’s no enthusiasm. And when Republicans had power, you didn’t govern in a principled, conservative way. You haven’t inspired trust.
If we lose in November, it’s not because people are standing by their principles. It’s because the Republicans have betrayed them.
There is deep distrust and antipathy. Conservatives are tired of being poked in the eye and told to suck it up.
He said Repubs better start panicking and re-double their efforts, now that they’ve lost those three seats. It will only get worse if they keep doing what they’ve been doing.
Republicans have to INSPIRE, and all they’ve done is alienate.”
He just said that there’s going to be a lot of angry Republicans once they hear what he’s said and realize he’s talking to THEM.
“At this point, Republicans have created such distrust that they better draw up a Contract With America right now and sign their names to it. That’s the only way they’ll hold their seats.”
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Ooh – now the callers are VENTING. Sounds like Ace’s HQ on the air!
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 3:48 PM
Perhaps the problem is…..
1. The GOP is telling stories full-time….They try to talk conservative ideas, but don’t follow them.
2. The DEMs are still the party of tax & spend, but the GOP has made them almost middle-of-the-road by using the same beliefs.
3. The public, disenchanted by both, would rather buy the “change” idea of any DEM then the proven lies of the GOP.
There will NOT be a GOP win without MASSIVE change between now and November….something not likely to occur!
Another drubbing, BUT this time we will get a DEM Congress and a DEM President and then the economy will tank, and we will find many, many new programs of Federal origin which will become part of our lives, and we’ll be paying for to give the DEMs more votes.
The current crop of GOP Congressional folks are idiots!
Duke
DukeofDeLand on May 14, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Key is that this is the type of thing I’ve been hearing for a couple of years now… most people I know are soooo tired of all the politicians that its pathetic, but because the MSM has a vested interest in those politicians, they never heard anyone Publicly speaking about it.
1/3 of the electorate is registered independent… and a LOT of those are conservatives.
Romeo13 on May 14, 2008 at 4:05 PM
*sigh* I know.
I am one of them. And I thought I was so unique. ;)
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Fools, there is no guarantee that if the Democrats, even Obambi, win in November, they will screw up so badly that in four years a resurgent conservative party will win back the White House and the Congress.
That’s just wishful thinking. Remember, FDR was elected for four terms.
Obambi may remind us more of Jimmy Carter than FDR, but he and a Democrat Congress could expand the welfare state to the point where they have an election-proof majority.
And just remember: Obambi will give away the whole Middle East to Iran, and will let Iran obliterate Israel.
I can’t take that chance. Whatever else McCain will do, he won’t stand by and let that happen.
MrLynn on May 14, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Well, like I said elsewhere, it’s a moot point, because McCain can’t win without the base. He’s gonna try – but he’ll come up far short.
So in the meantime, we have to rebuild. There are no other options anymore.
Redhead Infidel on May 14, 2008 at 4:42 PM
The Independent Party is the only place to go. Abandon the Republicans and start new. This election is lost not because of us but because of what the republicans have become. They do not deserve our support or respect.
trs on May 14, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Those with actual maturity don’t usually need to talk about it so much. Let’s keep the debate on the actual issue, not the character of the debater, shall we?
Point is the GOP has very real, serious, entrenched problems. The leaders have become corrupt, and in continuing to follow we provide our tacit approval of their actions. “Well, he’s better than the other guy” motivations must, at some point, yield to a principled stand and a “new guy.”
Evidence for these problems: the startling special election losses and large scale negative perception of the GOP.
And that’s entirely aside from the fact that that strategy doesn’t work all that well. Ask the Kerry campaign.
At any rate, I’m not sure why we’re all surprised and forlorn about this. How many Don Youngs, Trent Lotts, and Larry Craigs do we need to have before we figure out that perhaps, there’s a problem with the congress critters?
The rhetoric of folks like Obama wouldn’t be so resonant if it didn’t stand in such stark contrast to the sleazeball Republicans we’ve been electing in the name of a “better than the other guy” mentality.
TheUnrepentantGeek on May 14, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Keemo on May 14, 2008 at 8:37 AM
I do the same. When they send me solicitations, I send them back with notes saying I don’t support “Democrat Lite” or some such.
Had a kid call a few weeks ago; started off asking what was important and I told him – illegal immigration, lower taxes, cuts in spending, not happy with the bailout. Then he went on to ask for money for some fund to help conservative candidates. I asked for names and he couldn’t easily produce them. I asked what they thought of John McCain and he said he didn’t know. He finally produced some names and I know he mentioned Kyl, someone like Ted Stevens (wish I could remember who), and McConnell.
I was annoyed; why after all I said, would I support McConnell – who had worked on the bailout compromise and praised it – and Kyl, who tried to ram illegal immigrants down our throats? He didn’t know his politics and was trying to use ‘President Obama’ scare tactics. I was vocal, refused, said that the only thing McCain/GOP at this point had going for it was Iraq, and with McCain we would continue the policies that got us into trouble in ’06. He tried in particular to scare me with Obama taxes and I said they would be bad but 20 million illegals and more on the way was already costing me money and would cost me under McCain too.
I really don’t know why they send us requests any more. We were good size donors during the President’s re-election cycle, but you’d think after emails, calls to the RNC, sending things back with notes and refusing and lecturing phone solicitors they’d get the message in SOME form. Sounds like other people are doing the same, which begs the question, what WOULD it take for the GOP to listen?
linlithgow on May 14, 2008 at 7:23 PM
Our best hope (forget the Obama connotations) is to vote for and contribute to strong contenders in the contested seats in Congress. We also need to support those incumbents who are fighting the good fight and rally behind conservatives challenging entrenched politicos.
I have been getting solicitations in the mail from some Republican newcomers who appear to be promising. Many of them are military veterans.
The best way to send a message of term limits is to bounce out the old guard, regardless of their party, and rally around the new talent.
Let’s man the phones, pound the pavement, dig into our wallets, stuff the envelopes, and distribute campaign literature. Let’s head out to college campuses to spread the conservative message, so that young voters see the value of low taxes and less regulation in offering them a brighter future. Channel that youth energy and technology expertise in order to utilize their knowhow in internet messaging and fundraising.
Let’s urge business people, economists, and scientists to run for office, so that we are not beholden to the good-old-boy club of lawyers who make laws.
We need to effect the change from the bottom up with grassroots efforts.
onlineanalyst on May 14, 2008 at 7:32 PM
OK,, well, lets start cleaning house at the local levels and take this party back. At some point the complaining has got to stop and the work needs to start. It is a mess. A complete mess. That also means it is wide open for change. It’s a buyers market right now in the Republican party!
What are we all going to do? Buy a camper and hide in the woods? If freedom can come to countries that were under the Soviet Union,, if the wall can be broken down where once people were shot trying to climb it,, surely liberty and real leadership can return to the United States of America! Surely there is still hope for this nation!
How badly do we want it?? Are you willing to run for an office? Are you willing to do more than just blog??
I have no intentions of hiding in my basement for the next 4 years! I’m going to go out and buy, sell and hold my head high! I’m going to open my mouth every opportunity I get to speak the truth! If I have to end up running for an office, I will! If I am needed to support someone else, I will!
And certainly,, I will continue to pray for this nation! I do not believe that God is finished with America!
If after four years all we have left is a pile of rubble and a mountain of debt, than the answer will always be the same! Clean up the mess and carry on!
Liberals are in this for themselves! They care only about themselves, their names, their power. Conservatives care about the nation. Conservatives care about their families, about principles, about duty, about right and wrong! And I believe there are a great many people out there just waiting with great anticipation for some real men and women to stand up! They don’t blog, they don’t complain,, they just go about their lives wondering how it all came to this!
You know, some generations have suffered so much. Men sacrificed everything, put aside their own ambitions and dreams and went off to war and never came back. How much are we really suffering for our nation?? I bet there are a lot of good people around this town that could run for mayor and win, run for congress and win, run for city council and win,, but don’t want to get involved in politics because they don’t want the stink to settle on their clothes! It’s understandable! A lot of guys never wanted to go off to war, either, for that matter.
Yeah, conservatives, real ones, risk being called names. Real conservatives running for office might even risk harassment, debt, loss of reputation, threats, we all know the list goes on. Well,, American soldiers risked getting captured, tortured, disfigured and death! Right now this nation is in need! We are in need for some real men and women and the call is being put out! Who else is going to do it??
Well, maybe this is just a ramble,, a rant. But I think there is some truth to what I am saying. Yes, we are at war,, in the political sense here. A war of ideas for the heart and soul, future of this nation. Rush has said that,, and it is very real and very true! Our mindset can be nothing less than that. We are not talking about a birthday party! We are talking about the future of this nation, and we all need to start realizing we have have a role in this! The task is great, but it is for us to do it! No one else is! Whether it is cleaning up the Republican party or starting something new,, at some point, the work has got to replace the complaining! And we need to have as much motivation and drive for the sake of our families and principles, and for this nation,, as libs have for their own pursuit of power!
So,, there it is. I guess I have ranted enough for now.
JellyToast on May 14, 2008 at 7:37 PM
There can be no doubt that there is NO leadership within the republican party at this time, and for those who happily would point to McAmnesty as being the titular GOP leader [damn RINO] I will just as happily point out how he threw conservatives under the bus the first chance he had. These elections should surprise no one.
Show me the person who repeatedly tells of how the obstructionist democrats in the senate stopped the President’s energy plan which would have had us drilling for more domestic oil back in the beginning of his administration, then blasts democrats for today’s high gasoline prices coupled with diminishing food crops and I’ll show you a real leader. Don’t bother looking. That leader never showed up.
America gets the government it deserves, and after this election cycle we will all suffer the consequences of the severe sloth exhibited by the majority of Americans as democrats [I include McCain in this group] lead us down the road to another multitude of disasters.
My advice: Best suck it up. It won’t get better anytime soon.
DannoJyd on May 14, 2008 at 8:03 PM
Where the hell were all these immigration fanatics for the 140 years that we had an open border with Mexico? I mean really, you want to know what happened to Republicans?
The right went nuts, over the cliff crazy. First of all we hear people say that Bush is selling us out to Mexico, which means that either a good deal of the base is paranoid or a Republican President has decided to light a match to the Constitution. Neither of which inspires confidence. Then we have Dubai, in which we are to believe that a good deal of the Republican base is paranoid OR the Republican President wants to sell our ports to terrorists so that they can kill us all.
And then you wonder why people are not voting for Republicans?
A long time ago an old guy told me that when Republicans win the Right thinks they run everything and then go crazy and piss everyone off and the Democrats win. And then the Left thinks they run everything and go off the deep end and the Republicans win.
Maybe the guy knew what he was talking about.
I think Republicans need to do some fiscal conservative, strong national security, social conservative kind of issues. They also need to stop eating their own. That is whay Democrats are for.
As for immigration, thus far Tancredo and his ilk have bombed. People want a secure border, but they do not want the fanaticism.
Terrye on May 14, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Danno:
I would say that conservatives threw McCain under the bus first chance they got…along with just about everybody else, including George Bush.
Terrye on May 14, 2008 at 8:12 PM
The Republicans’ loss of any sort of adherence to the principles of freedom, small government, and federalism is what I think the problem is. And that’s completely brought on by themselves and us for voting for them in the primaries. Not that they’re all bad, though. Gas prices will have some effect on the next election, but long-term I don’t think they’re the main problem. If they are a problem, and if the RNC had any sense about them, they’d be a problem for the Democrats. Think of all the clips and statements by Dem’s against drilling, refining, etc. for the past many years (decades?) that could be strung together for ads. The refining thing may have to be blamed more on lefty environmental groups, but I know I’ve heard several current leading Dem’s ruling out drilling in Alaska. The one potential problem is we didn’t allow drilling when Republicans controlled Congress and the Presidency, but I can’t remember how much of that was the Democrats obstructing with filibustering and what not. If they did filibuster, so much the worse for them.
scotta on May 14, 2008 at 8:12 PM
In fact conservatives do not like anyone who can actually win an election. That is the problem and conservatives need to face up to the fact that the country is trending left right now. It won’t always be that way, but bailing out on the party because the American people are not into conservative policies right now, just means there will be no one there to support you when things start coming back around. Grownups understand that sort of thing.
Terrye on May 14, 2008 at 8:15 PM
scotta:
I listen to people and gas prices is what is really pissing them off because it is what effects them. Most Americans do not know or care what Federalism even is.
Terrye on May 14, 2008 at 8:17 PM
OT-
Just found out a childhood friend of mine who has been battling a rare cancer had to have his leg amputated today; I think he just celebrated his 38th birthday. If you can keep him in your thoughts, prayers… whatever it is you do… I’d appreciate it. He’s got 3 kids and a wife and doting brother and mother too. Tragic story, hopefully this will stop the problems.
linlithgow on May 14, 2008 at 8:35 PM
linithgow:
That is so sad. But hang in there, people do survive these things.
Terrye on May 14, 2008 at 8:49 PM
Thanks Terrye. I had lost touch with him and his brother a few years after I moved across the country and just last year a mutual friend told me about Vinnie having cancer and we’ve exchanged a little mail since then, and I’ve checked his CaringBridge site fairly regularly. He was doing well and in rehab learning to walk again and things took a bit of a turn it seems. He and his brother went to school with my brother and we all hung out a lot in High School. Good guys both of them. Good to their mom, just decent people, your average Joe.
I know people bounce back, and they’re hopeful this will be a turning point. I hope it is. Thanks again for responding, I appreciate it.
linlithgow on May 14, 2008 at 9:36 PM
I think the colossal electoral beating they’re about to take in November ought to get their attention…
If it doesn’t it’s simple natural selection; they couldn’t evolve and adapt to their surroundings and they become extinct.
Right now, November’s looking like a sort of Bibo Event for the GOP. A fraction are going to make it, but only a tiny fraction and only just barely.
It’ll be good to clear some deadwood.
Less chance of a wildfire…
SuperCool on May 14, 2008 at 9:39 PM
Redhead Infidel:
It’s too late for that. Any sudden shift toward actual conservatism now will be viewed by conservative voters as nothing more than ‘throwing the base a bone’. We’ve already been down this road. They talked a conservative game the last couple of elections, and played a liberal game once assured their place in office. The time to act was two years ago….not now, not a week ago, or a week from now. If they believe that they can do a 180, and start cheer-leading conservative principles now…..it’s further proof in my mind that they view their constituents as a bunch of naive, and easily fooled rubes.
McCain doesn’t get it. Boehner doesn’t get it. Hannity doesn’t get. The party is fractured, it’s every man for himself, and unfortunately too many people are willing to keep these self serving bums in office. There is no party platform.
It’s come to the point that the most convincing argument for voting the Republican ticket the GOP is offering up is that Obama, (or Hillary, assuming her arm twisting skillz are up to the task come the Dem convention), is worse in some areas than McCain.
I will no longer vote for the slightly less reprehensible candidate in any election. The GOP can bank on that. They can play their ‘big tent’ games, and try to convince me that it’s the only way to put a conservative in office….I don’t buy it. I see true conservatives out there, electable conservatives. I’ll save my vote for them.
DngrMse on May 14, 2008 at 9:51 PM
How can Republicans win when you have all these McCain lovers and apologists?
mariloubaker on May 14, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Everyone keeps saying we must support McCain and moderates.
Why?? We’ve had a “compassionate conservative” in office and what has he accomplished? Bush has managed to almost decimate the GOP; he’s seems to have compassion for liberals but for conservatives…..not so much. I’ve always understood the need to deal with Afghanistan after 9/11, but I’ve also felt that his decision to go after Saddam had more to do with Saddam’s threat to assassinate Bush the 1st rather than any strong foothold in Iraq for the war on terror. Oh, Al-Q is in Iraq now, but Colin Powell was right……”ya break it, ya fix it”. We can’t abandon Iraq now; but I’m tired of seeing our young men and women dying and being maimed for them. If freedom means so much to the Iraqis it’s time more of them stepped up to make it so. I find it rather pathetic that we consider it a good performance by Iraqi troops when the number who desert or abandon a fight decreases.
RINOs; we wonder why Rinos are so quick to side with Dems. It’s because most RINOs WERE Dems!! Trent Lott, Arlen Specter et al; they became Republicans when the Dem party took a sharp left turn in the 70s & 80s. Other than that they’ve behaved like Dems because at heart they never stopped being Dems.
Arlen Specter is such a tool. With all the serious issues facing the GOP this joker wants to conduct a federal investigation into “Spygate” in the NFL!! Even if the investigation/hearings have to wait until he finishes his latest round of chemotherapy!! And I’m supposed to take him seriously because he has an R after his name? I shake my head when I think of my fellow Pennsylvanians dumping Santorum but re-electing this fool.
I’m sorry folks, I know this comment is all over the map, but watching McCain trying to imitate Kermit singing “it ain’t easy being green” is just too much!! Try as I might, I just can’t picture this buffoon as President. Those of you who predict a McCain landslide in Nov., well I just wish I had some of what you’re smoking. We are going to get our butts handed to us in November. Just when I thought I’d psyched myself into voting for McCain, he takes another idiotic turn.
I feel it is my duty to vote, but I’ll be voting for the down ticket candidates. Cong. Paul Kanjorski has found time to devote to the home scene now that the GOP has chosen Lou Barletta to run against him. For those of you who haven’t heard of Barletta, he is the Mayor or Hazleton…….a mayor who has tackled head on the problem of illegal immigrants and what they can do to a city.
If there is one topic that politicians ignore at their peril it is the subject of illegal immigration. Here in the Keystone State that is one issue that has ignited both Democrats and Republicans.
poodlemom on May 15, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Jeff Flake is my congressman, & he’s great. Too bad we don’t have 100 more like him in DC.
jgapinoy on May 15, 2008 at 12:38 AM
Which reform is more important: to remove the moderates or to remove the sleaze?
If we remove the moderates and make ourselves ideologically pure, we won’t be able to carry a national election, though we might get some local ones and maybe even some statehouses.
If we remove the politicians who keep dirty money in their freezers, maintain multiple families, and are competent only at fundraising, we will gain the confidence of the political center and carry elections at all levels. We have to have higher standards than the Democrats and we have to live up to them.
Having a marriage break up in public isn’t a disaster; keeping a second wife and her children secret is. Having a homosexual child isn’t a disaster, even if that child is a Democrat; laundering money through your freezer is.
For the sake of the Republican party and the sake of the country, people who do those things should be convinced to retire before the fewmets meet the fan.
njcommuter on May 15, 2008 at 1:43 AM
It isn’t really winning when everyone running is merely a different shade of Democrat! McCain is merely a Lieberman DEM and may actually be no more conservative than Hillary and I’m supposed to vote for him for the good of the party? I guess there’s always taxes. Sadly the GOP isn’t worried about winning as long as the corporations they represent are happy and keep the money rolling in. Is there even an ounce of “we the people” in the GOP anymore. I look for the GOP to follow the DEMs lead and totally nullify the citizen voter’s wishes with their own superdelegate system.
Buzzy on May 15, 2008 at 5:49 AM
And having people like the sub-humanly stupid abomination Trent Lott as one of the leading faces of the Republican Party is so fantastically dumb it tells you just how clueless and broken the party is.
I’m not parroting the Kos kids here, but Bush has been a disaster for the country and for the Republican Party. Even when he’s right on policy he’s such an arrogant, fumble-tongued nitwit that he damages the policy with his inability to clearly advocate for it.
Once in a while, he gets fired up and makes a good speech but then he’s right back on his dead ass for months on end making dumb jokes at photo ops. He couldn’t sell ice water in the Sahara. Yes, the media are a tough opponent but someone like Reagan or even Newt Gingrich could work through that. Bush can’t.
Django on May 15, 2008 at 7:36 PM
You’re right, JT. Stop kvetching and start working to elect conservatives to every office you can!
There are two conservatives running for John Faux Kerry’s seat in Massachusetts this year:
http://www.jeffbeatty.com/
https://www.jimogonowski.com/splash
(watch whole splash video)
Both look promising. Don’t know yet which I’ll support, but yes, it sure as hell is time for a (ahem!) change here!
MrLynn on May 15, 2008 at 11:43 PM
How can we expect idiot Republicans to “learn” anything? These dillweeds aren’t conservatives! They are power mongers and have no soul! They have no core principles and only seek to maintain power! They wish to learn nothing except to keep their own seat safe! John McCain will get devastated this fall and will take the Republican party down with him…and everyone knows it!
sabbott on May 16, 2008 at 9:00 AM
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