Which, AFAICT, is not a response at all to anything I’ve said.
The GOP was behaving this way before this Administration was more than a gleam in the eye of some Texans. The DeLay quote was from 1999. They were extremists then, and they’ll be extremists after Bush goes. Many Republicans are already laying the ground for a whole “Bush isn’t a true conservative” meme.
None of which has anything to do with where they’re at. Many Dems don’t speak well to moderates and independents because they don’t speak well to anyone, but liberals figure, better a hopeless Dem than a horrible Republican. The relying on failings of the Pubbies is, of course, timidity, which is nonideological. And I never bothered to figure out what the whole Hackett/Sherrod Brown thing was all about; one parochial dispute too many for me.
Wouldn’t we all. But sometimes ‘lesser of evils’ is the choice you’ve got. Chtulhu isn’t on the ticket anywhere this fall, so ‘greatest of evils’ is out.
That there’s no party that’s a shining knight in armor doesn’t exempt the citizen from his or her responsibility from making slightly more challenging distinctions.
Depends. Beating him would be great. Losing, I could deal with. But looking at it as a Dem, I’d like the GOP candidate to be Allen rather than McCain. McCain’s gonna be tough to beat because the press thinks he’s still Mr. Stright Talk, despite his lips being surgically attached to Bush’s ass for the past two years. It’s hard to buy that sort of free publicity.
So I don’t want Allen to win in a squeaker that hurts his 2008 chances.
I’m a Republican who’s always liked Webb… but I don’t see him as a strong candidate.
The turnout in the Democratic primary was pitiful, and Webb got only 53% of the few voters who showed up. That doesn’t suggest that he excites anybody in the Democratic Party.
And while I think highly of him in many ways, he’s a major grouch who doesn’t connect easily with people, as a politician must.
So… it’s certainly possible that Virginians will turn against George Allen if they’re suffering from war fatigue, but I don’t see them turning to Webb with much enthusiasm.
He should be one of the Democrats’ best candidates, but frankly the guy just doesn’t seem to have much passion. I think the Pubbies would wipe the floor with him.
Not exactly death’s door. Agree with you that his age would be a big issue in anycase, though. He would be the oldest person elected to the presidency by several years.
Right , it was an attempt to pephrase and clarify my meaning, as it stated.
Being the lessor of two evils, how do you actually win elections and inspire voters to get involved if you can’t speak to anyone? Hackett in my opinion was the kind of new leader that might have done that but his own party screwed him rather than let the voters actually decide.
Great, perhaps the slogan should be “Yeah we suck, but they suck harder”
I agree with this but what we’re talking about here are leaders. Joe average has a responsibility as a citizen and the leaders of our political party have a responsibility to develop leaders who can and will speak to enough voters to win. If they don’t or can’t because of timidity or their own corruption then they are partially responsible for what happens as a result of their bad choices.
The notion that the Religious Reich extremist wing of the Republican party “anarcho-capitalism” is one of the silliest assertions I’ve seen on this board, and that’s saying something.
To John Mace. But you presented it to me as a response to my question: “On the Dem side, who are these extremists, what sort of influence do they have, what are some examples of their extremism?”
Except, of course, it wasn’t.
Since the issue I raised with you was the italicized question above, your answer seems to be, “I was wrong, there are hardly any Dem extremists, but they’re a bunch of ineffectual wimps who can’t communicate.”
If that’s your answer, it’s an answer I won’t argue with. Lord knows I’ve got lots of problems with the Democratic Party as it’s been since 9/11; they’re a mess, and no question about it.
But extremism isn’t among the reasons they’re a mess. At least extremists stand for something, which is more than the Democratic Party can be counted on to do.
But IMO this battle has been going on pretty consistently since 2000 (even before, somewhat), the “moderates” have consistenly had the upper hand when November rolls around, and then the GOP hands them their asses. While I agree that “They suck harder” isn’t the be-all and end-all of an effective platform, “We’re just like them, but half the calories!” is worse. Because if your political strategy is that you’re just like the oppnents who have had more recent success, why would anyone vote for you instead of the real deal?
I’d say Nancy Pelosi is exactly the kind of Democrat who the party needs to push to the background, not bring to the forefront. I don’t know that I’d call her “extreme”, but she’s too far to the left for this country (no shocker considering the district she represents). And I find her to be way too mindlessly partisan, too. If the Dems win the House, and she ends up running the show over there, I expect it will not bode well for her party. Expect the Pubbies to use her as a boogy-woman in the upcoming campaign: Is this what America wants as an alternative to the Republicans?
One of the big errors the Republicans made was allowing it’s more conservative members (from very conservative districts/states) run things in Congress. I hope the Democrats don’t make the same mistake, but I’m not too optimistic.
It may or may not be McCain, but I doubt the ‘too old and too sick’ part will be a factor.
McCain will turn 70 on August 29, which means he’d be 72 on Inauguration Day in 2009. While he’d be about 2-1/2 years older than Reagan was on his inauguration, McCain certainly comes across as a younger 70 than Reagan was.
He had surgery for skin cancer 6 years ago; skin cancer is probably one of the least likely cancers to metastasize after surgical removal if you keep a close eye on it. I wouldn’t be worried. Prostate surgery is practically a late-middle-age rite of passage for men. And non-cancerous skin lesions…big deal.
While campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire in the 2007-08 winter, or (if he gets that far) while debating the Dem nominee in October 2008, McCain will come across pretty much as he does now, as far as his health and energy are concerned. That would be my bet.
The real question is, will he have capable allies that will sell the Religious Right on him? If yes, he’s probably home free. If no, then he’s in trouble, just like the last time.
As pleased as I initially was about her, at this point I’d like to see her pushed to the side, because she’s hardly partisan at all. She is way too willing to capitulate to the right. She’s much more like the “centrists” the Democrats have repeatedly been serving up than she is a partisan.
As Cliffy suggested, the Democrats may lose by standing up as a meaningful opposition left, but they will lose by running as the Republican-lite party. We need to stand for something, and Pelosi just hasn’t impressed me as being ready or able to do so forcefully enough.