I think some of the Republican ideals are not just good ideas but great ones. Encouraging personal responsibility (I would no doubt define it in a different way than many Republicans), a measure of caution in decision-making, strong families (also a different definition, I think), personal fortitude, strong work ethics, personal generosity, and a commitment to citizenship.
We could argue (not in this thread) about which Republicans embody each of these characteristics or whether the party still embraces each one, but these are what I consider the strong points of Republicanism as a concept.
I thought Arnie was trying to do the same without playing party politics, although I don’t know enough about California to know whether he wasn’t sufficiently capable of dealing with California’s problems in the end or whether California is just in one big joojooflop situation and nobody could have done better.
Likewise Chris Christie’s recent efforts to eschew party politics to get the disaster relief needed for his state are noteworthy. That he praised Obama and dissed Romney is irrelevant; that he worked with Obama to accomplish something during a poisonous election cycle is entirely relevant. Other governors have not always been so pragmatic.
Conservative here (although I’ve broken out of the “tribe,” wherein – and this happens all to often to those both left and right – political ideology becomes religion).
I haven’t read all the responses to the original post, so I hope this doesn’t sound trite, but I firmly believe that Democrats, or Liberals, or Progressives genuinely do care about people; and they do serve as a valuable counter-weight to we conservatives (or even … Republicans).
For an outstanding take on the slant of this thread, read Thomas Edsall’s companion pieces in the New York Times, “What the Left Gets Right,” and “What the Right Gets Right.” Tremendous stuff, and we need more of it.
I really don’t mind a guy like Christie or his positions, if he treats the other side with civility.
Thanks.
I’m aware that he’s probably only saying it because he’ll run in 2016. I don’t care, what he says needs to be said and so few Republicans are saying it. And it needs to be said by a Republican.
I commend President Obama for going after terrorists in Pakistan. I commend him for not sharing our INTEL with Pakistan before killing Osama bin Laden. I commend him for not keeping his campaign promise of shutting down Guantanamo upon his election.