tom of December 12, 2008 at 3:04 PM

I know it comforting to cite statistics of past victories to boost the morale of the GOP, but just because the GOP prevailed so often in the past in Presidential elections does not necessarily mean that the same thing will happen in the future. The playing field has now changed. The Democrats of Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Tip O’Neill and Daniel Moynahan are no more. The Democratic party has been taken over be a cabal of amoral radical socialist, Marxist adherents whose objective is to gain power and then retain it ‘whatever it takes’. If this means voter fraud, intimidating 527 groups or TV stations with lawsuits, or indulging in the ‘big lie’ of Goebbels anything for them is on the table. And to boot in bed with Obama and the Democrats permanently is the MSM whose job is to destroy any popular Republican (eg Sarah Palin) that gets in the way of the implementation of Obama’s socialist agenda and Utopia. I have written about this several times in the last couple of months but I strongly believe that Obama is going to attempt to throw out or change the 22nd Amendment (limit of 2 terms for a President)while he is in office. I know this sounds like trutherism but ask yourself this question: Would those powerful, sinister, multi-millionaire forces that brought Obama to this pinnacle at age 47 allow someone else to lose the WH in 8 years because he or she was not as chrismatic as the Messiah? By eliminating the 22nd Amendment Obama could be installed as President for life (or crowned Emperor)and thus these nefarious forces could have full confidence that their full-blown socialist and Marxist agenda would be realized, never reversed and thus made permanent. For that to happen Obama must be made the permanent President. Remember all it takes is 2/3 of Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures to go along with this proposition. Anything is possible in politics.

technopeasant on December 12, 2008 at 3:32 PM

Has it really all changed that much? Granted, the Democratic party has changed since McGovern. Kennedy would not fit with the Democratic party of today. But that change was in place before Reagan, and Reagan still won. In fact, all that you say of the Democrats has been true since Reagan.

Witness how the Congress under Bush 41 demanded that the president break his “read my lips, no new taxes” pledge, shutting down the government repeatedly and blaming the president for the shutdown each time. And just as today, the media helped the Democrats blame the president each time, even having little opinion pieces to tell the president that “for the good of the country” he would have to let go of his pledge and raise taxes. The moment he did, they gave him no credit for doing what they demanded, but turned around and blamed him for raising taxes. When we then had a recession, predictably, they blamed that on the president, too. Then Clinton got elected by calling it “the worst economy in 50 years.” An obvious lie, only 12 years after the disgraceful Carter administration. Ever hear the media correct that claim? Of course not! Then as now, they are the propaganda wing of the Democratic party. Before Clinton had been in office a year, he was taking credit for 3 straight years of deficit reduction. The media was oblivious to the absurdity of the claim.

When Reagan proposed welfare reform, the media called Reagan “mean-spirited” and found sympathetic people on welfare and posted thoughtful stories on how tough they had it. When Clinton finally did something on welfare reform, the media did stories comparing welfare and food stamps to minimum wage jobs, discovering — and reporting! — that welfare income amounted to nearly as much as a minimum wage job.

After Watergate, it really did look like the Republican party was finished. The instinct then was exactly like the instinct now: to declare their day had passed, and the key to winning elections was to be just like the Democrats.

Reagan ran as a conservative, and proved conservatism isn’t dead. Losing this election does not prove that conservatism is dead. It proves that the Republican party was able to hold onto the presidency for 8 years, but not 12.

By all means, rethink, restructure, reconsider, adapt. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater because the know-nothing media says your day is over. That’s classic wishful thinking on their part.

That’s not to say that you don’t have a point about Obama hoping to change the landscape and hold onto power. The best argument for your point is FDR, who ignored the Constitution when it suited him, and got everything from Congress he ever wanted. Elected 4 times, like no other president has been before or since. Got the Constitution amended to repeal Prohibition in about a week, once he proposed it. Started multiple unconstitutional programs. Raised the top tax bracket to 99%. Created a labor court to hear all disputes concerning unions and management, at a stroke eliminating any judges from jurisdiction in labor disputes.

Problem is, he’s also the strongest argument against what you say. As popular as he was, sometimes seeming like a force of nature, the basic structure of our government was unchanged after he was gone.

My point is not that we should trust Obama, but that we shouldn’t throw out what Republicans stand for in the vain hope that if we look more like the Democratic party, we’ll win more elections. On the contrary, if we don’t give people a good reason to vote for Republican candidates, they’ll just keep voting in more Democrats.

tom on December 13, 2008 at 12:11 AM