The Candidates
Featured Archives
As I’ve been saying, one of the big problems that Republicans are facing right now is that the nation has been polarized for the past eight years around the person and the policies of George W. Bush. But at the risk of making Sean Oxendine cringe, I can’t help but wonder what sort of (heh) realignment we’ll experience once Bush is gone, and once the nation is polarized around, say, an Obama presidency and a Democratic Congress. All of the sudden, a lot of folks who hate Republicans may realize that they also hate Democrats. Like this guy:
Sirius Satellite Radio host Howard Stern supports the merger of his network with XM Satelitte Radio and is fuming at Democratic opposition on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) panel.
After FCC commissioners announced they have reached a deal to approve the merger of Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) and XM (NASDAQ:XMSR), Stern ranted about Democrats’ ‘gangsterism’ and ‘communism’ and the obstacles to the merger.
Stern described a phone conversation he had with his agent, who he described as a “liberal Democrat kind of guy.”
“I go, ‘That’s it!’” Stern said. “[I] go, ‘You know what Don, I’ve voted Republican and I’ve voted Democrat. I have vowed I will never vote for a Democrat again. I don’t give a [expletive] – no matter who they are. I don’t care if God becomes a Democrat.’ I said, ‘I backed Hillary Clinton, I backed Al Gore, I backed John Kerry. I am done with them.’”
Stern took it a step even further and called Democrats on the FCC “communists” and referred to their tactics as “gangsterism.”
“The fact that these Democrats on the FCC are communists,” Stern said. “They’re for communism. They don’t want to see companies – this is gangsterism. I said, ‘This is crazy.’”
This reminds me of a conversation that I had with a friend of mine recently, an openly gay young female professional. She hates Republicans and proudly considers herself a liberal and an Obama supporter. But she is also immensely interested in the free market and thinks that the biggest problem with the world right now is that nations like China aren’t moving fast enough towards a market economy.
What a lot of political junkies don’t realize is that, right now, to be a “liberal” or a “Democrat” in America is to oppose George W. Bush and his big-government, big-religion Republican Party. This will change the moment that the nation re-polarizes around a nanny-state, blame-it-all-on-Jesus Democrat like Barack Obama. And millions of Americans who now consider themselves “liberals” because they oppose fiscal insanity and God in government will find themselves without a party. And then they’ll give the GOP exactly what it needs — a complete blood transfusion. I can hardly wait.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
DaveG, I’m pretty sure that your GOP will never come to fruition unless there’s a total and complete realignment. There are too many people like myself, socially and economically conservative, that will prevent a David Frum scenario from happening. But, in the interest of breaking bread, there’s a VP short-list that you, Kavon and myself can finally agree on!
July 24th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Even though I disagree with your persistent desire to purge social conservatives from the GOP, I do believe that if Obama is elected, the GOP has a very good opportunity to shift emphasis and priority and in so doing attract many young social moderates who right now think Dems are the responsible party.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Boo yah!
It could happen in late October.
This is the kind of positive movement we could have once the GOP is no longer tarnished with religious fundamentalism!
Free markets and prosperity.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Have you guys noticed the slogan on many of McCain’s placards at his events:
“Peace. Reform. Prosperity.”
July 24th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
This is exactly why I don’t really think there’s a realignment going on. In 1984, these people probably would have (or did) vote for Reagan.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
#1: Thanks for the link. I’m all for breaking bread, especially that tasty brown kind. Anyway, I think it will be Pawlenty, and I think McCain let the cat out of the bag the other day.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
My understanding was that we had 6-7 million fundamentalist Christians in the US (members of fundamentalist denominations). If Republicans are tarnished with fundamentalism it’s based on myth. At most 10-15% of Republicans are members of fundamentalists\ denominations.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Doug, he calls me fundamentalist.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
#8, I suppose he’s using it as an insult and not caring whether you actually are a member of a fundamentalist group or not.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
To whatever extent the Republicans are tarnished with fundamentalism it’s because those types squawk the loudest. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
By fundamentalist, I mean people who take the Bible literally, evangelize their religion, and/or mix religion with politics.
Is there a better for word that? The kind that scares the rest of us. Whatever that word is.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
#10 Exactly.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I’d hardly qualify as a fundamentalist but as a pro-life Lutheran I assume the libertarians on here still want me to throw me out of the Republican party.
It’s easy to feel superior when you paint anyone who’s not an urban libertarian as an uneducated fundamentalist Redneck.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Yee Haw – Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!
July 24th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Brett that’s funny. The phrase “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” was coined by a clergyman from the city I’m moving from.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
#6, on Hannity he seems to still be open. The Pawlenty thing I think was referring to the convention. Either way, all the polls show McCain not doing that well with women. Picking Sarah might be the best way to easily win in Nov. McCain has solid favorability ratings in the states; he just needs to solidify his support.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
#10, it’s funny because only a minority of social conservatives are fundamentalists. People think a majority of social conservatives are Evangelicals even though a majority are Catholic, mainstream Protestant or irreligious.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Does anyone else think a McCain/Powell ticket would win rather easily?
I know Powell is liberal on social issues but electorally I think he’d be a great choice. His name is still golden and if you look at polls he’s still very popular.
He would give the white guilt folks in the suburbs an out. They can vote for the black guy, and it doesn’t have to be Obama.
Obama would still win the black vote big but with Powell, I think McCain could win enough to seriously impact Obama. Bush for example only won 16% of the black vote in OH, but that was a big deal. If Kerry had won an Obama like 98% he likley would have own the state. I think Powell could push McCain above 10% in some states.
The media would love it and go nuts. Powell could reinforce the seriousness of McCain. He could talk about he admires Obama and how he’s a grat inspiration, but in perilous times we need leadership and a steady hand. The economy is in crisis and we don’t a doctor who’s fresh out of med school. How he’s a soldier and how McCain rescued the troops from defeat and led them towards victory while Obama was all too willing to run away in defeat.
I think the backlash from the right would be much less than it would be with Ridge or Lieberman because I think Powell’s military background and his service under both Reagan and Bush 1 gives him creds that they just don’t have.
And to top it off, McCain/Powell could pledge to serve one term only. That they recognize that we needs solutions, we need to take action, and that they want to get the jon done. They won;t be beholden for reelection, and like good soldiers, they will go back t their farms when their service is finished.
McCain/Powell: Serious Leadership for a Serious Time
July 24th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Picking Powell would tie McCain to the Bush administration and the argument over false intelligence used to sell a war. Powell is probably more trouble than he’s worth even as an American hero.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
#18, Powell is not liberal on social issues. He certainly is not “Gay” friendly, and he is against abortion. Powell is just not sure about a constitutional ban.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
How ironic that even James Carville wrote in his book that he was terrified that Bush 41 was going to dump Quayle for Powell in 1992 and that Clinton would have been finished if that happened.
Same thing in 1996, all the polls had Powell trouncing Clinton and Dick Morris wrote about how Clinton knew he couldn’t beat Powell and thanked god when he announced he wouldn’t run.
Now, in 2008, will history repeat itself. There’s no doubt that Powell’s presence in the cabinet helped Bush 43 in 2000 against Gore. Can Powell actually help the GOP win an election for once?
The more I think about Powell the more I like it.
Based on that list, it seems Romney and Pawlenty are the safe picks, the conventional picks, the don’t rock the boat picks. I’d go with Romney over Pawlenty.
The other 4 are the shake things up picks. I think Powell blows Ridge and Lieberman out of the water. I mean, Powell’s military, nat’l security and foreign policy experience trumps whatever they have. His story is far superior. To be honest it’s far superior to Palin as well, but he doesn’t have the gender thing.
I seem to recall polls showing that Powell on the ticket helps tremendously.
Especially if Obama goes with some neophyte like Tim Kaine, even Senators like Biden, Dodd, Bayh, etc… would pale before Powell.
Yeah, I know Powell has that whole UN thing, but I don’t think that will be a big deal. And Powell has distanced himself enough from Bush that he would help McCain on that front. Two serious, non-ideological, pragmatic leaders. Two old soldiers on one last mission. Ebony and Ivory. White Lightning and Black Thunder. Crockett and Tubbs.
McCain/Powell: Serious Leadership for a Serious Time. Strong Leadership for America.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Every group seems to believe that the silver lining in a defeat is that it will provide an opportunity to throw those other people out of the big tent. Act-blog wants to throw out all those nasty “moderates” (defined as everybody who doesn’t think Romney is perfect), Dave and Metro want to throw out the SoCons.
The problem is that it doesn’t happen, and if it did all it would mean is defeat in the next election (or several elections).
Act’s party already exists — it’s called the Constitution Party and it is absolutely pure on the abortion issue and is running a pastor for president. What could be better? It gets about 0.3% every year. And I don’t think we need to discuss how the Libertarians do.
But go ahead — throw all those people you don’t like out of the party, but you better hurry, before they throw you out.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Coming to Miami movie theaters this summer…and in 3D!
Cuban Missile Crisis 2: Putin’s Revenge
July 24th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
BobH: My focus, as you may have noticed, is on the swarms who would flock IN.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
They haven’t swarmed into the LP to date.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Everyone should listen to Metro. I remember when CT and NJ used to be Republican states. They still can be. All we need to do is open our tent a bit.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
CT and NJ used to be Republican states before so many conservatives left for the Sunbelt and immigrants moved in. If you look at NJ on the local level it’s clear that relatively few NJ voters switched parties. Many Republicans just left the state while immigrants were overwhelmingly Democrats. In addition the younger generation in the Northeast tends to be liberal on everything.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
#27 not true. Republican’s almost always win (Governor) in NJ when they run on an anti-corruption, pro-growth agenda.
Yes, the labour unions are strong, but many NJ Republicans (myself included) can be turned off by Dixiecrats.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Kristofer, that may be the case (governor’s election) but it’s not relevant to the fact that so many Republicans have left NJ and so many immigrants have begun voting there.
Exit polls bare out that many voters have left the state. NJ Counties that seem to be losing natives (or gaining many immigrants) tend to be shifting towards the Democrats.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Doug, certainly you are correct about immigration (but NJ immigration is at much lower levels than NY and out west), and many natives that have left NJ are from the Northeast. Ethnic Jews and Italians have moved to Florida, and they usually did not vote Republican. These are the “Corzine” voters.
The Republican strongholds in the south and central parts of the state remain.
The key to NJ is the second, third, and fourth generation Italians (and other citizens of European decent).
July 24th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
oh, and these voters in the north-east (Euro decent), are BIG Rudy supporters.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
David G, Do you hate all Christians? What would make you happy, that all Christian shut up and not express their first amendment right?
July 24th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
No, faith. I am a Christian who agrees with Dave G nearly all of the time. There is no place for it in politics, and it has tarnished our brand almost beyond repair with literally tens of millions of Americans. Far more (as argued so well by our theocrat friends here!) than there are evangelicals! It turns out that they are so few that we can stop pandering to them all-together and start marketing to people who would otherwise embrace free markets and national defense.
My wife (the highly educated, female, Christian) is a perfect example. She has never voted GOP, thinks she is a democrat, and yet agrees with me on almost every issue that I hold dear. Yet to her, the GOP is the party of faceless old white men who really think that the 1950’s were the good old days.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Thank you, Eric,
I just fired off that remark after reading the post. I have to agree that some of us come off showing the same intellectual prowess as a far left loon. I would like to see the GOP really attract and embrace people of all class and heritage. I was raised a southern democrat and married a yankee( according to my Alabama Mother). Actually we are ranchers in Nebraska. GBR! I got a brain when I wrote my first pay check and discovered that the employer paid half of the social security tax, a fact that escapes the knowledge of about half the members of congress.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Or, maybe your friend will realize before the election that she’s actually a “Libertarian”, being fiscally conservative, yet socially tolerant, and will cast her vote for Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Howard Stern briefly ran for Governor of New York in 1992 as a Libertarian.
Libertarians would be happy to have him back in the fold. And he’s sounding more and more like he’ll be voting Libertarian this year.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Love that last paragraph G!
July 28th, 2008 at 4:16 am
I am not think that i am a democratic congress or republican party but i am a senior citizen of a free country