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The Transformation of the Republican Party

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I think it's safe to say that there are a number of different types of conservatives, and the GOP has been "big tent" enough to try to fit them all together, but they do not fundamentally belong together. I think of myself as a social conservative and an economic moderate. The guy that would be a good vote for me, wouldn't be good for a Rockafeller pub. So you compromise, sometimes, that's good, sometimes bad.
 
bobknightfan said:
This will save the government billions of dollars....which they can use to fight infidels in Iran and other assorted countries around the world.
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Sounds like a plan Obama would be behind!
 
The match up that both bases want is Obama vs Santorum. Don't think it's remotely close to the best possible match up for America, but the losing party would be forced to retool kicking and screaming. Don't think McCain and Dole lost because of ideology, but (the conveniently/myopically forgotten) Goldwater did. Don't think the GOP varsity (Jeb, Daniels, Christie) sat it out because they're stupid cowards.
 
Americans deserve what they vote for...
 
With any luck, the democratic party will fire someone that bkf likes so that bkf pitches a fit and cheers for the republicans for 20 years out of spite.
 
The "big tent" in MS was 97% white, 2% black, 1% other. MS is over 30% minority.
 
Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann are crazy and fanatical. Okay. The former speaker of the House of Representatives says that the Congress has to pass a certain bill so the public can see what is in it. That's entirely sane.

I plan to vote Libertarian anyway.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/14/un-delves-into-us-voter-id-laws/

ETA: Today is the day that the NAACP, representing a core Democratic constituency, goes before the UN Human Rights Council to deplore human rights abuses in the US as they relate to voter ID laws.

Cuba and Saudi Arabia are on the Council.
 
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Being a republican must be what being a UNC fan is like. There are legitimate reasons, but if you aren't one you just can't see how anyone could be one and if you're not one you automatically hate anyone who is one. You also have a lot of ignorant hicks, rednecks and zealots, people who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, who are your loudest and most visible members giving you a bad name.

I'm a republican
 
Here's how it shapes up for me. I think this is an extremely obvious argument that has gotten lost in the political mushroom cloud.

I don't hate Republicans for being Republicans. I actually have a great deal of respect for "classical" conservatives who are concerned with the scope of the federal government, whether it be through keeping taxes lower, controlling spending, whatever.

What I have a real problem with in today's Republican party's war against reason, the party that still believes we're in the Cold War, that communism is creeping to our shores, that puts religion at the top of the agenda in a nation that explicitly mandates the separation of church and state, and that would rather concoct conspiracy theories than take a step into the 21st century. I'm disgusted that things like "science" and "sustainability" are evil words in today's Republican party, and I'm annoyed that reasonable conservatives like Mitch Daniels have to cater to moral high-road lunatics to get any airtime. There's a sense of self-absorption within the party that prevents anyone from admitting that they could even budge on an issue.

I'm a Democrat, but I'm not a big government Democrat. I've seen how big government works in Europe and it's not that tight. It's downright fucking annoying sometimes. I see myself as a 21st century Democrat who is part of a group that scares the shit out of the Republican party because our idea of progress isn't returning to things we've already tried. I want my government to try new things, and I want them to do it responsibly. I want my government to invest in education and research that will boost the private sector, but regulates the private sector so as to ensure the utility of the private sector, not the greed. In my opinion, its the job of the government to make the populace as happy and well-off, as a whole, as they can. I think government-mandated health care is a good thing because it reduces the stress of the citizens. I think government-funded sustainability initiatives are good because they help to ensure that our nation fits into a 21st century development model that will leave future generations in as good of shape as we are. If that means take some hits in the short-term, so be it. No one's making you do anything, they're just encouraging it. I don't as much blame people for lashing out against the government as I blame the government for not providing a landscape where citizens can work with them and each side bends a little.

Maybe that's an idealist attitude, but where the fuck would we be without idealists?
 
Also I'm drunk. Also we should do something about student loans because that shit sucks.
 
Mittens is probably a northeast moderate at heart, more in line with the 1994 version as opposed to the 2012 one. He is a politician though and knows if he ran on his real beliefs, the crazies that make up the Republican primary electorate would doom him from the start, sort of like Giuliani when the GOP actually began to realize he was pro-choice, pro-gay and pro-amnesty.

I am all those things, but I still consider myself a Republican because I don't believe in expanding government as much as the Democrats do. That said, the direction the party is going scares me, and I will likely vote for Obama if Santorum is the nominee. Both he and Obama are big government types, but Rick is just insane when it comes to social and religious issues, and for someone that favors keeping religion out of government, I just can't vote for him. I think Obama has been a disappointment, but at least I know what I will get with him.

The transformation has been going on for decades now. George W. Bush in 2000 wouldn't win in 2012. Bush in 2004 probably wouldn't win now. Even in the last 4 years, the rise of the tea party has forced the party so far right we are back in the stone ages where contraception is a bad thing and we should stop all abortions and ignore reason and change the constitution to the Bible, etc... It's frightening. If the party moves any further right in the next 4 years, I may as well leave it.
 
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