# Republicans: We need a hero **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 23, 2004, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081 "2004-08-23T12:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/61 "2004-08-25T18:09:23Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Being opposed to gay marriage doesn’t make one in the pocket of the RR. Most Americans are against gay marriage. Kerry is against gay marriage. Cheney, for one, says that he doesn’t have a problem with states deciding for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/62 "2004-08-25T19:17:44Z")
I love this board. It’s about the only place outside the John Birch Society where you’ll find Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft described as _moderates_, who furthermore have not accommodated themselves to the “religious right”. I mean, _Ashcroft_? Gotta wonder who the \*conservative \* Republicans are, then. FTR, Kerry is \*for \* civil unions and states’ authority over the institution, as is Cheney for that matter. It’s a misrepresentation to say he’s against gay marriage, or, for that matter, that “most Americans” who hold the same views are as well. ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/63 "2004-08-25T19:50:19Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > But, looking at the state as a whole, MA is much more liberal than the rest of the country. > > Ted Kennedy doesn’t even need to campaign and he keeps winning elections here! He’d get laughed off the balot in most states. Or maybe just stupider. ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/64 "2004-08-25T19:55:30Z")
Don’t worry. When the time comes the Republicans will have a suitable candidate. Earlier this year, who did the Democrats have? Who shone like a star? No one. Then they invented John Kerry. And that was the BEST they could do! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/65 "2004-08-29T05:24:23Z")
Looks like I’m not the only one thinking about this. NY Times has a really good article about the stress on the Party, and how things have changed. > **[How to reinvent the G.O.P. (Published 2004)](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/magazine/how-to-reinvent-the-gop.html)** > > David Brooks article on changes in Republican Party over last four years; says when George Bush was nominated in 2000, he was seen as man who found glory in 'small, unnumbered acts of caring and courage,' but transformative nature of Sept 11... ---
**Author:** ![Moonlight\_Drive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@Moonlight\_Drive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlight_Drive)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/66 "2004-08-29T05:38:27Z")
The GOP doesn’t want a true conservate to run. The prefer to try to hoodwink people into supporting them, as the GOP slides ever leftward… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/67 "2004-08-29T10:49:29Z")
Watts. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/68 "2004-08-29T12:56:28Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > To this I will agree. **All** MA residents aren’t liberal. However, I don’t think that the “liberal Massachusetts” label imlies that all residents of MA act as a monolith. Certainly no reasonable person believes this. But, looking at the state as a whole, MA is much more liberal than the rest of the country. > > Ted Kennedy doesn’t even need to campaign and he keeps winning elections here! He’d get laughed off the balot in most states. So… I guess it’s not that Ted Kennedy is a highly effective senator, able to forge alliances across the aisle, create compromises that a majority of legislators can agree on, propose and get passed major legislation. I guess it’s not his constituent services. I guess it’s not the honest courage of his steadfast adherence to his political philosophy, even when the rest of the Democrats are running for cover as “liberal” becomes a political obscenity. I guess it’s not that, like liberals who admire McCain even when they disagree with him, Massachusetts conservatives and moderates know their senator, his character, and his legislative skills, and weigh them against the credentials of any Republican opponent. Nope. I guess it’s those liberal mind-control beams that sweep across the Massachusetts electorate every six years that get him re-elected with such ease. I’d meant to address this earlier, but I got Ooooooo, shiny! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/69 "2004-08-29T13:25:26Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > I’ve only skimmed the article so far, but this week’s _Time_ magazine has a high-profile article on the growing Republican student presence on college campuses. Are you sure it was this week’s issue? There was an article earlier this month… It was basically some liberal whining that the GOP was giving more money to the young Republicans on college campuses than Democrats ever cough up for the young Dems and has for years so it’s _no fair_ that there are more kids who might be turned evil given that the Democrats lag 30 years behind the idea of trying to convert 'em when they’re young. The writer kept using the phrase “up against a well-oiled machine.” Yeah, your average college kid is as conservative as all get out. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/70 "2004-08-30T05:42:59Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > So… I guess it’s not that Ted Kennedy is a highly effective senator, able to forge alliances across the aisle, create compromises that a majority of legislators can agree on, propose and get passed major legislation. I guess it’s not his constituent services. I guess it’s not the honest courage of his steadfast adherence to his political philosophy, even when the rest of the Democrats are running for cover as “liberal” becomes a political obscenity. I guess it’s not that, like liberals who admire McCain even when they disagree with him, Massachusetts conservatives and moderates know their senator, his character, and his legislative skills, and weigh them against the credentials of any Republican opponent. > > Nope. I guess it’s those liberal mind-control beams that sweep across the Massachusetts electorate every six years that get him re-elected with such ease. > > I’d meant to address this earlier, but I got > > Ooooooo, shiny! Easy to understand your lack of perception and understanding. Incumbents get elected because they are incumbents who haven’t fucked up TOO much. Kennedys get elected cause their name is Kennedy (at least in MA). I’d love to scan in the bullshit letter he sent me that showed he had no knowledge of the issues he was promoting (he said that semi-automatic rifles could fire 12 rounds per second with one pull of the trigger!). The more I see Kerry associating with Kennedy, the more I question his… appropriateness. I won’t vote for Bush, and more and more Kerry is scaring me… They know him? Hah! They’re addicted to him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/71 "2004-08-30T07:13:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Looking for a hero in a group of politicians is like looking for a lottery ticket at the bottom of a septic tank. There’s a slim chance of it being there, but you’ll likely drown in shit before you find it. I think this is indicative of the problem Republicans face in finding a “hero”. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to believe that all politicians are bad. No Republican candidate can do better than being regarded as a necessary evil by his core supporters. This may be the reason why the Republicans are much more inclined than the Democrats to seek their candidates from outside of politics. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081/72 "2004-08-30T23:18:57Z")
The GOP needs a hero? Maybe. Mostly, it needed to lose in 2000. Twelve years without the Presidency, & no plausible candidates, should give it time to regroup, rethink, & reevaluate. Instead, it got two really stupid propaganda arms in Murdoch/Fox & BigFatIdiotRadio, a knee-jerk base, & a descent into self-caricature, & _still_ got the Presidency. Don’t you see? They think they’re winning! Yeah, _we_ know it’s just George Bush’s son & a bunch of Nixon administration leftovers, but _the leadership_ think they’re the new majority! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-we-need-a-hero/261081.md?page=3)