Damn fine post. The Republican Party from another era was a party I could respect, even if it was not my own. I said long before the last couple of elections that they needed to get their butts kicked, and kicked hard, to ever toss off the shackles of just the people you're talking about. Knowing several Republicans/Independents who feel as you do leads me to think that the "silent majority" of the GOP would welcome kicking the Far-Right/Fundamentalist crowd to the curb. That's my opinion, anyway.
but the rest of the GOP would be in tact. And that middle party would be free to be fiscally conservative and yet be more progressive socially on issues like gay marriage, stem-cell research, and such. What people miss is that if Sarah Palin take her right wingers, there's a lot of people like myself who are ready to vote for a moderate GOP. What would happen is that on fiscal issues, the Sarah Palin's GOP would side with the moderate GOP and they would have the majority (because of the folks would come back to the original GOP party) and the country would become more fiscally conservative. On social issues, the moderate GOP would side with the Democrats, leaving the Sarah Palin Party to shout all about family values but not do any damage to the country. It would be very good for the country.
I'm a Republican and I can't stand the woman. The sooner her 15 minutes are up the better. Is there anybody out there that really thinks she has a snowball's chance of beating Obama in 2012? She's toxic to me.
Hopefully getting rid of Palin, etc will cause a rebirth of the Republican Party that is truly based in smaller, more efficient government and reasonable regulation of business rather than the bastardization that we have seen for the last decade or so.
Ref/baller4life: Why are you scared of vaginas? And why do you hate special needs children? You are both, according to basso, repeat offenders in these areas.
Pipe dream. First, Palin is not apart from the current Republican Party. It was the current Republican Party that made her. The current GOP leadership differs with Palin only in their cynicism... she's stupid enough to believe all the rhetoric (though ironically, it was the GOP elites belief in their own rhetoric of willing Clinton voters ready to defect from the Dem Party that led to the pick of Palin). Rockefeller Repubs are dead, gone, and buried. There is no great cohort, much less a geographic base, of socially progressive Republicans left. This is a attributable more to the a definite effort on the part of the current Repub leadership than anything else. Likewise, they targeted every single conservative Democrat through smears (Cleland) to pushing the envelope of legality and accepted practice (Texas redistricting). The GOP has a shrinking South and West with the electoral base of Texas soon to be in play because of rapidly changing demographics. Second, if the Republican Party is going to remake themselves, everyday Republicans are going to have to stand up and work hard for it. (Unfortunately, the Repubs willing to work hard for things are the types that like Palin.) You cannot build a majority by hoping somebody like Palin comes and rescues you from the trap you've set for yourself. The philosophy of the Republican Party on everything from economics to foreign affairs to science is now recognized by the majority of Americans as an absolute and catastrophic failure. You don't make a beat up 1978 Pontiac Grand Am a cool car by simply putting new seatcovers on. Neither can you make it a cool car by cutting off the rear half of the car where all the dents and rust are. You have to recondition the whole thing from the tires up. Third, at no time in US history has a split party or third party existed for long. The offshoot always get incorporated into one of the two major parties. You already see this happening with independents and traditional Repub strongholds like New England, where if it wasn't for female Maine Senators, the GOP would be skunked. The problem, is we don't have a functioning second party right now. It's fantasy to think there could be a credible, functioning party left from a split like this. Either Repubs have to remake their party (by turning their current leadership out) or the whole thing crumbles and something new comes up (with new leadership). I'd rather see rational Repubs step up and fill the power vacuum now then wait for events to decide what arises.
Don't know about other libpigs, but I will do my utmost to help her complete the destruction of the Republican party. I'll even vote for her in the primary...snicker...
Because I don't know where in the hell that thing has been. Insert really inappropriate "There's Something About Mary" quote here.
Palin resigning as Governor is gonna give the Dems all the ammunition to attack her credibility as a leader.....She just made a monumental mistake
I personally believe that Palin resigned as Governor so she can run for the Senate. If she wins the Senate seat, then all bets are off. All of that being said, I do not believe that Palin is the best choice for the Republican nomination. She lacks the ability to speak off the cuff that is needed from a successful candidate.
She is my choice for 2012 in glory, but she is not as smooth. Gotta be smooth... Now there are those who indignify the idea that Obama might not be so "smooth"...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcflq_ML4Xw But make no mistake... I disagree.
Sincere question: why? I see a lot bigger problems than her ability to speak off the cuff. Her basic intelligence and interest in the truth of a matter are ... not easy to discern from the data available.
Let's forget smooth. Serious question ROXRAN: Do you honestly believe she has the brainpower, leadership capability, attention span, constitution and temperament to be president of the United States? IMO, she combines the lack of intelligence and lack of depth of GWB with the temperament and maturity of Newt Gingrich, plus her ability to absorb punishment is in question for obvious reasons. I can't even imagine her mounting a legit 2-year presidential campaign operation unless she's unopposed. If Palin thinks it got hot recently, she ain't seen nothing until the press and public actually vet her as a serious presidential contender or nominee. Why exactly is she your choice? If you wouldn't mind listing and explaining the main reasons. I ask because you seem like a Palin supporter who might actually discuss her rationally and go beyond the cliches.
We are in complete agreement. I'm rooting for her too. She's the perfect nominee for the Republican party. And, if she gets it, we will have the funniest presidential campaign in our country's history most likely finishing off with the very first 538-0 electoral college sweep. Palin 2012, "In Glory"
