Conservatives roar; Republicans tremble

[thundley4]

Many top Republicans are growing worried that the party’s chances for reversing its electoral routs of 2006 and 2008 are being wounded by the flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone of conservative activists and media personalities, according to interviews with GOP officials and operatives.

Congressional leaders talk in private of being boxed in by commentators such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh — figures who are wildly popular with the conservative base but wildly controversial among other parts of the electorate, and who have proven records of making life miserable for senators and House members critical of their views or influence.

Some of the leading 2012 candidates are described by operatives as grappling with the same tension. The challenge is to tap into the richest source of energy in the party — the disgust of grass-roots conservative activists with President Barack Obama and their hunger for a full-throated attack on his agenda — without coming off to the broader public as cranky and extreme.

Mitt Romney has purposely kept a lower profile and stuck to speeches on specific policy issues, in part to avoid the early trade-off between placating party activists and appearing presidential. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, one of the most active potential opponents for Obama in 2012, said that media portrayals of a narrow-minded party could make it harder to attract the middle-of-the-road voters needed to make the GOP a majority party again.

“The commentators are part of the coalition, not the whole coalition,” Pawlenty said in a phone interview. “The party needs to be about addition, not subtraction — but not at the expense of watering down its principles.”

Politico

Watering down conservative principles is exactly what the GOP has been doing every since Ronald Reagan. The GOP should be worried about losing their base, since many would rather stay home than vote against their beliefs time after time. The DimRats can go against their principles, because they have very few that are hard and fast, besides they know they have the votes of a certain number of moonbats and minorities.

[Ptarmigan]

The GOP has themselves to blame.

[NHSparky]

Gee guys, had you maybe managed to keep the GOP identified with conservatism instead of running RINO idiots like Scozzafava, Snowe, Collins, et al, maybe ya'll wouldn't be having this problem.

[Thor]

Gee guys, had you maybe managed to keep the GOP identified with conservatism instead of running RINO idiots like Scozzafava, Snowe, Collins, et al, maybe ya'll wouldn't be having this problem.

Don't forget McCain and Der Governator......

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Don't forget McCain and Der Governator......

Bush 43

Romney



It's amazing, the more middle-of-the-road the GOP attempts to become the more profound the disaffectation of the base and subsequent loss of election day support.

[Splashdown]

I've some to the somewhat worrying realization that maybe, just maybe, Reagan was a conservative abberation in the Republican Party. And these "conservative ideals" we talk about were never actually embraced by the Republican top tier. What if RINOs aren't really RINOs?

 

[Chris_]

Bush 43

Romney

Huckabee

Pawlenty

Crist

Graham

Steele

[BlueStateSaint]

By the time that the Obamessiah gets done with his term, the American public will be so tired of the massive swing to the Left that they will feel a need to swing waaay back to the Right in order to counterbalance the Big Zero, and to repair the massive damage he and his Oministration will have done to the American economy and its people.  'Hope and Change" will be replaced by "Security and Prosperity."  RINOs need not apply.

[Chris_]

By the time that the Obamessiah gets done with his term, the American public will be so tired of the massive swing to the Left that they will feel a need to swing waaay back to the Right in order to counterbalance the Big Zero, and to repair the massive damage he and his Oministration will have done to the American economy and its people.  'Hope and Change" will be replaced by "Security and Prosperity."  RINOs need not apply.

Let's pray that the swing back to the right is accompanied with the understanding that Big Government is BAAAAAD, no matter who is peddling it.  It's been a hard fought lesson to get across, but I hope that it's finally sunk in.

[5412]

Politico

Watering down conservative principles is exactly what the GOP has been doing every since Ronald Reagan. The GOP should be worried about losing their base, since many would rather stay home than vote against their beliefs time after time. The DimRats can go against their principles, because they have very few that are hard and fast, besides they know they have the votes of a certain number of moonbats and minorities.

Hi,

I disagree with you about one thing, I think many in the GOP have no principles.  Recently an article in the Tampa paper said Charlie Crist has changed his stance on offshore drilling so he would appear more conservative.  WTF??  If one had principles, he would stick by them.....

How the hell is a voter supposed to make up their mind when a candidate changes to appear to be one way or another?  How will they vote, with the damn wind sock telling them which way to go?

Geesh, the whole issues seems so simple to me, why the hell don't the republicans listen to their base????

regards,
5412

[thundley4]

Hi,

I disagree with you about one thing, I think many in the GOP have no principles.  Recently an article in the Tampa paper said Charlie Crist has changed his stance on offshore drilling so he would appear more conservative.  WTF??  If one had principles, he would stick by them.....

How the hell is a voter supposed to make up their mind when a candidate changes to appear to be one way or another?  How will they vote, with the damn wind sock telling them which way to go?

Geesh, the whole issues seems so simple to me, why the hell don't the republicans listen to their base????

regards,
5412

I meant more so that conservative voters tend to follow their principles more than liberal voters do, not the politicians themselves. From what I've seen about Crist, plenty of people are upset that the RNC is supporting him instead of Rubio.

[5412]

I meant more so that conservative voters tend to follow their principles more than liberal voters do, not the politicians themselves. From what I've seen about Crist, plenty of people are upset that the RNC is supporting him instead of Rubio.

Hi,

I met Rubio and have sent him a ton of stuff.  We communicate fairly regularly.  From what I can observe he is a good guy and a conservative.  I sent him the stuff about Crist and the letter I sent to the Tampa Tribune.  As of now, Crist will not debate him and I think I know why.  Rubio has cut Crist's lead from 30% to 15% and there is a ton of mone sitting on the sideline watching this happen.  When they think Rubio has a decent chance his campaign coffers will start to fill up. 

My fear is Charlie Crist is a phony conservative.  I will never forgive him for embracing BO's bailout because he did not have the gonads to make the tough decisions and balance the state budget, instead he took the easy way out with federal money.  If he had reversed himself about offshore drilling at the time, bidding rights and royalties from the oil companies would have balanced the state budget easily.  As of now, I suspect Mr. Crist wants to be president.

Rubio was told not to run against Crist, rather wait until Nelson comes up in 2012 and he said no, he is not going to wait his turn.  He feels he has a message and we need to hear it in Washington now.  Not only that, even if he does not win the primary, he is likely setting himself up for 2012 but I do not think that is his goal......  In an honest debate he should eat Crist alive.

regards,
5412

[rich_t]

Hey GOP!!!


Turning away from real conservatism is why you keep losing elections.

Wake the hell up already.

[5412]

Hey GOP!!!


Turning away from real conservatism is why you keep losing elections.

Wake the hell up already.

Hi,

I agree.  I think that the real problem is in Steele.  He is a consensus builder and that is not what the party needs right now.  I see no leadership from the party at all.

regards,
5412

[rich_t]

Hi,

I disagree with you about one thing, I think many in the GOP have no principles.  Recently an article in the Tampa paper said Charlie Crist has changed his stance on offshore drilling so he would appear more conservative.  WTF??  If one had principles, he would stick by them.....

How the hell is a voter supposed to make up their mind when a candidate changes to appear to be one way or another?  How will they vote, with the damn wind sock telling them which way to go?

Geesh, the whole issues seems so simple to me, why the hell don't the republicans listen to their base????

regards,
5412

Howdy 5412,

As you well know, politicians have a tendancy to say whatever they think it will take to get elected.  Far too many of them drift with the breeze on their publically stated principles.

[rich_t]

Hi,

I agree.  I think that the real problem is in Steele.  He is a consensus builder and that is not what the party needs right now.  I see no leadership from the party at all.

regards,
5412

I concur.  And the 2010 and 2012 elections ain't going to work out so well for them if they don't start showing some conservative leadership real soon.

[Mustang]

Politico
Watering down conservative principles is exactly what the GOP has been doing every since Ronald Reagan.

No. George W. Bush was a great American president and his administration was great with Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, real American patriots.
When the dust clears, W. will be in the same ranks with other great presidents --Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt.

We got a mediocre candidate in McCain, with a Palin firing up the base. I think there is a tad bit too much habitual McCain bashing on this site.
I think people forget that he has a strong stomach for the war on terror. A stomach as strong as W.'s and his administration.
McCain's domestic policy is unacceptable with the exception for his support for tax cuts and his strong pro-life stance.

I think most people on here know I'm a Karl Rove/Rush Limbaugh conservative. I am much more focused on real RINO's than I am on attacking conservatives who are left on a couple of issues/ made mistakes.

[Rebel]

Teddy Roosevelt wasn't that great of a president.

[docstew]

No. George W. Bush was a great American president and his administration was great with Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, real American patriots.
When the dust clears, W. will be in the same ranks with other great presidents --Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt.

We got a mediocre candidate in McCain, with a Palin firing up the base. I think there is a tad bit too much habitual McCain bashing on this site.
I think people forget that he has a strong stomach for the war on terror. A stomach as strong as W.'s and his administration.
McCain's domestic policy is unacceptable with the exception for his support for tax cuts and his strong pro-life stance.

I think most people on here know I'm a Karl Rove/Rush Limbaugh conservative. I am much more focused on real RINO's than I am on attacking conservatives who are left on a couple of issues/ made mistakes.

W would have been a great president if he had used the veto pen a little more frequently (especially after 2007), hadn't tried to push for an amnesty (now the dems have cover, it was his idea), hadn't expanded entitlements (get your free drugs, it's ok, noone's paying for it), etc.  As it is, he'll be remembered as slightly above average, unless the Dems get what they want now, in which case he'll be described in history books as the capitalist imperialist pig who brought about the revolution with his lack of caring for the proletariat.

[5412]

No. George W. Bush was a great American president and his administration was great with Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, real American patriots.
When the dust clears, W. will be in the same ranks with other great presidents --Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt.

We got a mediocre candidate in McCain, with a Palin firing up the base. I think there is a tad bit too much habitual McCain bashing on this site.
I think people forget that he has a strong stomach for the war on terror. A stomach as strong as W.'s and his administration.
McCain's domestic policy is unacceptable with the exception for his support for tax cuts and his strong pro-life stance.

I think most people on here know I'm a Karl Rove/Rush Limbaugh conservative. I am much more focused on real RINO's than I am on attacking conservatives who are left on a couple of issues/ made mistakes.

Hi,

I agree W did not do that bad a job on the war but the last term his economic policies were anything but conservative.  I think McCain did more to hurt Bush and the conservative agenda than most democrats by speaking out against him and trying to build consensus......  It came off to me that McCain was mad because he did not get nominated and he was going to be a maverick and pain in Bush's side no matter what, with the exception of the military.

regards,
5412

[Schadenfreude]

Hi,

I agree.  I think that the real problem is in Steele.  He is a consensus builder and that is not what the party needs right now.  I see no leadership from the party at all.

regards,
5412

You got that right. I really think the GOP was trying to show just how hip they were by putting a black man it that spot. Nothing against Steele, I am sure he is a good person, but he fails to lead. They really are the "stupid" party.

[Chris_]

Geesh, the whole issues seems so simple to me, why the hell don't the republicans listen to their base????

regards,
5412

Because they know they'll get the votes anyway...and they lean RINO because they'll scoop up some of those votes too.  Face it, conservatives voted for McCain.  They should have voted independently to make their voices heard.  We should have predicted Oblahma was going to win it anyway.  If the true conservatives had voted with some guts, we'd still have Obama in the office but our voices would have been heard at least.  I was in too small a minority when I as a true conservative voted neither Obama nor McCain. 

[5412]

Because they know they'll get the votes anyway...and they lean RINO because they'll scoop up some of those votes too.  Face it, conservatives voted for McCain.  They should have voted independently to make their voices heard.  We should have predicted Oblahma was going to win it anyway.  If the true conservatives had voted with some guts, we'd still have Obama in the office but our voices would have been heard at least.  I was in too small a minority when I as a true conservative voted neither Obama nor McCain. 

Hi,

We lost the election in the primaries.  Insanity is definded as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  When was the only time in my almost 70 years that the Republicans held the presidency and the majority in congress???  Major hint, it was when Gingrich led the contract for America...

Duh!  Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, the Republicans better wake up.  I don't know why the recent elections did not jolt them into reality but it did not seem to.

regards,
5412

[NHSparky]

Because they know they'll get the votes anyway...and they lean RINO because they'll scoop up some of those votes too.  Face it, conservatives voted for McCain.  They should have voted independently to make their voices heard.  We should have predicted Oblahma was going to win it anyway.  If the true conservatives had voted with some guts, we'd still have Obama in the office but our voices would have been heard at least.  I was in too small a minority when I as a true conservative voted neither Obama nor McCain. 

No, RINO's voted for Juan McAmnesty.  CONSERVATIVES voted for Palin.  And frankly, a lot of Republicans stayed home AGAIN.

[Eupher]

No, RINO's voted for Juan McAmnesty.  CONSERVATIVES voted for Palin.  And frankly, a lot of Republicans stayed home AGAIN.

Yup. While McLame's record was touted as being solidly conservative by the ACU (82%, IIRC), in actual practice his voting record has become much more liberal - especially in more recent years.

By any measurement, McLame is a RINO. And he deliberately set out to become one, because he learned that he needed the centrist vote to be a viable candidate.

He failed. Utterly. And he added insult to injury when he allowed his handlers to "handle" Palin the way they did.

The whole process illustrated McLame's tired-ass approach to campaigning. He ran out of gas and he ran out of ideas, allowing Lord Zero's machine to suck up the vacuum that McLame left.

Now we've got this abortion called a "president." Disgusting. WTF were they (the GOP) thinking?