THERE’S a role model to emulate…
In one way he is a model to emulate, and liberals have tried very hard to emulate him: he knows how to persuade.
Democrats proudly pat themselves on the back for having a more intellectual outlook, but when it comes to politics, it’s conservatives who seek to make the intellectual pitch, selling a vision that started with the founders. Democrats go more for the gut, appealing to rank economic interests and other items on the special interest wishlist.
So, what you’ve been doing here, that’s all about being persuasive, and selling the vision of our Founding Fathers. Would that, by any chance, be the vision about not letting people vote who had no property?
Anyway, whatever, its you, being intellectual and persuasive. How’s that working out for you, so far?
The vision of the foundering fathers is limited government, a case which can only appeal to the average person intellectually. Democrats, on the other hand, get down to brass tacks. This is what we’re going to give you, and someone else will pay for it.
Well, you got me there, podnuh. No question, if my choices are limited government or unlimited government, its gonna be limited every time. So, those are the only two, then? Damn. You sure that’s all? Well, I guess we’re just boned.
Many liberals don’t actually believe in limited government, and certainly don’t believe in federalism. Der Trihs actually went so far as to say that states are mere administrative districts!
Father Coughlin failed utterly in all his political goals and his career was followed by decades of liberal ascendancy.
sigh Again:
Modern liberals wouldn’t have supported the revolution:
Father Coughlin wasn’t pushing an ideology, he was a rabblerouser who was at first pro FDR, then anti-FDR. The similarity between Coughlin and Limbaugh ends at their influence.
Of course, Limbaugh obviously succeeded to the extent he contributed to the Republican ascendancy.
And I’m pretty sure that Rush isn’t an anti-Semite like Coughlin.
On the other hand, Rush did provide quality race-baiting during the 2008 presidential campaign. I’m sure that helped to some extent in the Republican ascendancy.
Oh, my bad. The Republicans lost…shucks, maybe they’ll learn there lesson and take the gold ring in 2012. After all, Rush is no misogynist. The man respects woman; why, he’s married four of them at last count…
Oops, my bad again.
[Insert Title Thread Here].
Would those be the same conservatives who say that Reagan was a great president because he made people feel good about being Americans again?
Be careful not to confuse or equate the two.
I could get behind putting Republican politicians in a frictionless vacuum.
Gotta rise to that bait.
On the subject of what the Republican Party needs to do it’s actually very simple. I hear a lot of talk about ‘selling the brand’ and ‘marketing’ and such but that’s pointless. The thing they need to do is examine their belief structure, figure out which ones they are willing to compromise on (which should be most, the same as the other side) and go forward.
What’s killing them right now is that the politicians being elected are encouraged (through safe districts) to be as hard line as possible. There’s no need for compromise because there’s no negative feedback for not doing so.
I dunno, adaher… it’s like to you Republicans “convince” people but Democrats “pander” to them, and if Republicans get more of the white vote it’s because their message is more appealing but if Democrats get more of the nonwhite vote it’s because of instinctive racial bias.
I am not getting the impression of fair-handed evaluation, here.
The Republicans are losing their more moderate voters like me (I’m older, white, female). As long as many of their members stay far right and uncompromising, and the Republican establishment kowtows to those folks, the party will continue to lose the more moderate members and even the more conservative ones who aren’t so far right and uncompromising.
The electoral success of Reagan has been misinterpreted by the current Republican party. Reagan had been widely dismissed as ‘too conservative’ to win a national election, and went on to not only be elected president, but re-elected in a landslide. And his VP was elected soundly. This (along with a few lesser successes, like the dog-whistle same-sex marriage referendums bringing out more GOP voters in 2004) seems to have conditioned conservaties to assume that pulling to the right will always bring out the silent conservative majority.
The 2012 election proved otherwise. Conservatives who’d confidently predicted a Romney victory were stunned. More amazingly, all four pro-same-sex marriage referendums passed, something I would never have expected a few years ago.
The culture of the country is changing, and will continue to change, especially on social issues like gay rights, immigration, religion in civic life and abortion. Conservatives need to acknowledge this.
It amazes me how a person who describes themself as being more conservative than 90% of the country can think they’re in the majority. I know the right-wing media echo chamber makes this possible. But how can 10% of ANY quantity be the majority?
I’m an indepdendent who’s voted for both Democrats and Republicans (admittedly, fewer Republicans recently) So I want there to be two viable parties - one party rule is not good, no matter which party is in power.
Regarding adaher and OMGABC, I’m reminded of an episode of Bill Maher’s show in 1996, shortly before the election. All polls, and pretty much everyone on both sides, agreed that Clinton would win. But one of Maher’s guests (a writer named John Calvin Batchelor) claimed to have arcane information proving that Dole was going to win.
The information was never quite clear - it had something to do with the number of state legislatures that were Republican-controlled, hinting that they could choose the electors when the electoral college voted. He also made some claim about every time those numbers held in the past, the Republicans won the White House (sort of like those World Series predictions based on who won the Army-Navy the previous year).
He tried to sound ominous and dismissive as he made these dark declarations - picture Hannibal Lector on Meet the Press. At one point his defenses came down and he quipped to Maher, “If you say things with confidence, it wins people over every time”, leading Maher to observe, “So, you’re admitting that you’re full of it?”
Batchelor wound up his spiel with, “All I’m telling you is, this January, Dole will be in the Oval Office”.
To which another guest (TV writer Larry Gelbart) replied, “And I’m telling you, the only way that’s going to happen is if he hijacks Air Force One.”
But, you know, when Republicans **do **get their hands on the levers of government, they limit spending like a boss! No one can doubt that the economy improves compared to Democratic administrations.
Having spent some time going back and re-reading this thread and checking the links provided I have to admit adaher and OMGABC have changed my mind regarding racism and the Republican Party. In fact the comments from Bachmann, Limbaugh, Romney and others really are not racist.
It is terribly unfair and grossly misrepresents who the Republicans really are, namely a party of rabid bigots. It is bigotry, not racism, which motivates many of their positions. The animus they feel toward gays, women, the poor and non-Christians is as well documented as the race-baiting code words used to whip up racists who fit under the Big Umbrella of Bigotry they proudly hold so high. It has plenty of room for all the homophobes, misogynists, plutocrats, theocrats and anti-intellectuals you can shake a stick at, with plenty of room left for racists to squeeze under it.
In a spirit of being honest I would encourage my fellow liberals to stop denying Republicans credit for the rainbow of bigoted attitudes they hold so dear. To reduce what is wrong with the party of Lincoln to a single dimension like racism fails to give them credit for the panoply of attitudes they cling to that most Americans find distasteful.
And that’s just so unfair it makes my bleeding heart break.
Meanies.