I don’t quite get the conservative versus moderate debate for the Republican Party. It’s usually characterized as being social conservatives versus libertarians, but the biggest issue with the “moderates” lately has been their enabling the president int trillions in spending — not exactly the libertarian stance.
They keep saying we can’t be a stronger party if we keep just tossing people out, but those people complaining never seem to say what makes one a Republican other than the choice of registration. Are we just going to be “the other party than the Democrats”? It seems the “moderate” strategy is to be as inoffensive as possible and hope to pick up votes from anyone whoever is currently dissatisfied with the Democrats. So basically, just bank on the Democrats being unpopular eventually, but that’s not enough. We have to be for something, which means being against other things. That means laying down some real differences between the Republican and Democratic Parties other than that they are spelled and pronounced differently. And that means excluding some people who don’t fall on the Republican side of the newly drawn line. We can attract new people for those we leave, but that only happens if we’re strong enough to actually stand for something.
And if being for big government and against liberty are and individualism is really the only way to get elected, then screw it. I don’t want to be elected. If we’ve reached that point, then it’s all over already.
I think we Republicans were too harsh with the democrats over that whole slavery thing. Should of compromised. Then we wouldn’t have gotten killed in the 1858 election. What happened after that?
Didn’t DHS recently publish a document outlining this?
-Anti-tax
-Anti-big gubmit
-gun-toting
-veteran hangin-aroundin
-self-thinkers
Or even just the plain old cookie-cutter “god and gun” types. Weren’t they called “right-wing extremists” or something of that nature?
“Don’t hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft!”
-Theodore Roosevelt
The question is simple. If Republicans actually nominated a conservative candidate, would the voters elect him (Or her. 😉 ), or would they say “Whatever. I want more cheese.”?
Frankly, I’m not as optimistic as I was a while ago. I’m just wondering how deep a bunker should be.
* CLAP CLAP CLAP * Very well put Frank. The “moderate” is just a hippy who’s mother has bathed in their lifetime. They still smell, just not as much.
Like the democrats, a “moderate” will give up thier principles to get along. “moderates” think teddy is a human being. “moderates” think mccain is just alright. Like democrats, moderates like socialism, cause, some people think its okay. Like democrates, moderates stand for nothing, except themselves. Like democrats, “moderates” hate the United States, but will not say so publically. Like democrats, “moderates” wouldn’t know a bar of soap, if it fell into the cesspool with them.
A moderate is basically the same as a “coin toss” on issues that affect our lives. Not someone you want on your team when ‘governing.’
Moderates take a brave, fast stance on not taking stands of any kind.
Rush covered this topic yesterday: “The moderates are about reaching out, right? Why do they not reach out to us?…The moderates in our party want to cast us aside. The moderates in our party want to reach out to everybody but us, the conservatives…(moderates are) just hero worshipers….They go where the power is, and they’ll be back once we reacquire power.”
moderates can’t stand for anything because they don’t have spines……
So I just went to moderate republican.net and they listed “moderate republican orthodoxy” ( got to the page and scroll down)
Here’s a few:
-A belief that the Constitution is a living, breathing document with timeless values that must be made relevant in a modern age;
-A commitment to protect the environment and not engage in mindless exploitation of the nation’s natural beauty. A spirited case must be made for reusable energy sources like solar power. Modern technology provides many options before the earth is harshly, brutally, and needlessly pillaged.
-A recognition that government does have a basic social responsibility to help those in need;
and last but not least
-A responsibility to publicly criticize those who call themselves Republican when the situation merits. Moderate/Progressives have a duty to vote against the party line when it doesn’t serve the greater good. Doing so doesn’t make them less Republican; it demonstrates that they have the honor, political courage, and intellectual honesty to put nation above party.
Sounds like some smelly progressives to me….
I identify as “moderate,” and although it’s easy to take swipes as moderates, for me, being a moderate means that I don’t take a look at a party platform and say, “Yes. That is precisely how I want government and the United States in general to run.” I think for myself. I understand that certain things need compromise and certain things need to be fought for. I take many, many stands, just not on every issue and not according to some checklist that’s more a product of historical evolution than of some sort of unifying principle.
Of course, nowadays when conservatives talk about “moderates,” they generally mean Specter, Snowe, and Collins, one ex-Republican and two current Republicans representing solidly blue states. But they’re a whole other story, and there are millions of moderates other than those three.
My daddy always taught me, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
Well, they fell for Obama and are now shocked that they got stabbed in the back.
Didn’t the founding fathers insure us the right to punch moderates though? Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Hippiness!
Moderates are the guys who you knew right away in high school. They spent their time kissing ass! They were first in line to sign up for the Student Council and the Student Newspaper while the rest of us were cutting class and smoking heaters in the restroom! When you got to college they were FratRats! They spent their time kissing more ass…college professors and college Deans… Now they are in Congress still kissing ass! They don’t stand for anything except kissing ass!
Invade their countries. Kill their leaders. Convert them to Christianity. Ann Coulter This should be the Republican mantra.
Unfortunately, today being ‘republican’ is nothing more than drinking light beer at the Munich Octoberfest (the tent is empty).
We have the most awesome military in the world and all they do is train and police.
We have the most awesome definition of government mankind has ever been endowed with, and we continue to break it into pieces.
We have the smartest, richest, ableist people in the world and it is a crime to point out that some are not the best.
We produce 80% of all the food and goods the world has and we throw most of it away, or don’t even utilize it.
If the people who were alive, and died to found this country could see us now, they would undoubtedly hang their heads in shame at how we have treated their wonderful vision.
God himself is surely ashamed we are so self-serving and meterosexual.
Stand up for something you believe in and tell the world this is how you are going to be and if they don’t like it they can kiss your ass.
America should NEVER appologize for being the finest place in all the world.
America should STOP paying other people to like us.
America should FORCE people who want to live here to become one of US or get the hell out of our country.
THESE are the changes we need, and someday will likely have to fight to regain.
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