What can moderate Republicans do to get their party back?

[skdo23]

Probably no other choice than ride out the inevitable alienation of moderates and swing voters by the Tea Party, wait until the cyclical factors that are currently causing the economy to respond positively to Obama’s economic policies to inevitably run their course, and take advantage of the corresponding loss of credibility for the Democrats to reinvent the GOP as the level headed “one size fits all” party - i.e., basically undergo the same metamorphosis that the Democrats underwent between the 1984 and 1992 elections.

[pkbites]

@BrainGlutton

And then the GOP never wins another election.

You mean like how they won with the likes of Dole, McCain, and Romney?

And that’s just POTUS. One could go on and on about the RINOS in congress and state legislature that never won.

[BrainGlutton]

@Debaser

It’s entirely possible to be a moderate Republican that is pro-choice, pro-SSM, etc and also be a Tea Party person because of a desire to reduce spending and debt.

Hooking up with the Tea Party would be a very foolish way to serve that goal.

@Debaser

I think many on the left assume “Tea Party” = Extreme Right winger and use the terms interchangeably. This isn’t correct. The Tea Party as I understand it is about fiscal issues like spending and debt. It’s got nothing to do with social issues.

You misunderstand. Going by the Contract from America, the TP agenda goes way beyond fiscal conservatism; it demands significantly scaling back the role of the federal government – it amounts, very nearly, to rolling back not only every single policy initiative of the Obama Admin, but also the Great Society and the New Deal. (And from what I’ve read, some TPers want to roll back the federal government to what it was before the Civil War.) You might want to make a case for some or for all of that, but at any rate it has no place in any discussion that is simply about “fiscal issues like spending and debt.”

[Debaser]

@BrainGlutton

You misunderstand. Going by the Contract from America, the TP agenda goes way beyond fiscal conservatism; it demands significantly scaling back the role of the federal government – it amounts, very nearly, to rolling back not only every single policy initiative of the Obama Admin, but also the Great Society and the New Deal. (And from what I’ve read, some TPers want to roll back the federal government to what it was before the Civil War.) You might want to make a case for some or for all of that, but at any rate it has no place in any discussion that is simply about “fiscal issues like spending and debt.”

I think that contract backs up what I’m saying.

Identify constitutionality of every new law: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does (82.03%).

Reject emissions trading: Stop the “cap and trade” administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. (72.20%).

Demand a balanced federal budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax modification. (69.69%)

Simplify the tax system: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words – the length of the original Constitution. (64.9%)

Audit federal government agencies for constitutionality: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in an audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities. (63.37%)

Limit annual growth in federal spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57%).

Repeal the health care legislation passed on March 23, 2010: Defund, repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (56.39%).

Pass an ‘All-of-the-Above’ Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of additional energy reserves to reduce American dependence on foreign energy sources and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation. (55.5%).

Reduce Earmarks: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.47%).

Reduce Taxes: Permanently repeal all recent tax increases, and extend permanently the George W. Bush temporary reductions in income tax, capital gains tax and estate taxes, currently scheduled to end in 2011. (53.38%).

Looks fiscally focused to me. Nothing about abortion. Religion. SSM.

[ElvisL1ves]

Moderates still have a party. They simply need to realize two things:

1. They’re not getting the GOP “back” from the nutjobs. That’s who’s in charge of it now, and they’re not leaving.
2. The moderate party, the one that represents their beliefs and where their true home is today, is the other one. They need to stop fighting it and join it instead.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@Debaser

Looks fiscally focused to me. Nothing about abortion. Religion. SSM.

Even if the Tea Party is fiscally focused, I think it’s fair to call them extremists. Consider: their belief that ACA is fiscally unsound is leading the charge to shut down the government and, likely default on our national debt. Those are not the actions of moderates, they’re the actions of ideologues who are willing to sacrifice the economy on the altar of their personal ideology.

[Czarcasm]

If the Republicans dump the Tea Partiers and their poisonous practices, and nominate somebody with an I.Q. above room temperature, I might even vote for her/him. Just this once, make me have to think hard about which candidate I want as President, instead of making me choose between Obnoxio The Clown(No-Prize to the first person to get the reference) and whoever Democrats put up that will be better sight unseen.

[Debaser]

@Chronos

Can you give even one example of a Tea Party politician who wants to reduce the debt? Because they tend to vote lockstep against any measure that would actually do that.

Uh, all of them?

[Debaser]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

Even if the Tea Party is fiscally focused, I think it’s fair to call them extremists. Consider: their belief that ACA is fiscally unsound is leading the charge to shut down the government and, likely default on our national debt. Those are not the actions of moderates, they’re the actions of ideologues who are willing to sacrifice the economy on the altar of their personal ideology.

Yes. I agree they are extremists. Which I proudly join them in being. But only on fiscal matters.

I’m an Independent, not a Republican. But I vote R consistently and I’m pro-choice, an atheist and not a social conservative one bit. Yet I wholehardedly agree with everything on that list from the Tea Party.

That, to me at least, is the direction they should be heading. Make it about freedom, not socially conservative baggage that turns away young people. That might attract people and lead the party out of darkness.

Maybe.

[BrainGlutton]

See also here:

The Tea Party has generally sought to avoid placing too much emphasis on traditional conservative social issues. National Tea Party organizations, such as the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks, have expressed concern that engaging in social issues would be divisive.[21] Instead, they have sought to have activists focus their efforts away from social issues and focus on economic and limited government issues.[22][23] Still, many groups like Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Tea Parties, TeaParty.org, the Iowa Tea Party and Delaware Patriot Organizations do act on social issues such as abortion, gun control, prayer in schools, and illegal immigration.[24][22][25]

The Tea Party generally focuses on government reform. Among its goals are limiting the size of the federal government, reducing government spending, lowering the national debt and opposing tax increases.[26] To this end, Tea Party groups have protested the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), stimulus programs such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act), cap and trade, health care reform such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, also known simply as the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare”) and perceived attacks by the federal government on their 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th Amendment rights.[27] Tea Party groups have also voiced support for right to work legislation as well as tighter border security, and opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants.[28][29] On the federal health care reform law, they began to work at the state level to nullify the law, after the republican party lost seats in congress and the Presidency in the 2012 elections.[30][31] It has also mobilized locally against the United Nations Agenda 21.[30][32] They have protested the IRS for controversial treatment of groups with “tea party” in their names.[33] They have formed Super PACs to support candidates sympathetic to their goals and have opposed what they call the “Republican establishment” candidates.

Even though the groups have a wide range of different goals, the Tea Party places the Constitution at the center of its reform agenda.[34][35][26] It urges the return of government as intended by the Founding Fathers. It also seeks to teach its view of the Constitution and other founding documents.[21] Scholars have described its interpretation variously as originalist, popular,[36] or a unique combination of the two.[37][38] Reliance on the Constitution is selective and inconsistent. Adherents cite it, yet do so more as a cultural reference rather than out of commitment to the text, which they seek to alter.[39][40][41][42][43] Several constitutional amendments have been targeted by some in the movement for full or partial repeal, including the 14th, 16th, and 17th. There has also been support for a proposed Repeal Amendment, which would enable a two-thirds majority of the states to repeal federal laws, and a Balanced Budget Amendment, which would limit deficit spending.[26]

If your agenda includes repealing the 16th (federal income tax) Amendment, you are not any kind of fiscal conservative.

If your agenda involves repealing the 17th (direct election of U.S. senators) Amendment, you are a mostly-harmless crank.

But, if your agenda involves repealing the 14th (declaring all native-born U.S. residents “citizens” of the U.S. and of all states, and guaranteeing all citizens due process of law, etc., and generally providing the basis for the application of Bill-of-Rights restrictions to state governments as well as federal) Amendment, then you should be considered completely beyond the pale of sane American political discourse, period.

[computergeek]

The moderates are somehow going to have to let the Tea Party folks burn themselves out. Or more moderate Republicans are going to have to run and win in the primaries. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be quite a few years before the moderates can take their party back from the Tea Party crazies and the other folks in the party who cater to them out of fear or just craven opportunism.

[computergeek]

The Tea Party might claim they are about fiscal matters but too many of them focus too much on social issues.

[BrainGlutton]

@Debaser

I think that contract backs up what I’m saying.

No, that Contract does way beyond what you’re saying. E.g., a “fair single-rate tax system” does not belong on any budget-balancer’s agenda.

[BrainGlutton]

@computergeek

The Tea Party might claim they are about fiscal matters but too many of them focus too much on social issues.

Funny thing, too, you never seem to see much about fiscal responsibility on the Tea Party rally-signs, and of what you do see, less said the better.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@Debaser

Yes. I agree they are extremists. Which I proudly join them in being. But only on fiscal matters.

So, uh, bully for you for joining the extremists in trying to torpedo the economy, I guess, but then the question in the OP should specifically be, what can moderate Republicans do to get their party back from Debaser?

[Marley23]

Many of these people are very socially conservative. They’ve just decided that they lose votes when they talk about it, so they try not to talk about it to swing voters - or sometimes they just lie about their views.

[pkbites]

What can moderate Republicans do to get their party back?

The way I see it the far right is taking the party back from the unprincipled moderates. And it was about time!

I would rather the party lose than win with candidates that don’t stand correctly on a majority of issues. If the country is going to be steered in the wrong direction let the other party do it.

[BrainGlutton]

@pkbites

What can moderate Republicans do to get their party back?

The way I see it the far right is taking the party back from the unprincipled moderates. And it was about time!

I would rather the party lose than win with candidates that don’t stand correctly on a majority of issues.

If you get your wish, you’ll get your wish.

That kind of thinking is what led 2.8 million Americans to vote for Ralph Nader in 2000 and spend the next eight years kicking themselves.

[Debaser]

@BrainGlutton

No, that Contract does way beyond what you’re saying. E.g., a “fair single-rate tax system” does not belong on any budget-balancer’s agenda.

You might disagree with their ideas on how to get there, but that list backs up what I’m saying in the sense of the Tea Party being focused on fiscal issues, not social ones.

Although I agree there are others such as Glen Beck’s group that mix the two together. This more than anything else is what causes the party to get lost on the extreme end of the political scale.

I’d like to see the Tea Party become like the NRA. Powerful, but very narrow in focus. A few million members dedicated to reducing the size of government and enforcing the constitution, but nothing else. That way it wouldn’t hold as much power as it does now and it could actually be a force to get something done because lots of voters would pay attention to who gets their blessing. This would be just like how the NRA works.

This would be a way for the moderate Republicans to “get the party back” and coexist with the Tea Party.

[Debaser]

@BrainGlutton

If you get your wish, you’ll get your wish.

That kind of thinking is what led 2.8 million Americans to vote for Ralph Nader in 2000 and spend the next eight years kicking themselves.

Hey, we had our Ross Perot!