My prediction is that by post 2 this will be turned into an anti-Trump thread. At least I’m going to try.
I consider myself a moderate Republican meaning fiscally conservative and recognizing the deficit/debt problem is due to both sides of the aisle but I am a social progressive/libertarian. I am pro-choice. I don’t care if you smoke weed. Public schools are the greatest invention this country has ever come up with (besides the Cinnabon) and we need to eliminate any and all public funding of charter schoosl. Two guys or two girls want to get married? Save me a piece of wedding cake. I believe the Constitution should run this country not the Bible so that does make me a Federalist.
At this point, do not try to convince me to turn Democrat. If anything I am an independent and I have no problems being a registered Republican yet voting for the best person in the general election which does include Dems (e.g. I voted for Hickenlooper as Senator and will be voting for Polis as Governor).
I was looking over my primary ballot at my choices (and bear in mind, I’m in a section of Colorado that wants to be part of Wyoming because Colorado is too liberal. My neighbor celebrates Juneteenth by putting a Army of Northern Virginia battle flag next to his Don’t Tread On Me flag) and I’m looking at candidates that want to outlaw abortion even for rape and incest (I guess it’s God’s gift). Then it struck me. Of course I vote for the more moderate Pubs, always have. Youi know the ones that at least allow for abortions for rape and incest. The ones that are not running on the premise that Trump really won in 2020. The ones that don’t claim that public schools are evil because of their history of marginalizing rich white Christian kids (I swear to God I didn’t make that up). But it struck me that as Republican, it is my JOB to do whatever I can to pull my party back to the middle. Vote for and support all moderate (at least as close to moderate as I can) candidates but do more. I’m not sure what I will do next, but I know it needs to be more than voting.
And if you want to offer advice that’s fine but please no ‘become a Dem’ because that is not going to happen. Also, try to avoid the current SD standard of turning every thread into “Trump is worse than Hitler”. This is about supporting rational Republicanism (over/under 2.5 posts before someone here says ‘there is no such thing’ because THAT adds to the conversation). And I wouldn’t mind a little SD support from the other moderate Republicans here, the ones that haven’t been driven away. Let’s make this thread OUR safe space to discuss returning our party to where it once was.
You can start an activist organization. Fundraise for not-insane republican candidates. Put out political ads to get like-minded people to turn out to vote.
I’m a moderate Democrat who supports most of the issues you mention. Yes, there are moderates on both sides who are drowned out by the shouting from both extremes. Like you, I vote on my political side of the fence, sometimes holding my nose while doing it. I came from a solidly Republican family, some of whom were extreme in their beliefs. I turned my back on that and went my own way in the world without apology. The Republican party in general has become something that none of us in the middle recognize; it’s full of hate and haters and cannot be allowed to prevail. At my age I don’t have the energy to fully engage, so all I can do is vote.
“Rational Republicans” doesn’t just mean not supporting Trump’s election lies, or moderation in their preferred abortion restrictions. It means actively calling out Trump’s lies, and actively calling out Trump’s enablers. It means actively supporting the investigations into Trump’s wrongdoing (and the wrongdoing of his allies), and having actively supported both impeachments. It means actively opposing spineless Republican Trump toadies like Kevin McCarthy.
Considering the actions of the vast majority of Republicans in office, I’m very skeptical that there’s any possibility of saving the party. But the above is the bare minimum, IMO. I wish you luck and hope you succeed!
I’ve been a registered independent my whole life. I’ve voted Republican in the past, but the whole Talibaptist wing is just way too far for me. I voted for Charlie Baker last time (MA Gov), but really had to think about it because on some level that’s supporting a party that’s gone completely nuts.
Unfortunately, the Democrats are countering the hard right Jesusification of the Republicans with their own brand of crazy. I fully support LGBTQ issues. They are not, however, the only issues that matter.
There is no middle anymore, which is fucked up because I suspect most people are actually in the middle.
I think I know how to fix this, though: Get rid of Gerrymandering (thus making seats competitive) and reform the primary system in which only the nutters vote.
As someone that gave up on the Republican Party and has voted Dem almost 100% since about 1996, I feel very removed from my old party despite not being a registered Democrat.
Find and support the actual moderate Republicans. Whatever is left of the Rockefeller Republicans. The Lincoln Republicans. Etc.
Just remember, as soon as a Moderate Republican has national aspirations they pull right wing appeasement crap. Look at Chris Christy as a good example. He was a law and order/ fiscal Republican but when he decided to be on the National stage tried to toe the party line. (much further to the right.)
I really want to see if Charlie Baker ever runs for President. It will be interesting to see how he rightwashes all the things he supported as MA governor.
Bless you and your tiny tribe of sensible conservatives. May your numbers increase! I’m not betting on that, but we can hope. We Dems have our own issues with crazy at the margins. Seems to me that all of us can help this by mentioning our reading respectable news sources when talking with local extremists. Maybe WSJ and the Christian Science Monitor for Conservatives, Wapo or the Guardian for libs. Somehow we need to wean all extremists off internet idiocy, OAN and the like. Lord knows something has to be done to bring people back to reality.
I’ve mentioned this many times. Congressional elections should be allowed to be proportional representation not mandated by district. The problem is despite their differences both Dems and Pubs have agreed to write the rules so only they get elected. Proportional representation may allow the occasional Green, American Independent or Socialist to get in - Heavens to Mercy if that happens (clutches pearls).
Good ideas, but not possible due to systematic gerrymandering and primaries! Unless voters are so offended by recent developments that Dems get a 2 house majority in the next election. But then they would have to organize enough to make effective changes. Dems din’t do organization well.
I’m in that boat, too. I really miss the days of sane Republicans who care about their country (and, yes, care about people). A good friend of mine was treasurer of his state Republican Party… he and I got talking and we’d both voted for George H. W. Bush, but had given up by the time we voted for Clinton. Two drinks later he was telling everyone how the current party has abandoned Conservatism and small government and is just trying to oppress everyone else as they line their pockets.
I’m sufficiently liberal that I would almost never consider a conservative to be the best candidate, but I do still realize that yes, our system needs both liberals and conservatives. We need sane Republicans, and so I must applaud your efforts to try to pull your party back to sanity. Except… can you? Are there even any sane Republicans running in the primaries to vote for? I’d love to get back to a world where a sane Republican was up against a sane Democrat in every election, and even if your side lost, you could take comfort in the fact that the other guy would still do their best to help the country. But I don’t see how we get there from here.
I stay registered Republican so I can still vote in republican only pollings - someone needs to vote ‘Hell to the fuck no, what in hell are you thinking’ to whatever insane idea they are putting forward [come the fuck on, guys, a $10 000 paper shredder for the school system of a town of 2800 people?]
Also, I am one of the really old school Republicans from before they did the whole Dem to Repub flip, my family have been Republican since the 1860s, I was marched down and registered when I hit 18, and I have voted in every election I could manage to be qualified for [to the extent of once having the county registrar of voters come to me in hospital while I was getting ready to go into surgery so she could bring me the ballot and I could mark it up.]
I am absolutely aghast at what has happened to the party, I can not believe how criminal it has become. mrAru has told me he has no issue with me throwing my hat into the ring starting at the county level once we get out to Nevada.
I appreciate the tiny but growing support for proportional representation. We need to keep convincing others of its benefits, even if we are only doing it one by one. We must never allow the “it’ll never happen” cohort of congenital cynics to discourage us.
I was a Republican too, once. Of the moderate/liberal Rockefeller style. Icons were Jacob Javits, Paul Simon (not the musician), John Anderson, John Lindsay, Millicent Fenwick, Edward Brooke, and others.
But that school of thought is as rare in the current Republican party today as the Ivory Billed Woodpecker or Tasmanian Wolf: sightings are reported, but never confirmed. The creatures are extinct.
I’m not a formal member of the Democratic party; in my state I don’t have to register as one to vote in primaries. It’s just been ages since I could vote for any Republican candidate, even on a local level, since the state and local Republican parties require the taking of oaths about taxes and other issues that constrains what they can decide long before they are elected. Hence all Republican candidates in my state are avowed anti-abortion, anti LGBTQ, anti union, and so on.
The last Republican I voted for on the presidential ballot was Bush Senior, and that was for his first run in 1988. Since then, I’ve felt I had no choice but to back the Democratic candidate.
I voted for Bush the Elder in the Primary but when he added Dan Quayle as his running mate I was scared off and I think I voted for Bill the Cat as a Write In for the actual election. In 1992 I voted for none of the 3 major candidates and in 1996 I voted for Clinton. If McCain had won the nom in 2000, I would have voted for him over Gore. But in 2008 I actually campaigned for Obama.
OP, the Republican Party has left you behind. If you were a Republican running for office, you would be jeered off the stage.
I don’t understand loyalty to a political party, unless you’re a party operative, lobbyist, or actual politician.
You’re a public school teacher, right? Your party is doing whatever it can to undermine you.
I’m a fan of the NY Giants, but if they tried to overturn an election, I would root for the Jets in a heartbeat. If they were actively trying to undermine my job, I would even root for the Eagles over them. Well, maybe not the Eagles…
I really don’t understand party loyalty. At least I enjoy watching sports, even if the Giants have been painful for a while.
