WI appears to have dense concentrations of flaming libruls in some places, and total wingnuts in another. You hang out in Madison, it’s a different planet than way out in farm country.
The residents of WI I’m currently familiar with are all fundamentalist (some a bit softer than others in that regard) evangelical Christians, and they do not vote Democrat. Ever. They might not vote at all if they think the Republican or independent candidate isn’t up to snuff, but the Democrats are quite simply the Devil’s party. They mean that in the most Christian way, of course, in that all would be forgiven if those misguided folks would learn to properly “walk with Christ” like George Bush (who they support seemingly unconditionally) does, and they hold out the fervent hope all sodomizing, baby-aborting, euthanizing sinner-types will take Christ into their hearts, and so forth. I think their idea of “compassionate conservatism” is saving souls from The Fire. If these people become representative of the WI GOP, it will be, for all practical purposes, the Conservative Christian Party. I’ve no real idea how big of a subset of the WI population these folks are, but you should see their church. It’s enormous (they really do need the big screen), and packed every Sunday.
The conservatives have become moreso, and socially more conservative to boot.
Yet there is hope. Wisconsin continues to re-elect not only Senator Herb Kohl, a moderate Democrat, but also Russ Feingold, one of the most maverick liberals around. Even after voting against the Patriot Act (the only senator to do so) and against the Iraq war, he was decisively re-elected two years ago, with his biggest margin of victory ever.
We’ve also Tammy Baldwin, the lesbian representative to the house. Granted, she’s from a district which includes Madison, but even so…
And 4 years ago, Wisconsin elected a Democrat as governor, after 12 years of Republican rule of the state. Not that I’m all that fond of our guv, ever since he tried to fire me…
Wisconsin did go Democratic in the last two presidential elections, even if by razor-thin numbers.
My home area in Wisconsin is as described by Loopydude, where Democrat = Godless evil. But I have been pleased to discover that not all small towns and rural areas in the state think this way.
But the Republicans in this state definitely seem to be firmly in the camp of the social and religious conservatives, and they keep putting things on the ballot like trying to get us a Death Penalty (we’ve done without it nicely for 150 years, thanks) and trying to pass laws ensuring that pharmacists have the right to refuse to dispense medications as prescribed if they don’t want to.
The paranoid cynic in me wonders, during sleepless nights, if the Republicans are only pretending to be reconciled to losing. Maybe they are hoping the Democrats will not bother turning out to vote, since they are assured of winning anyway. I’m just not positive payback is in the cards; I hope it is but won’t believe it till I see it.
Both? (Or, in other words, I agree with you entirely.)
I’ve never been a fan of the Republican platform, but that’s primarily because I follow the definition set up during the early '80s. I hear wonderful stories of the good old days when the GOP was sane and honorable, even when you disagreed with them; nowadys it’s a party of unquestioning ideology that’s eerily close to a cult at times. And sometimes I imagine Richard Nixon’s ghost must be lamenting that he came to power 25 years too soon.
Hey, while Nixon was a mean spirit dirty politician, he was practically liberal compared to the current leaders of the Party. If you look back, he actually was a fairly good POTUS, just not a good person.
Yeah, I’ve noted the same thing in other venues (cheap plug ;)).
The difference is, the Republican Party in the early '70s had enough of a conscience to give Tricky Dick a well-deserved investigation and heave-ho when hints of his wrongdoings first surfaced. Today’s GOP, in contrast, would gladly bury all the evidence and suppress all attempts for any sort of independent investigation, much less have the moral turpitude to confront the President…
Okay, that is fair. I have listened to some of the Nixon tapes. He was a nasty piece of work. I guess “not a good person” is not strong enough for most people. Somehow I find him nowhere near the level of evil represented by Cheney. YMMV.
I liked your post on the other forum. I think that sums up my feeling about “Tricky Dick” better than I can. I would take him over Bush any day.
If that last clause meant “much less have the ethical standards or integrity proper to statesmanlike conduct,” you used precisely the wrong term. “Moral turpitude” means “having low moral standards, so that bribery, ‘dirty tricks,’ and sexual chicanery are excusable under them.”
However, I have to take minor issue with your premise here. In much of the Northeast and the more liberal parts of the Midwest, there remain a lot of moderate and mildly liberal Republicans. And there are some morally upright conservatives, who may not be doing the right thing by your standards or mine, but who are definitely doing so by their own or Bricker’s. It is not the whole party but the venal leadership it has accepted, combined with a lack of moral courage on the part of the rank and file, that has led to the current state of moral decay in the GOP. In my opinion, it’s fixable, and if they don’t want to be reduced to the state of permanent minority again, they need to find the backbone to do the fixing.